Lisa...I think in your kitchen you could go either way. Regardless of where your (main) sink ends up, it will still be close to the cooktop & you will have room to prep b/w them. If the sink moves to the refrigerator wall, you will have even more prep space b/w them. While a prep sink would be nice, I don't think it's a necessity to make your kitchen work. Yes, it would add an additional prep area for you at the island (b/c there will be a water source) and, possibly, reduce some zone crossing, depending on the location. Right now, to get to the refrigerator from the cooktop you have to either cross the Cleanup Zone or go around the island. How many people will be using your kitchen at once? Will they all be prepping/cooking or will there be a mix of prepping/cooking/cleaning up? If cleaning up is in the mix, then the zone crossing could become an issue, especially when the DW is open. As to location, I like Elizpiz's setup best, but I can see where it would definitely reduce available counter space. If you put it on the left side across from the cooktop, it would be readily available from the cooktop as well as the "outside" part of the island for prepping there while someone else is cleaning up on the "inside" as well as be available for outsiders for a drink of water, etc. However, it will reduce that 42-1/4" to approx approx 24" of workspace directly across from your cooktop; but, as I mentioned b/f, you will still have add'l room on the wall run. If you put it on the refrigerator end, I think you're right in your assessment...I find that I use the counters across from both my refrigerator & ovens much more than the counter next to them...both for removing things from them as well as staging things to put in them. (I have approx 32" b/w the Ref & DR peninsula end and approx 44" b/w the ovens & the end of the "mini peninsula". Both have landing space right next to them as well.) We do have a prep sink, but in our kitchen it was a necessity to make it work. Our cooktop & sink are opposite each other, separated by approx 6'6" of aisle...the main aisle through the kitchen. By adding a prep sink on the cooktop wall, we were able to separate the Cleanup Zone from the Prep & Cooking Zones as well as protect both zones from kitchen traffic (inside a "U" w/short legs but long base). During the week, there are usually two of us in the kitchen...one prepping/cooking (me) and one cleaning up (DH) with an occasional child helping make veggies. On the weekend, there are sometimes all four of us working in the kitchen! When baking (usually a marathon!), there are usually two or three of us. (I seem to bake in spurts...when I bake, I seem to go all out!)

Green Designs came up with a great plan, as usual. It's very similar to my new kitchen. The aisle between my 9' island with prep sink and the rangetop wall is about 42" counter to counter. Its perfect. I've had much larger aisles and hated them. In fact, that's one of the reasons I reno'd my old kitchen. I'm the sole cook in my kitchen 99% of the time, and I would never, ever, ever give up my prep sink. Ever. I love having a large prep zone with a dedicated water source that I don't have to share with the cleanup zone. I'm usually the one who does the dishes too, but when DH occasionally does that when I'm cooking, he can do it out of my way. This kitchen is my first experience with separate prep and cleanup sinks, but it has changed my cooking habits and way of looking at things in the kitchen. You will not use the sink on the perimeter to prep the way you laid out the space. It's not convenient for daily prep. It is a great place for a cleanup sink. Being over on the side like that, your dirty dishes won't show much. Mine don't. Between the giant single basin cleanup sink and the perimeter location, the few dirty dishes waiting on the counter for the DW don't both my OCDness very much. And as you can see, my kitchen is open or at least semi-open to all the other rooms in the house and to the front door. I much prefer an island being all one height rather than bi-level. Your first inspiration pic island is one height. At one level, you can spread out for large baking/cooking projects and for school, sewing or crafting projects. A large kitchen doesn't have to have wasted space. It just needs to be laid out correctly so you have the right amount of space in the right zones. I agree with everything Holly said. I think you could have a great kitchen here!

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.

Katrina: You may find this useful. Any sink 18 gauge or lower is fine. Beware of some sinks advertising 15 gauge; it may be only the flange. You can get some very nice accessories thrown in with certain sink deals. Like a strainer, colander, or bottom grate. As to brands, 304 stainless is 304 stainless, whether it comes from China or the USA. It's like being pregnant; you are or you aren't. Like a chandelier, no one has ever complained of having too big a sink.