I'm a double bowl girl...for me, it's one side to wash/store dirty dishes and the other to use as a landing space for clean, waiting to be put away dishes (perhaps waiting a bit too long)...but it's a must for me, plus the disposal is on one side so you can put all food leftovers in there w/out disturbing your clean side.

I've always preferred double bowls for the reason you describe...So went with one in our new house, not realizing I might not need it since we were having a prep sink, too. It does make a difference with the prep sink, and now I wish I had a large single for the cleanup sink, so I could soak stove parts, and other large items. The prep sink solves the 'not washing and prepping chicken over the dishes' thing.

I am not worried about washing raw meat over the dishes because I know they will go into the dishwasher which heats up to such a high heat.

The single deep Franke sink makes my cleanup so easy I would never go back to double sink. I can soak a roasting pan, cookie sheet, etc with room to shovel food into disposal. I don't wash or prep meat when anything is in the sink. Dishes get rinsed, put in DW. IF the DW is full and operating, dishes get rinsed, stacked on counter above DW. I always keep a small SS recepticle in sink with soapy water for soaking utencils. Works here.

Over sized double sink for me all the way!!!

Had one for 17 years and it was a no-brainer that I would get one with our recent reno. We got the Blanco double sink, 10in depth on the large side, 18.5 X 17 3/4 inches wide on the large bowl......more than big enough to soak anything I want to put in there, still with the convenience of the smaller bowl.

It's one of my favorite things about the new kitchen.

I have been researching this same question trying to make a decision too. It seems to be a 50/50 deal.

I have no room for a prep sink and my 48" vintage beauty that I have now eats up very valuable counter space. With a remodel we get a chance to get anything we want, but not everything!

For me the question really seems to be if my decision turns out to be wrong, what will be the easiest to live with based on my needs.

Based on that I can share why I *think* I am now leaning single vs the D shaped double.

I use my dishwasher for everything I can.

Any hand washing is usually large pots that I will fill with soap and water and use as the dishpan and I only rinse with the sprayer.

Deep is important to me to stow dirties.

Air drying can be done on the counter and at my house that IS usually better at my house because they WILL get put away then.

I can't say I would keep one sink free because even now that is not the case. =) One has dirties, the other has clean. I have a deep bowl double sink now, and will sometimes air dry dishes in that bowl now, and wash (in a pot) from the exact same size shallow bowl on the other side.

Since I am down sizing it struck that the small side of the *new* double sink would probably be too small to hold any of my air drying and/or too small to hold my needed washing- so really what would be the sense? If you are looking up grade your sink size,then I would imagine that has it's own set of reasoning.

My 48" sink- perfect if you have the room!

never_ending, If I had your sink I doubt I could ever give it up as long as I could get a cookie sheet or roaster pan in it.

I really love my single bowl sink and all the extra room it has compared to a double bowl.

Working with raw meat is not a problem. The dishes go in the dishwasher or get washed in hot water. When in doubt, I set them aside on the counter until the sink is free.

We have both a double-bowl cleanup sink and single-bowl prep sink...and we would do it again if we had it to do over.

The large bowl in our double-bowl sink is 21-1/2" wide and fits everything I need it to except the 30+ inches wide deli drawer from my refrigerator. The small bowl is 10-1/2" wide and is big enough to fill our largest pot but small enough to soak utensils. We also use the small bowl to "collect" dirty utensils...and since there's no GD on that bowl, no worries about utensils falling into the GD.

I know some people will say to just use a dishpan in a large single for the small soaking jobs. However, to do so means dumping the dirty water on top of clean things or just getting in the way. It would also mean trying to find somewhere to store the dishpan when not in use. We still think the double-bowl is best for us, but YMMV.

However...

(1) If I were short on counterspace, I would probably have considered a 27" or 30" sink base w/a single-bowl to gain the extra 6 to 9 inches of counterspace.

(2) If your sink base is not at least 33" (and preferably at least 36"), then I think a single-bowl is the way to go as 2 bowls in anything less would be too small...even the "large" bowl.

(3) When considering sinks, I highly recommend going with a 70/30 configuration to give you a good-sized large bowl. 60/40 or 50/50 usually means the large bowl isn't big enough and the small bowl is too big for small tasks.

I needed the counter space so I went from the standard double (33" wide) to a 10-inch-deep standard single (25") and I've never regretted it. No more fighting to fit a couple of big items in the sink. No more looking at stuff sticking out of the top of the sink (though I suppose there are doubles that are 10" deep as well). Very happy I did it.

I'm struggling to decide too.

10 years ago, DH and I only had space for a 21" wide single bowl. We got a Kindred stainless steel D shape. I loved it. It handled everything, including baby baths.

That was our first house. Fast forward to the present, we're on house #4. Houses 2, 3, and 4 all had doubles. House #2 had a double bowl BLACK Kohler, which I DO NOT RECOMMEND!!! Well, I should qualify, don't if you have hard water. That sink looked horrible in a short time. We bought the house 1 year new and stayed only 2.5 years. The sink was so discolored that we had to hire someone to refinish it in a different color.

For this current kitchen reno, I was planning on a single Domsjo from the get go. I wanted a farmhouse sink, but can't afford to spend a lot. While browsing the As-is dept at IKEA, I found the double bowl model for $55. The back corner is chipped off, but my plan has always been to undermount, so it's not an issue. Now I'm vacillating daily, should I keep it, or just buy the single....

I have no prep sink.

Roasting pans are not a huge deal for me, we don't eat much meat, maybe a few times a year at most. But, I DO prep a lot of veggies, fruits and greens. My cookie sheets are on the smallish side as both my ovens are (will be) small. Hmmmm.

Kathe

Honeysucklevine: I am not worried about washing raw meat over the dishes because I know they will go into the dishwasher

It's not the dishes I was ever worried about...Just didn't ever like prepping food and having to move or work over and amongst the dirty dishes collecting in the sink. It was the food that was the concern, and room to work.

I have to say that the right double bowled sink can fit a lot of things. I have one big bowl and one bigger bowl in our Kohler Clarity, and some pretty big pans can lie flat to soak.

I agree with rhome-- my concern about the raw meat is about splashes, handwashing over dirty meat dishes, etc. Not about any other dirty dishes in the sink. I can't always put dirty meat utensils and cutting boards straight in the DW because sometimes I have to get the meal underway before I have time to unload the clean DW. And we never put our knives in the DW, so the meat knife is always a concern.

Anyway, thanks for all the responses. I was just curious whether a prep sink relieves some of the double-bowl desire. We definitely took the less popular route on GW as I perceive it-- a 50-50 double, only 8 inches deep because of splashing and back strain (we are tall).

For me it was definitely the prep sink. I loved my old 4' long sink, but there was no way to keep it. I've done fine with one small bowl in a tiny kitchen, but for me it's not so much the meat thing as the soaking greens thing. I use a lot of vegetables that have grit (cress, spinach, leeks, etc.) Having a bowl where I can conveniently soak these, into which I can peel, etc., was important to me in a way that having separate wash and rinse bowls wasn't. I decided on the smaller sink (33", I think) when I found a prep sink that would work as my second bowl.

So, the big difference with one small single bowl is organization. The only dishes in the sink would be the ones I put back there for the man who thought that cleaning the dirt in the pot was the equivalent to cleaning the pot. :) Dishes got washed immediately after use. The sink and counter were cleaned prior to and following prep.

We didn't get a lot of veg that needed to be soaked there, but rather than even thinking about doing it in the sink, which was never clean enough for me, and which wouldn't be usable with cress soaking, I'd wash in a pot (doubled for mixing bowl). It drains much better in a sink. Doing it in a pot or bowl is definitely make-do, not a good way to get the chore done. Though, come to think of it, my colander had holes that were way too big and thick for greens. Total nightmare getting the little leaves out again. So they mostly got shaken and set on a plate. Not efficient. A sieve or salad spinner would make that whole thing work a lot better.

Yes, one small bowl is adequate for life. Having a second large, deep bowl is very nice and makes for a more pleasant kitchen. :) Whether the bowls are attached or not. :)

I have been thinking about this too lately. I have room for a decent (not extravagent) double sink, but I probably don't have room for that extra prep sink. I currently have a 50/50 shallow double sink - each bowl is 14 in.

I think I'm leaning toward 1 large sink. At my last house I had a single D sink - not sure of the size though - from looking at pics, I'd guess it was in a 24" cabinet. (so isn't that a 21 inch sink?) It was definitely adequate and nice and deep. I miss that sink. :-) at the time, I did sort of wish for a small side bowl for utensils etc, though.

So, why am I changing my mind from a double (70/30ish sort of split)...

The thing I dislike the most about my current sink - kids put their dirty dishes on both sides. No matter how many times I remind them. Granted, I'm dealing with 3, 5, 7 and 10 yr olds. Cleaning nasty, soggy cereal out of the non-disposal sink has gotten old.

Now I'm just debating if losing storage is worth the trade-off for putting in a small prep sink on the island. Right now, I'm waffling to "no" - I probably need that storage... and a prep sink on the island would require additional plumbing.

Since I have plenty of time before we are actually going to remodel, I'll probably revisit these questions many times over in my brain. ;-)

Single bowl girl here. We had a double bowl sink before the reno, and I will never go back! The thing that inspired me to install a single bowl sink in my kitchen renovation was not this forum (hadn't found it yet when I made that decision). It was the memory of the kitchen in my home growing up. My childhood home was built in the late '50's and had a very large enameled cast iron white sink (as an aside, I read here that today's enameled cast iron sinks aren't made the way they used to, and that's why the modern ones don't look as good or are as durable).

I had almost forgotten about the sink of my childhood, because in the several apartments and houses I'd lived in as an adult all had double bowl sinks. I was always dissatisfied with those double bowl sinks - neither side was ever larger enough to soak a roasting pan or give me enough elbow room to wash my big dutch oven. The non-disposal side always had gunk to clean out of the strainer, or worse, got stopped up cause stuff went down that non-disposal side. When I looked at sinks for my reno, I suddenly remembered that big ol' single bowl sink, and how wonderful and easy it was to work with. Though I got a stainless one, rather than the cast iron.

As to raw meats, no one in my family ever got sick from meat contamination in the 20 years or so of that single bowl sink in my childhood kitchen, or in the last 5 years of my new kitchen. You wash your hands, and your utensils, finished. Frankly, I think there's almost more chance of cross-contamination with two bowl sinks, cause there's more likelihood or tendency for the meat to be in one bowl, the veggies/fruit in the other, and the more that both are out at the same time, the more there could be cross-contamination. A single bowl imposes the discipline of cleaning everything right away, or putting in the DW right away, before going to the next thing. Maybe it's just the way I work, I dunno, or the habits of childhood so firmly ingrained!

What's great about this forum is that everyone can give their own pros and cons, and there's really no right or wrong answer about which style sink to get. I just wanted to describe why I prefer the single bowl arrangement.

I grew up with a single sink and have lived with a single sink in our current house for almost 30 years. However, perhaps it's because I live in California and have always been water conscious, I have always used a rubbermaid tub to wash in and then rinsed in the rest of the sink. So I've used the single sink as a double sink. So in this remodel we are going with a double sink. You will find people passionate about each choice, I think it depends on habits and usage. The Kohler Stages offeres another option with the center divide being low enough that you can still wash large objects in the sink. Go with whatever you want.

Never_ending, if you are still on here, can you tell me about your tile on the wall next to your counter. Is that a basketweave? color?

I believe it was buehl who posted pics of her 70/30 sink with various pans in it. Very helpful. It pretty much sold me on that Ticor sink, although I haven't made the purchase yet.

Just for clarity--Trailgirl, did you mean to say "smart divide"?

Kerrys - it should be noted that Buehl's double bowl sink is for a 36" cabinet base. Many people don't have that large of a cabinet base for a sink (see Buehl's post above).

Double sink! But I like to wash china, crystal and silver by hand. This way I have one side for the soapy dishes and another side for rinsing...without overflowing the soapy dishes :)

Also like the convenience if I'm watering a plant or stacking a dish...that the other side is still open and I'm not getting hand soap on the plant!

If I had two sinks, I'd still want a double sink, but my second sink would probably be a little bar sink...just for drinks and washing veggies.

Big single with a grid for me.

Handwashing is easy. I just do the soaping with a sponge and set the soapy things on the left side of the grid. When I'm all done with that I use the pull down sprayer and rinse them.

In the vacation house we rented over xmas, the double sink annoyed me. I couldn't even soak a 9x13 lasagna pan in it. I could do 3 in my big single if I needed to!

Trailgirl if you look closer that is beadboard I tacked up there to see how it would look. It is painted Bone by Glidden.
I love the basketweave tile though!

I have one large sink, no prep sink (the sink is centrally located, so a prep sink didn't make sense). I have never seen a double sink where either side was large enough.