Your husbands right about the symetry but function rules in a kitchen. If the extra 15" puts a crimp in your workflow I wouldn't do it. But you could put a panel on your DW so it doesn't break up the line so much.

It needs to be right beside the sink!It's not about looks but function. It's almost one swoop; the motion of scraping and rinsing off a plate and placing it in the dishwasher. You don't want to have to travel with a dripping wet plate.

Mrsbridges is absolutely right. Scrape & bend, not scrape, worry about dirty water/gunk dripping off the dirty plates, then bend....

Besides all the reasons already mentioned, there are plumbing issues--drain & hot water lines that might end up getting routed through the cabinet to tie into supply & drain at the sink location.

Sounds like he doesn't do dishes ;)

Definitely directly next to the sink!

I agree with the scrape and benders. I wouldn't want dirty dish water dripping all over the counters, floors and down the face of that brand new 15" cabinet he wants to put there for symmetry.

directly next to the sink, by all means.

OK, guess I would have to dissent. Well, not really. Next to the sink is best, but I don't think a 15" cab in between is that big of a deal, but I haven't had many kitchens...Oh, I should probably mention I am not a big fan of pre-rinsing. I belong to the "let the dishwasher do the washing" group. Of course, our DW does just happen to be right next to the sink!

My dishwashers have always been separated from sinks by about 15 inchs or so. It isn't too big a gap, really. I don't find it inconvenient at all. In fact, I'm glad for the little bit of space because it gives a little wiggle room to adjust my foot position when the dishwasher door is down. Otherwise I'm afraid I'd trip over it while bending & twisting to load/unload dishes. (It's true that as you get older, your balance ain't what it used to be.)

I guess it might depend on how big your sink base is. If it's small, ie 24" maybe the 15" cabinet is not a huge deal (but still doesn't answer the question of where you put the hose for the DW. Ours drains into the sink drain. Otherwise you'd have to provide separate plumbing for the DW- wonder what that'll cost DH!

I prefer DW next to sink, but I guess if DH is willing to spend more bucks for extra plumbing, I'd at least make sure you have a nice long rug to catch all those drips!

I think the answer is clear...your husband can have the dishwasher wherever he wants it...as long he's the one who fills it from now on! ;-)

We had a corner sink & really wished the dishwasher wasn't right next to it--with it open, we couldn't get to the sink! There was a second dishwasher in the butler's pantry, but no trash, just a disposal. We didn't design this, just realized how bad it was AFTER we bought the house & lived in it a while.

Our current kitchen also has 2 dishwashers, one on each side of the clean-up sink, with the trash pullout next to one of them. We love this arrangement. Generally there is a limit on how far away a dishwasher can be from a sink, but having a 15" cabinet in between is usually OK.

Another vote for right next to the sink for all the excellent reasons listed. Also, where is you trash and does putting 15" between DW and sink make it easier or harder to scape stuff that goes into the garbage (not everything can go in the disposal).

I'd vote for right next to the sink- function over appearances, for sure. For that matter, is everything in your kitchen so symmetrical that this would be an issue? Is it really even going to be a visual compromize?

Do you have a double sink next to a DW now? if so, spend a few days loading the DW from *only* the far away sink. See if it drives you (or him) nuts, or if it seems to work.

If your husband wins this one, he needs to do the dishes until eternity!

Wait wait wait! I have a good reason for the 15" gap: I'm a little shorter than some people, and it is MUCH easier to put the glasses away into the cabinet above that flanks the sink in the kitchen that has the 15" trash gap. It is hard for me to reach the far side of the glasses cab when the dishwasher door is open without the 15 inches head start. It was a piece of cake in the first kitchen redo, and loading the dishwasher was not difficult with the 15" cab in between the sink and the dw.

thanks for all the great feedback! DH would much rather have the dishwasher where I want it then to have to do them. Great point about unloading glassware, also.
:-)

we have 2 dishwashers, one right next to the sink and one separated from the sink by a trash bin cabinet - for about 4 months we only had the one separated by the trash cabinet and it really wasn't a problem - it is what you get used to and what makes the most sense for the overall layout and functionality of the kitchen - i would say to look at "the big picture" and do what makes the most sense to you.

I have mine right next to the sink, and I am glad I do. I have enough splashes & drips on the floor to clean up even with it so close. I'd have to mop the floor everytime I loaded dishes if it was further away! Guess I am just messy that way.

We have two dishwashers, one separated from the sink by a 15" TC and the other by a bank of 18" drawers. I do the dishes and have never found this to be at all inconvenient. I do tend to prefer the DW next to the TC but primarily because that DW is in a 42" high cabinet, meaning I don't have to bend over as far to load.

But I'm also one of the three percent of people who have actually read the DW owner's manual and therefore don't rinse dishes before putting them in the DW. I guess if I was schleping dripping dishes across the floor I might feel differently about it.

And before your husband wastes time thinking about the aesthetics of balancing the DW with a cabinet door on the other side of the sink, he might do well to replace that cabinet door with a bank of drawers. Most people find under-counter cabinets with shelves to be much less convenient than drawers and only have them where unavoidable (e.g., under-sink and in corners with a lazy susan).

IN a straight run of cabinets every kitchen I have installed has the DW directly beside the sink.

If the sink is in a corner you need a base cabinet to get standing room in front of the sink.
With the DW open and the racks out they will be in about the same place as in a straight run.

If you have to move your feet to put something in the DW is to far away.

Sounds like it's already been settled but I can't help but chime in my 2 cents.

-- Symmetry is overrated. Especially in a kitchen, you will seldom if ever stand back and look at a particular row of cabs and say, hmmmm.... they're not symmetrical. There usually is not enough room to stand back and look critically anyway, plus a kitchen is a working room not a display room, so although you do want it to be beautiful, it's just not going to get scrutinized for that sort of thing on a day-to-day basis. Function over form should rule with few if any exceptions, because form CAN follow function, especially with the vast choices of things today, and because beauty can turn ugly really quickly if the form creates extra work or inconvenience.

-- As has already been pointed out above, the one who does the dishes should have final say over where the DW goes in case of a dispute. This goes for most things IMO.