Blanco Single Basin or 1 3/4 Basin

7 years ago

Have to make a decision on a sink for our new home. I'm really leaning toward the Blanco Performa Single Basin (which has a raised ledge for placement of colander to rinse fruits, vegetables, and utensils and drain grooves to remove excess water into main sink). However, I'm sure my husband will lean toward the Blanco Performa 1 1/34 Double Bowl sink (or what we would refer to as a 60/40 sink).

Here's the dilemma. I do most of the cooking and very rarely handwash anything except my good knives and stemware, and pots which will not fit in the dishwasher. I do defrost some things in my current sink (a 30/70 stainless sink which I hate). My husband, on rare occasions when he does cook, likes to cook with cast iron and will handwash everything....even sometimes when I am out of town will come home to find everything BUT the kitchen sink handwashed and out all over the counters.

I like my kitchen to look clean and uncluttered and DESPISE handwashed dishes and pots and pans out drying on the counters. Husband, despite being raised in era of dishwashers, seems to have an aversion to them, and only reason I can figure is because he hates to unload the dishwasher.

Which is the better sink for us under these conditions? I think I should have the final say so because I do most of the cooking and dishwashing. Both of these sinks are 10" deep so would be plenty deep enough for his cast iron pots and pans when he does cook and wash them. He will also use the argument that the larger single sink will be wasteful with water when he handwashes, so how do I go around that argument?

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Comments (5)

jesslake
7 years ago
I have the same dilemma for the exact same reasons. I'm putting my foot down and making the final decision on this one because I do the vast majority of cooking and cleaning. Well along with our housekeeper, but she'll clean up my way without a grumble, unlike my husband. ;) I'm also considering the Blanco Performa along with a few others. I really like the look of a sink + drainboard but I'm still not sure if it's practical use of counter space.

We used to have one large single basin and I loved it (Ikea apron front single bowl), now we have 2 equal bowls and I'm looking forward to going back to a larger single again. The second bowl just gets grungy and piles up with stuff that never gets put away. I like the extra elbow room a large sink provides, being able to put cookie sheets in flat, not always bumping pots into the faucet, etc. And you can get far more sink in a smaller cabinet with a single. Going with a 33" cabinet instead of 36" doesn't seem like much but it makes a big difference in my kitchen layout and that seals the deal.

Tell your husband that in a large sink, you simply don't fill it as deep. There's no need for more than a few inches and he'll still have plenty of water to work with. For this reason, I actually prefer shallower sinks but they are hard to find, the trend being towards back-aching depth these days. I have one of the touch/motion sensing faucets and I absolutely love it for rinsing. Just a quick wave of the item in front of the sensor gives a jet of water just long enough to rinse. It amounts to far less water than filling a second sink just for rinsing. The faucet is the only thing I'm keeping when we gut the kitchen.
stelmoqn thanked jesslake
stelmoqn
Original Author
7 years ago
jesslake, what faucet do you have that you like so much?
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Sophie Wheeler - I almost always agree with your posts. However, your statement is offbase: "Drain location is inconsequential unless you are attempting to stuff 50 gallons of trash and a full cleaning cart under there" The increased storage and utility under the sink gained from not having the pipes in the middle of that area is a wonderful benefit. I do not have my trash under the sink, nor do I keep loads of cleaning items there. It is roomy, uncluttered, and easy to find things without the plumbing in the center. I can see no reason not to have it; your hyperbole is out of place. You've also overlooked the other benefit of the offset drain: that you can set a large pot, roasting pan, or cookie sheet in the sink, and not cover the drain. Once you have this feature, you'll never want to go back to a center drain. "The offset drains do have the tendency to have worse drainage than than center drains, for what it's worth." I have had an offset corner drain sink for 12 years, and never had an issue with drainage. I am not sure if you are referring to a slope issue - the water in the sink is not flowing quickly into the drain--a good sink manufacturer has a sink with a good slope, regardless of drain location. Or, are you are saying that having the corner location impedes the drainage in the pipe itself? Either way, neither of those drainage problems has ever been my experience. Furthermore, I have been on this forum for many years, and never read a post of anyone complaining of the corner drain causing poor drainage.
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homechef59
7 years ago
Large single. Every time I use mine, I smile. I love being able to just drop things into it. Every time I wash a cookie or baking sheet, I smile.

I have a drain board in my counter top. I sized it so I can place a cutting board on top of it, if I need the extra counter space.
stelmoqn thanked homechef59
jesslake
7 years ago
Stelmoqn, it's a Moen Motionsense bought from a higher end kitchen place, not big box store (I've heard that a lot of the big box versions look similar but are not as good quality, don't know if that's true but I didn't want to take a chance on something finicky like this). I should say that most of my guests hate it. It takes a little getting used to, but once you do, the convenience and water savings are great.
stelmoqn thanked jesslake
crcollins1_gw
7 years ago
I just posted this pic on another thread and have posted it a bunch of times before, too, but I love this sink. It has the larger side that will hold baking dishes and other large pots and pans, plus the little side for draining a few handwashed dishes, or placing something for defrosting, or if I only need a small amount of water for something. Best of both worlds in my opinion. I don't think I would like a single basin because sometimes I just want two separate spaces, or need an extra place to drain something. When I have a lot of hand washed dishes, I pull out a drainer than I store from a hook on the cabinet door just below the sink.

You can get this with the larger basin on either side.
stelmoqn thanked crcollins1_gw

Blanco Single Basin or 1 3/4 Basin

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Blanco Single Basin or 1 3/4 Basin

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