Is this sink a bad idea or a good idea for my kitchen?

12 years ago

First - My thoughts and prayers are with all of you trying to hold up against Sandy tonight. What an experience this will be.

Much less important...

We are in the about-to-pour-foundation stage of a new build. The home is contemporary. Below is a rendering of the kitchen area. The kitchen will have two islands, both with a waterfall on one end. We will be empty-nesters in a couple of years (and it's hard to say that out loud), and we currently have two kids in college. Most all of the time, I am the only one who will actually cook/work in the kitchen. I have an extra sink in the kitchen that is a part of the serving/drink/etc area. I'm planning on using the main (inside) island sink for prep and also for cleanup. Because it will serve both purposes for me, I want a sink that is plenty big and functional. In my current home, I have an anthracite Silgranit sink. I like this sink, and it is my backup plan for the new home.

For the new home, I was looking at a Stone Forest honed black granite farmhouse sink that is 33" wide and 10" deep. I'm rather short, so am thinking I would like the farmhouse sink style. Then I saw the Stone Forest outdoor black granite sink. 8"x42"x24". Significantly wider and two inches shallower than the regular farmhouse sink. I like that water around the faucet is somewhat contained because the faucet is installed onto the sink. Also, it looks like the sink has a rim that could be useful for supporting a colander and/or cutting board. Below is a picture of the sink, a rendering of the kitchen, and a picture of the stone that will be on the islands. The perimeter countertops will be something dark: maybe soapstone, Nordic Black, Ocean Black. The hood will likely be a blackened steel. The walls to the right of the view of the kitchen and behind the view of the kitchen are mostly glass with gardens just outside. Most of the glass walls open to the outside.

So, here are my questions:

1. Can you see this outdoor sink used as a main sink in a contemporary kitchen on an island?

2. Is 8" depth a problem? Obviously it will "hide" less. Does a shallower sink make splashing worse? Anything I'm not thinking of regarding depth?

3. Do you think this sink would be easy to care for? It is solid rock. Seems like it would be easy. Am I missing something?

4. Any other pros/cons regarding use of this sink as a main kitchen sink?

I appreciate your thoughts. Now..., good? bad? really, really bad?

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Comments (9)

motherof3sons
12 years ago
I think either sink will work and look perfect in the contemporary kitchen. The shorter version may be easier on your back and as you age. We just completed a build and the entire house is for aging in place. And, we are empty nesters. Difficult for about five minutes. :-)
ott2
Original Author
12 years ago
motherof3sons - Thanks for your thoughts. I hadn't thought of depth of sink with respect to aging. Five minutes..., I'll keep that in mind!
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mamadadapaige
12 years ago
i like that sink and do think it would work. I have seen the stone forest products and think they are gorgeous. if I had the space for a large sink (and the budget) i would also consider the mick degiulio sink for kallista. tdf!
ott2
Original Author
12 years ago
Mamadadapaige - Seriously? I like what you did in your kitchen so much that I'd almost go with your sink suggestion without bothering to look at anything else! Not sure DH would consider that as proper research though. The towel bar on the cutting board may be enough to sell me the sink. Thanks for your feedback. I'm off to check out their website.
desertsteph
12 years ago
"And, we are empty nesters. Difficult for about five minutes."

I don't know... I think it took about 6 minutes here - lol!

the sink looks great (as does the kitchen and counter). How short is short? I'm 5' and my sister's very deep sink wouldn't work for me. Standing in front of it, my hands don't reach the bottom - and that's with my fingers aiming down. I'd have to constantly lean into it.

My sink is very shallow. The one I've used for the past 14 yrs is about 6.5 - 7" deep and it's been fine.
PRO
Rachiele Custom Sinks
12 years ago
Hi there. From the research I have done, a shallow sink will not splash if you use a quality faucet. The aerators on the better quality faucets will keep water from splashing no matter the depth of the sink.
ott2
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for all of your thoughts!

Mamadadapaige & Desertsteph: My off-to-college kids are my girls, and the lack of laundry floating around here now is a silver lining given their absence! But, my son leaving? Can't go there yet! He may require at least 10 minutes?

Desertsteph - I'm 5'2". Glad to hear your shallower sink works for you. A shallower sink might be an answer for me. I don't like leaning over for an under-mount, deeper sink, but I DO like being able to keep dishes out of view when needed. I've never had a farmhouse style sink, but it seems that one would mean less leaning...?

Drachiele - You make beautiful sinks, and I'm sure you've done lots of research on both sinks and faucets. Your explanation of how the aerator in a faucet would affect splashing makes a whole lot of sense. We are currently planning a Waterstone Fulton faucet on the main kitchen sink. Is there a number or something online that I look at that determines how effective an aerator is? Somewhat like how a stainless sink would be measured by the 14/16/18/etc gauge?

Anybody have any thoughts on how easy/hard it would be to keep a solid granite sink looking good over many years?
User
12 years ago
Do you have hard water? If so, then there is NO WAY that I'd do a solid black sink unless you are a masochist and love scrubbing sinks. Also remember that some black granite contains some calcites and can actually etch when contacted by acids. Check out the many many posts describing how honed granite grabs fingerprint oil and holds onto it and is difficult to clean.

It IS gorgeous. But at what price to your sanity? Double check your committment to having something that looks pretty vs. having something that is lower maintainence.
ott2
Original Author
12 years ago
hollysprings - Sanity is priceless, and you make some really good points. I have a black silgranit sink right now which I have found very easy to maintain, but that is obviously different than a real granite sink. An etching sink would cause me grief. Because I have lurked here for a while, I know you know a lot about kitchens. When you look at the kitchen rendering above, is there a sink/style/material that looks obviously appropriate to you? Currently, our fixtures are mostly different variations of dark. Mamadadapaige suggested I look at a Kallista sink, which I will definitely do. The island sink will be my everything sink, so I need function, good size, and durability. It's in the middle of the living part of the house, so it needs to be nice. There is an extra sink in the kitchen area, but it is in the "everybody else" zone!
Thank you hollysprings!