I am not sure what your KDs are thinking of. We have owned Swanstone sinks for almost 20 years. The bathroom sinks are indestructible, and our kitchen sink, installed in 2003, has been a delight. It is quieter and frankly, easier to clean than the top-notch Kohler Executive Chef porcelain-clad cast iron sink that was replaced. Which, BTW, was in perfect condition when it was removed, despite hideously hard usage. Nonetheless, we were glad to replace the double EC with the single Swanstone. Note that aluminum pans will leave the same "gray marks" on solid surfacing that they do on clad cast iron sinks. These scrub away very easily with Softscrub or a quick soak with a bit of bleach (but if you use bleach, ALWAYS rinse well after a few minutes - especially for clad cast iron; it will eat the coating away). As I said, the Swanstone solid surface sink cleans much, much easier than the Kohler. You may believe whomever you wish, but my DH has often commented to me that the Swanstone sink was the best thing we did in a $26K updating of our kitchen and bathrooms. One thing matte sinks are very bad with is leaving wet cans (we have to rinse cans before they can go into the recycling bins) overnight: they leave a rust stain that takes about a month to go away. Note that uncoated cast iron cookware would probably do the same thing. I don't clean the sink extensively more than once a month; it simply doesn't need it. One either likes the matte finish of Swanstone/Corian or one doesn't. Many people like the high-gloss look and think solid surface sinks always look "dull". Our kitchen is extremely high-glare - I get sun in the windows 365 days a year, all 24' wide and 16' tall from picture windows, so we are very anti-glare. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.

I think we have the 'D' shape, in a 30'' cabinet, for the clean-up sink. Really like it! There were plenty of moments of self-questioning and I was very worried about not having the faucet centered (the sink is centered on a bank of three windows) but we are very pleased with how it turned out. For the faucet we selected, we actually ended up cutting into the cabinet on the right, so the control valve could be installed and we also pulled the sink as far forward as possible. Just cleaned the sink the first time in a month or so since it was installed; used baking soda and it cleaned up fairly well. But... will look for something I can spray on. Guess posting pictures is like entertaining.... one way to get the cleaning done :) From Recently Updated Side note -- I love, love, LOVE the faucet (Kohler Karbon). It's such fun to use and so handy. I'm rather cranky I didn't use the same one for the prep area (what do you mean I have to pull down?!!). The single motion to adjust and keep the spray exactly where you want it is so natural.

We are in the process of selecting our kitchen countertops and I prefer the Brushed Clarino as apposed to the Polished but I am concerned about the durability, staining, and need for more maintenance. Has anyone gotten this product in the brushed version, if so what are your comments. Thank you!

Hi dmac, cabinet paint is Sherwin Williams matched to Benjamin more’s white dove OC-17, pendant lights were from bellacor, barstools are from restoration hardware (they weren’t expensive though), subway tile is daltile rittenhouse in arctic white.