Did not save that thread....good question....I prep to the left of the sink as there is a corner to the right of the sink. Hope that makes sense....

I prep to the left, as my prep sink is on the corner of the island. I never even considered which side I'd be prepping on when I placed the sink--I just wanted it to be convenient in relation to the cooktop and the dishwasher. LOL, did I miss something??? :-)

Cj

I prep on the right of the sink, but don't have any choice in the matter. Same for our last house.
In the new layout, will prep across from the sink, as the sink wall will be a cleanup zone.

Another to the left here. Which leads me to ask why are so many more double bowl sinks bigger on the left? I seem to see twice as many of them as the other. Am I wrong in thinking the smaller sink should be closer to the prep area?

PS. Jen- I love your pics of your wood counters, thanks to you I am now beginning a kitchen re-do!!! =)

I prefer to prep on the right of the sink. As I cut the food, the remaining part under my left (non-knife) hand is waste. The waste gets swept to the left, directly into the sink. The cut pieces pile up to the right.

I prep to the left of the sink. I often place a bowl in the sink and hang the cutting board over its edge and scrape cut pieces in. My trash pull-out is to the left, so the scraps go that way, and the cut pieces go to the right.

I prep on the right but only because that is what works in my kitchen. I think it really depends on how your kitchen is set up and what is more convenient for you.

Thank you, never-ending!

john, I do believe it was you who had posted in the other thread I'm thinking about, regarding left-handed vs right-handed. So, you are right-handed?

First, I'm right handed.

Second, I prep on both sides! My prep sink is in the corner and provides me w/prep space on both sides. I do find, though, that I tend to prep on the left more often than the right...but then my cooktop & prep tools & utensils are also to the left of my prep sink so they may be the driving forces for my preference.

Occasionally I will prep next to the cleanup sink and I prep on the left then, but the driving forces there are (1) the refrigerator is to the left, (2) the DW is to the right and it would be in the way if I tried to prep there, (3) the trash pullout is to the left, and (4) the larger bowl w/the garbage disposal is on the left...yes, I much prefer to prep in a larger than a smaller bowl!

When I'm in my mother's kitchen (and the kitchen I grew up in), I prep to the right of the sink...but the larger amount of counterspace and the range are also on the right, so that's probably why I prep there.

Mostly I prep on the left side of my sink, but I don't think it has anything to do with my handedness. That surface is between sink and range, which makes it most convenient if cooking is the next step. Also, from that location I can see the TV in the family room at the same time, if perchance there is anything on worth watching...

If I'm prepping some thing to microwave, like leftovers, I'll do it to the right of the sink, since that is where the MW is.

In my old kitchen I prepped to the left of the sink as the prep area was between the sink and the stove. In our new kitchen I am now prepping to the right of the sink and the area is between the sink and stove. The stove stayed where it was but we put a new prep sink in on the other side. It took me a while to get used to it and I don't know if it's because of my handedness (right) or because it was a 20 year old habit and it's tough to teach this old dog new tricks. To prevent myself from moving back over I have all of my cooking utensils, pots/pans and pullout trash also in this area.

Interesting question. I'm right handed and prep to the left of my double sink and it probably has more to do with the layout rather than handedness. There is more counter space to the left of my undermount sink. Dishwasher is to the left of the sink, I prep and scoot waste into the large left sink bowl with the disposal, use the smaller right bowl with in-sink drainboard to air dry dishes and primary dish cabinets are to the right of that. I also have a long penisula perpendicular to the counter on the left side of the sink so if I'm standing in front of that counter prepping I can grab ingredients from the peninsula behind me.
That layout works well for us and when we redo the kitchen we hope to have something similar.

I am right handed and prep towards the left of the sink. If I am standing at the "prep" counter the sink is to my right (on the long arm of the L) and the range is to my left on the short arm of the L.

I prep on the right because the dish rack fits better on the left. Or--more often--I prep across from the sink on the cooktop because it's usually clear. And I like to run the vent when I chop onions. There are always onions.

Jenswrens, yes I am right handed.

The other thing I like is a tall cutting board, butcher block about 1.5'' thick, with rubber stick-on feet. It raises the work surface so I'm not hunched over, and a plate can slide under the edge of the board. The left end of the board hangs over the sink edge.

I am righty & prep left of sink

I'm a righty and currently prep on the left, only choice, but can't wait to get back to the right.

I'm a righty who preps to the right of the sink.
wash -> chop -> waste to bowl for compost
the knife chops and pushes waste farther right.

I'm working on a renovation plan that will keep that sequence, but with a slightly higher (peninsula) stone counter where the sinks would live, so that veg once washed could sit draining there until I grab it for chopping on the prep surface.

The prep zone in a single sink environment will end up being between the sink and stove. It's not dependent on handedness. It's dependent on sink location for the workflow. That's why so many people add prep sinks to their designs. It clearly separates the prep and cleanup zones, rather than having them overlap.

The "rule of overlap" is that when zones overlap, you take the largest needed measurement for that zone and add 12" to make the overlap work. For a cleanup zone, it's recommended that you have 18" on one side, and 24" on the other. To make that same sink work comfortably for two functions, take that 24" and add 12" to the side between the sink and the stove. Now you have 36", and your prep and cleanup can overlap without frustrating you.

My kitchen has the sink centered in a long island with 7' of clear counter on either side. The cooktop is offset a bit, behind the sink. So neither the cooktop nor the available counterspace control the prep area. That being said, I tend to prep on the left. I think that's because the fridge is on that side. Also, "junk" tends to accumulate on the other end of the island (drop zone when entering the house) so I think subconsciously it doesn't seem as "kitcheny" on that side as on the left side.

This was one thing that I did not change when we redid the kitchen -- the location of the sink and cooktop. The dishwasher is to the left of the sink, there's about 24" of countertop "prep" space to the right of the sink, and then the cooktop. (I'd prefer there to be closer to 36" of countertop space between the sink and cooktop, as this is the primary prep space, but that's not an option in this kitchen.)

I like having the sink and cooktop on the same run together like this. We had Thanksgiving at my SIL's house, and her sink and cooktop are across the aisle from each other. I don't like having to move things across the floor from one to the other.

There's plenty of other spaces that could be used for prep, but that space between the sink and cooktop -- regardless of left or right -- is the key for me.

My main prep area is in a 45ð angle corner. The prep sink is to my right and the cooktop is to my left. I am right handed if that makes a difference. I LOVE it!