How big is your prep sink?
Britt
13 years ago
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Buehl
13 years agoI don't think a sink with any dimension less than 12" will be very useful for much more than a bar sink...i.e., getting a drink of water or using it as an ice bucket (filling with ice and putting drinks in it).
Our sink is 15-3/4" x 15-3/4" and I sometimes wish it were more like 18" x 18"...but I've never wished it were smaller!
If you plan to use the island for any prepping, I think you'll find you will use that sink a lot more than you realize. So, rather than go with a small sink, get one that you know you can also prep at. Oh, and do yourself a favor, if you plan to have a garbage disposal, put one on both sinks! Something I let my DH talk me out of for the Prep Sink! "His" sink, the Cleanup Sink has one; but "my" sink, the Prep Sink doesn't...and I really wish it did!
Do yourself a favor, get the 15" x 15"!Here's mine:
Note that once it's installed, it doesn't really look that big...here it is in the "big picture"
(It's in the lower right corner where the seating peninsula is.)doonie
13 years agobuehl is spot on about the prep sink size. I think it would be constantly annoying to have one that's not quite big enough. Make sure your colander can fit in it!
We got a large single bowl for our prep sink that measures 20 3/4" by 18" and 7 1/2" deep. I listened to GW and got a garbage disposal too, and I have not regretted it! I also got a sink grid for it since it helps to lay my fruits and veggies on for rinsing.
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How Big is Your Prep Sink?
Comments (5)Mine is somewhere between 15 and 16" nearly square and I wouldn't go any smaller. With a round sink, you are going to lose some space from all the corners, and if it is bowl shaped, you will lose even more inside adn colanders or pans won't sit down in it. It will probably work for you, I would prefer straighter sides rather than bowl or basin like, and I sure wouldn't go any smaller. For a round, I might prefer 18" if that is possible....See More? for single basin sink owners: prep sink, yes or no?
Comments (15)Lisa...I think in your kitchen you could go either way. Regardless of where your (main) sink ends up, it will still be close to the cooktop & you will have room to prep b/w them. If the sink moves to the refrigerator wall, you will have even more prep space b/w them. While a prep sink would be nice, I don't think it's a necessity to make your kitchen work. Yes, it would add an additional prep area for you at the island (b/c there will be a water source) and, possibly, reduce some zone crossing, depending on the location. Right now, to get to the refrigerator from the cooktop you have to either cross the Cleanup Zone or go around the island. How many people will be using your kitchen at once? Will they all be prepping/cooking or will there be a mix of prepping/cooking/cleaning up? If cleaning up is in the mix, then the zone crossing could become an issue, especially when the DW is open. As to location, I like Elizpiz's setup best, but I can see where it would definitely reduce available counter space. If you put it on the left side across from the cooktop, it would be readily available from the cooktop as well as the "outside" part of the island for prepping there while someone else is cleaning up on the "inside" as well as be available for outsiders for a drink of water, etc. However, it will reduce that 42-1/4" to approx approx 24" of workspace directly across from your cooktop; but, as I mentioned b/f, you will still have add'l room on the wall run. If you put it on the refrigerator end, I think you're right in your assessment...I find that I use the counters across from both my refrigerator & ovens much more than the counter next to them...both for removing things from them as well as staging things to put in them. (I have approx 32" b/w the Ref & DR peninsula end and approx 44" b/w the ovens & the end of the "mini peninsula". Both have landing space right next to them as well.) We do have a prep sink, but in our kitchen it was a necessity to make it work. Our cooktop & sink are opposite each other, separated by approx 6'6" of aisle...the main aisle through the kitchen. By adding a prep sink on the cooktop wall, we were able to separate the Cleanup Zone from the Prep & Cooking Zones as well as protect both zones from kitchen traffic (inside a "U" w/short legs but long base). During the week, there are usually two of us in the kitchen...one prepping/cooking (me) and one cleaning up (DH) with an occasional child helping make veggies. On the weekend, there are sometimes all four of us working in the kitchen! When baking (usually a marathon!), there are usually two or three of us. (I seem to bake in spurts...when I bake, I seem to go all out!)...See MoreHow often do you use your prep sink?
Comments (27)Like Ivette, our prep sink is in the corner of our island, accessible from two sides (and we both tend to be working in the kitchen at the same time, so we are often both in need of the sink for something), a few steps from the fridge, and a pivot away from the rangetop and ovens. I think whether you need -- or even want -- a prep sink depends ENTIRELY on how you cook, how MANY of you cook at once, and what you kitchen layout looks like. In our case, we decided to follow an architect's advice and put the large, main cleanup sink in the former butler's pantry, between the dining room and the kitchen/family room. That put that main sink an unacceptable distance from the cooking area, hence the prep sink. We do have a trash pullout next to the prep sink -- so trimmings, etc. go straight off the counter and into it. If I had to haul the garbage across the room, I would use the sink FAR less than I do (which is constantly!) We don't have a disposal in either sink (because of septic/well), so we have a double trash pullout (one trash, one recycling) next to the main sink, and a single one next to the prep sink. We found it helpful to 'virtually' walk through several scenarios of cooking/food prep as we were designing this kitchen: holiday cooking (lots of hands on deck), family dinners, parties, etc. We could immediately see the need for the second sink as soon as we did this. If you can, I highly recommend 'walking through' some common scenarios in your home -- either virtually, using a computer layout, or in real time/real life in your kitchen. We even marked out the island size in tape on the floor, and experimented with moving around the space with the distances we'd allocated. Quite a process, but we ended up with a kitchen that works like an absolute dream! But if you don't have the room or the need for a second sink ... by all means, skip it! I think it's one of those things that's become a mantra but which is used, in many instances, where there is just no reason for it -- it becomes more of a bar sink. I'd say if you think you'll use it mostly to fill pots or tea kettles (for instance), get a pot filler instead. Here's our kitchen layout -- you'll see why we needed one! Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen layout with prep sink...See MorePlease show me your (corner) prep sink
Comments (24)Thanks, Marcolo! I'm working my way toward the FKB... No sooner was my kitchen finished (last month), than I proceeded to lose my camera. Above shot was taken with my phone, hence the haze. My other hesitation is I went off these boards for nearly a year while our reno got delayed, so I feel like a bit of an interloper now. "Hey! You don't know me, but check out my new kitchen!" Which is ironic, since I lurked here virtually hours a day back when I was in the planning stage 1-2 years ago, often posting questions just like newbie's. And what a godsend all these brilliant, generous minds were to me then. So I'm trying to get over my shyness, offering one personal experience at a time, hoping to "give back" a little, as they say... Oh, and did I mention I tend to overthink things?...See Morelascatx
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