My main sink is in my 42" wide (one level) island. The sink is 9" from bottom of sink to top of counter, so not quite as deep as some. I have never, ever had a problem with splashing the floor behind. I do get some splashing on the countertop behind the sink, but I think it's probably easier to wipe the one level than have the 2.

Thank you.

My sink is in a 39" wide peninsula and only occasionally has a drop or two splashed about 12" beyond the edge of the sink. My sink is 8" deep. We went from a raised bar to one level and it's so much more functional.

mayflowers- do you have about a13" overhang then?

My sink in my previous home was, like mayflowers' sink, on a wide peninsula (picture attached). It was never a problem, and I liked it so much more than I did pre-remodel when we had a bi-level peninsula.

There's 19" of counter behind my sink. I have 12" deep cabinets backed up to the DW, sink base, and trash pullout, so it's a 36" deep peninsula with no overhang for seating. Looks like SJ's but with the 12" of cabinets on the backside.

Kbear- will you have seating across from the sink?

Main and only sink in the island with seating - single level. The island is 3'11" deep. There is a good 2' behind the faucet. I'd say any NORMAL splashing maybe goes an inch or inch and a half behind the faucet so still plenty of space with no issues to anyone or anything sitting there.

Abnormal splashing is anytime and every time a certain 12 year old boy turns the faucet on. I have no idea if he is trying to bathe with the water or what but it can reach the next county.

Old pic mid build:

Do you routinely leave stuff in the sink? if so, raised is the way to go. Otherwise I would have a single-height counter, it is much more practical.

6'' of height barely hides a single dinner plate. It won't hide anything else from view at all really. And that's not enough to give up a single level work surface for either. Especially on an builder designed island that is already borderline too small to begin with to successfully serve cleanup and prep functions well.

Do the counter all one level. The raised counter doesn't do much, except interrupt your expanse of work space. If you want to hide stuff in the sink, your deep Super Single you said you are getting will do that, and anyway, it's a kitchen for goodness sakes, and it will have dishes in the sink. It's not expected to look like an operating room.

I also prefer the sink not to be centered in the island. But others feel differently. Again, it's an issue of keeping the counter expanse mostly uninterrupted for the greatest utility. If the sink is centered, then both the left and right sides of of the counter are shortened. If you can, try to have the sink towards one end of the island. Just MHO, it's not a deal-breaker, just a suggestion.

Where will the DW be? I suggest next to the sink, rather than not in the island. The reason is that you don't want to have to carry dripping dishes from the sink across the aisle to the DW, so the DW needs to be in the island too.

A 9" sink is very deep if you're concerned about hiding dishes.

I looked at your first layout but don't know if you've made changes. I know it's cramped and made more cramped by the angled island. When we changed to a one level peninsula, our kitchen seemed to grow in size even though we kept the same layout. Our neighbor with an angled peninsula/raised bar in the same U layout couldn't get over how large our kitchen looked compared to hers.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments and advice. Yes, we hope to have some sort of seating (and thus would want the counter to overhang enough to accommodate this).

Yes, I would plan on having the dishwasher very close to my sink.

I agree - one level is the way to go, esp if we have a fairly deep sink. And to be honest, I don't care if people see any of my dishes. But that's just my opinion.