To me a prep sink is great if it's functional (meaning the main sink is out of the way of the prep area, so it would be good to have a water source nearby). I have had them (and used them) and I don't have one now and it's fine too. A friend of mine who designed a very high end kitchen about the same size as yours did not put one in and never saw the need for it. I am not a fan of pot fillers, for much the same reason you aren't.

A pot filler is critical for me because we cook a lot of soups. My elderly father has arthritis and he loves cooking soup in giant stockpots that are 15" tall. I admit that I do the same.

I've thrown my back out lugging the full pot from the sink around a corner to the stove.

Since we always decant the soup pot for storage, emptying is not an issue for us.

I can't wait till the kitchen is done and be able to fill the soup pots or my yogurt pans without 15 trips to the sink to refill containers that I use to fill the pots.

I don't have nor have I ever had either one...and I love to cook and cook from scratch almost daily. If you don't want them, don't get them. I can't imagine anyone would ever NOT buy a house because it didn't have a pot filler or prep sink.

Personally, I don't think much of pot fillers for the same reason as you. I would not buy a house based on whether the kitchen had/did not have a prep sink or pot filler, and can't imagine anyone else would either. I bought our house despite the fact that I didn't like anything in the kitchen - not to mention the bathrooms, MBR, need I continue?

A prep sink being necessary really depends upon how your layout is constructed.

Ice, Water, Stone, Fire.

Between the refrigerator and the main area where you will prep, you should have a water source (washing produce, opening dripping packages of meat over a drain).

Between the water source and the cooktop or oven, there should be a piece of counter that is spacious enough to prep on. My personal experience is nothing less than 36-42" for a kitchen the size you are building.

Next to the oven, and hopefully *not* the same spece designated for prep should be a "landing zone" to safely set-down hot pans, pots, etc without crossing an aisle. This is normally adjacent or as "wings" to the stove. Some people say 12", I prefer 18".

In my L shaped kitchen, I needed a prep sink to make my island functional as prep space. If I'd not had one I would have taken items from the refrigerator to the sink just fine, but then had to transport them dripping wet across the aisle or used my oven's landing space as prep space.

Remember, most of your time in the kitchen is spent in prep, chopping, mixing, etc. If you clean as you go, very very little time is devoted to cleanup (limited to service-ware and any pots that still had food in them when you finished serving). If you do not have water on a large island, you will face the perimeter during both clean-up and prep most-likely which puts you facing away from guests 80%+ of the time in your kitchen.

This is my layout that I'm doing. To get the best function, I imagined 2 main prep spaces.

1) from refrigerator items land on counter above microwave on island. Are washed, prepped on other side of prep-sink, cross to range.

2) from refrigerator items land on counter between range and oven, washed, back to same counter, to range.

Without the prep sink, my island is extremely unlikely to be used for prep because I will follow the path of least resistance and not cross after using the sink. This would create congestion where L5/L9/L2 are and it certainly isn't a 2-cook kitchen at that point.

I plan to use path 1 most often. I will use the counter-space at L5, L9, and L2 between the sink and the range as serving space, to put prepared food on plates or in serving dishes. L6 is my landing space (or L5/9).

If it's a busy holiday and I need 3 cooks in the kitchen, I could use L1 as a prep surface although not ideal, or double up at the island.

The cleanup zone is completely outside of my prep and cooking areas so that I can clean as I go, getting things loaded into the dishwasher, hand-washed and set to dry, etc.

We did do a pot filler. We cook a lot of rice and it will be convenient to measure right into the pan instead of going to a sink. I also use water during saute / stir fry a fair amount when I need to cook longer and my liquid has become too reduced.

kitchen inspiration · More Info

We have had our pot filler for 12 years and it is very convenient for soups, stews, rice and for adding a bit more water to something on the stove. As much as I like having it, I could easily live without it, and it would have no impact on whether or not I bought a house. I do not currently have a prep sink, but am hoping to include it in our remodel.

I don't have a pot filler and never considered one so really don;t know the value of one.

As for a prep sink I think it depends on the layout of the kitchen. I do have one and there was never any doubt about putting one in with our reno. I use ours all the time but they do have to be properly planned for. Don't plunk one in just to say there is one.

Don't plunk one in just to say there is one

Amen. We had one when we did our very first kitchen (1986) and it was never ever used -- it was in completely the wrong place for prep and cooking.

Do you plan to stay in this home for some years to come? If so, then design it to suit your needs and not a future buyer who might decide to remodel the kitchen if it's old enough, it doesn't suit their needs or it's not their style.

As others have stated, a prep sink is useful if it makes sense for your lay-out and your needs. If you often have multiple cooks in the kitchen, a prep sink makes it easier to do that. If you're willing, post your lay-out and we can help you determine if you need a prep sink and if so, where one would be useful.

As for pot filler, given your concerns, IMO, it's not worth the worry.

btw, I had to laugh that you don't think a 19' x 14' kitchen with an 8' x 4' island isn't "especially large." That's nearly twice the size of my kitchen and I don't consider my kitchen small. It's all in one's perspective. = )

If those two options don't make you happy, then definitely skip them. I would not want a prep sink or pot filler in my space. They are certainly not required in a high end kitchen.

If you don't want them, don't put them in. If it's high end enough to NEED them, it's also high end enough that the next owners are going to gut your kitchen after they buy it.