It’s a kitchen design question as old as time: Double sink or single sink, which is better? Some readers recently started commenting back and forth on the question, and it occurred to me that we’d never discussed and debated this topic in a story. (We did discuss the classic toilet paper over or under question, though!) Above: Illustration of American-Standard kitchen cabinets and sinks from a 1953 catalog.
Of course, each design has its pros and cons. [Above: Illustration from 1953 Crane kitchen catalog.]
Double sink pros and cons:
- Double sinks make it easier to wash on one side, stack to dry on the other.
- Or procrastinators can wash on one side, pile dirties on the other, and get to finishing up when you can. [I plead guilty, but you could guess that already, couldn’t you?]
- On the flip side, double sinks typically are smaller, so you sometimes cannot get a big pot or tray completely into one of the bowls. Jamming a large tray into one side of a double sink kinda runs the risk of scratching or dinging it.
- In the same vein, they can take up more room.
Single sink pros and con:
- Single sinks can be sized larger, so they can fit large pots and pans and trays. [My husband is in the single sink camp for this reason.]
- I guess you could say: They encourage you to clean as you go, because there is no second bowl to pile in the dirties.
- Overall, they likely take up less room, so there is more counter space for prep.
Karin says
I have a small kitchen with limited counter space but I’m a double person!
Amarissa Parker says
For 10 years, we lived in a newly built home with a composite granite single bowl sink. It was fantastic for cleaning large items (like the turkey roasting pan), and easy to clean as well.
We moved into our current home a little over a year ago, which has a kitchen that was updated in 1966 (dream kitchen!). It came with an Elkay Cuisine Center sink, which has a small, elevated bowl on the right, and a deeper bowl on the left. I was so excited to have this, as it was such a gem of the era… Unfortunately, all I ever do is spray water on myself when I am trying to clean large items, due to the shallowness and the small size of the sink bowls.
Having had both, I vote for ONE big bowl. The single wins!
Kathryn L Asbahr says
I am in the single sink group. When we had our house built, the builder was all about double sinks in porcelain or stainless steel. I hat both so we researched and found a solid surface single bowl sink and ordered it. I can clean anything in my sink. The only thing I would change would be to do a built in solid surface sink blended with the counters. No lip to clean around and the solid surface is a dream to clean. We did that in our precious house and loved it. We used a LG product. We get very tempted to do it again in this house but haven’t pulled the check book on it yet.
Amber says
We put in one of those really big single sinks. I’ve have double my whole life, and my Husband kept breaking glass and plates when he’d wash them and hit them on the middle part. Our single is large enough to fit multiple pots/pans and not look like I haven’t washed anything in days. My in laws regret putting in another double sink after using ours. It also made bathing a baby easier for us, too!
Robin, WA says
Double bowl, for sure. I’ve lived with both over the years and, given my style of dish washing, double is the way to go. I fill one side with soapy water to wash dishes and use the other side to rinse. The double bowl also gives you more options. You can stack dirty dishes while you use the other side to rinse veggies or use the garbage disposal.
Patrick Phillips says
I prefer the large single basin, we have the Ceco in our kitchen. Before we had a dishwasher, I would keep a plastic tub in the sink, where you could pile dirty dishes during cooking keeping your counter space free. When it was time to wash, you could just lift out the tub, setting it on the counter, fill your sink with wash water and go. Not ideal for everyone, but I do love the wide open space for hand washing.
Lyndasewsalot says
I love the single bowl very deep sink. There is room to wash everything. I go to a lot of estate sales. I never know what I’ll be washing next. I don’t have a convient large laundry tub in my home. (Yet ?) Another option is a double sink , 1 large sink , with a very small sink to one side just for the garbage disposal. I LOVE a mcm kitchen, but those farm sinks do have a lot of room. I remodeled a kitchen in a rental I own. I used Geneva steel cabinets, and had a handyman adapt the sink cabinet to accommodate a 36” farm sink, with an industrial sprayer faucet mounted on the wall. I wish I had it in my own home.
Teri Mills says
Oh, Pam– you gave me a chuckle this morning. A prognosticator is someone who foretells the future. You mean procrastinator. But back to the issue at hand: I hate single sinks. I wash dishes by hand. I had a single sink for years and got tired of having to use a dish pan. I must have a double sink.
Pam Kueber says
LOL, I predict that I will not procrastinate and fix it, stat!
Kelly Wittenauer says
Definitely double bowl. With a large side for washing, so big things fit. And the small side to rinse. I know that’s not retro, but chose the one I find most functional when we built this house. Thru 4 apartments & 5 houses previous to building, I’d experienced several different sink setups. Never liked dealing with the dishpan needed to wash & rinse in a single sink. Also not a fan of drainboards. Prefer a drain mat that can be stowed for more counter space & a cleaner look.
Vickie says
We recently remodeled our kitchen and decided on one open sink. We use big pots and cast iron to cook in. The divided sinks made it difficult to maneuver and this style gives us plenty of room to move them around while we clean them. We have a dishwasher and use the sink for large item cleaning. I love it and can’t imagine ever going back to a divided sink.