You probably have already looked at and rejected the Kohler Whitehaven - but I love mine:) Mine is 36".

I'd get a 36" single bowl apron front sink if I were you. My customers love them.

I have not heard good things about the Signature brand. I'd stick with Blanco, or as Jhmarie mentioned, check into the Kohler Whitehaven, though the cost would be more than double what you are looking at unfortunately.

What has been said about Signature Hardware?

Here is a link to Starcraft's in-depth research and rating of the company's products. They get a 5-6 out of 10 from Starcraft.

Starcraft Builder's Write-up on Signature Hardware

I just remodeled with a farmhouse sink and DEFINITELY get the ledge type of style.

I have a relatively small urban kitchen and installed a 36" single bowl sink. I have the grid plus the cutting board plus a small "sponge shelf" and a cutting board with a hole that holds a stainless bowl.

The ledge style effectively lets me have the advantages of a large 36" single bowl sink without losing functional counter space. Most of the time I keep the grid in place over the sink (it's 18" wide" so there is plenty of accessible bowl. I can dry anything I hand wash and it also is a great place to dry veggies/fruits etc. Needless to say the cutting board and prep bowl provide extremely functional counter prep space - in many ways they are more functional since prep takes place over the sink since there is less to clean up in terms of the counter.

Here's a picture of my sink with the grid on

Beautiful Helen! Not just the sink, but wow on backsplash and cabinets! Have you done a reveal post? If yes, I missed it!

Thanks Shannon - No reveal because it's not completely finished yet - SIGH. I thought I was almost done and then my idiot upstairs neighbor decided to connect a rubber hose to his bathtub line and it flooded everyone. I was lucky because I wasn't below him so it was just a small portion of my wall that had to be dried - taken out WITH asbestos hazmat squad because evidently the original drywall had asbestos - SIGH. Then the exposed pipes which belonged to the building were in terrible shape so they had to be replaced by the building - additional asbestos wall came down. It's just this week that they finished dry walling the wall; priming, painting - including the ceiling because the tape used by the asbestos people to contain their actions took off paint on the ceiling.

Virtually any undermount sink can be installed with a ledge. The flanges on this Elkay Quartz Luxe are over an inch wide, easily allowing a 1/2" reveal or "ledge". Although Elkay recommends a 1/8" reveal and I think it looks the best, this ledge was a happy accident. I had to make the cutout large enough to avoid bisecting, exposing, and repairing the original sink clip mount holes.

Have you ever had a black sink? If so fine, but if not the ones I've seen tend to show water spots. Perhaps they were just in a hard water area. My white Whitehaven was $960 - but the colored ones are more expensive.

No, I have not owned a black sink before, but I don't think white or stainless will work.

Don't water spots show up on everything?

I had a black sink and it was horrendous to keep looking clean unless I literally wiped off after cleaning. Any bit of water left a water spot and normal cleansing agents would leave a whitish film.

While there might be water spots on every finish, they show up way more on a black sink.

So far I have found these two in 36 inch if anyone knows anything about this brand?

Bocchi Vignetto

Bocchi Contemp

I'm pretty sure we will go with black, but I will definitely keep that in mind in case we find another color we like. And for feature reference on keeping it clean.

Here is mine. If your kitchen isn’t a bit spotty once in a while, you aren’t in it enough, which usually means it wasn’t well designed. I’m too much of a klutz to have a sink made from a hard material like iron; I’d constantly be breaking dishes and glasses. I went with copper.

Isn't copper difficult to keep up?

It depends on entirely on the copper sink. Mine has a living finish and so it is extremely easy to keep up. It doesn't have a polished interior and so it changes - it gets shiny spots where acidic food hits it and then it quickly reacquires a patina.

It is not for someone who wants their kitchen to be pristine and shiny.

The cheaper lower quality copper sinks have a factory finish which will wear off - those are the copper sinks which give copper sinks a bad name. And of course, your sink won't be shiny as in a polished copper finish.

Also, if you do consider the Whitehaven...the rep at the store where I'm getting mine told me Kohler is still not promising the Whitehaven in colors...that white is the only option that is coming in, in a timely fashion. He said the company is still getting back on its feet after the fire.

The copper sinks do look beautiful, but I don't know how well I would deal with the constant changing in appearance. Plus, the ones I keep seeing recommended (Havens and Rachiele) are much too expensive for me.

I don't need it to be spotless or perfect or anything, I am going with Soapstone countertops. However, the countertops won't have green in them or as little as green as I can get. I like the black and dark grey slabs.

If you aren't into the living finish, then a good copper sink is definitely not your style. No right or wrong - it's just personal taste.

My sink is from Havens because I wanted a specific configuration with the drain on the left but World Coppersmith makes copper sinks (or other stuff) with a living patina that doesn't require special care. They are significantly less expensive - about $1000 for a farmhouse style.

World Copper Smith Kitchen Sinks

That's my concern. Though they are lovely, I'm just not sure how I would feel about them. I have seen the posts on here about them, are there any other places to check out to determine whether you love/hate copper sinks?

I don't know what other information you would be looking for.

If you are unsure whether you want the aesthetics of a living finish - ie. patina - then it's probably best not to get a copper sink. It is what it is. It is an aesthetic decision based on how you want your kitchen to look. That is true of any material.

The only objective advice anyone can give is that maintenance of a high quality copper sink is pretty easy - in fact easier than other sinks I have owned because I don't have to worry about whether it is shiny - just that I have cleaned it :-).

AboutToGetDusty, I ran into that situation, or rather comment, when I was ready to order my Kohler Whitehaven sinks. I think it was at a Ferguson's where I was told this. However, anyone wanting to receive their Kohler Whitehaven earlier should first check out their local (or not local) big box stores - the arrival date is listed for each color. Our Lowe's had a plethora of colors in stock at their warehouses so rather than wait the 1- 3 months we were told it would take, I just had mine shipped from a Lowe's warehouse. Both arrived in under a week. Might not apply to all colors, but just a heads up in case anyone is in a rush : )

OT: Helen, good to hear you are enjoying your living patina copper sink and consider it easy care. Though not for our kitchen sinks, I have been seriously contemplating a living patina copper countertop for the built-in in our tv room, just off the kitchen, which will house our coffee maker, grinder, espresso machine, and a mini snack bar. DH is the love of my life, but such a pig pen! I felt the living patina might be the way to go and really quite attractive... and I'd help it along with lemon and vinegar to get it going as regards various markings. Are you of the opinion something like that would make a good countertop that would be somewhat neglected on occasion?

@tMany - again this is really an aesthetic rather than a functional decision. In terms of living with a pig, there are many solid surfaces that are pretty bullet proof in terms of upkeep - i.e. they don't stain or etch. I have a granite for my kitchen counter which is extremely low maintenance.

You kind of have it backwards as lemon and vinegar take the patina off and the traditional way to shine copper with home ingredients is ketchup and salt. You would want the copper to patina and then live with those portions which become shinier because of contact with acids. The sink I bought from Havens is shipped with a natural patina - i.e. it is exposed to elements so that it arrives looking like a used penny - then as it is used, it acquires blotches which change as it reacquires a patina.

I appreciate your response Helen. Yes, I don't think DH will have much affect on our busy granite, but he's the coffee guy around here, and I know the countertop in the tv room will escape my attention at times.

I do understand that acids would leave the brighter marks - my intent was to create those markings, such as drinking glass rings as well as splotches, in the darker patina. I suppose it would make better sense to ask: when you wipe up your sink with just soap and water, does this affect the patina? I'm hoping the answer is mostly 'no', and that the patina is just ever-changing. Thanks for your patience, it was a long working weekend and I feel I'm not making sense!

The patina lives but soap and water doesn't all by itself change the patina. However, there is generally stuff that is being cleaned WITH the soap and sponge so that brighter splotches are left.

If you don't want to deal with a patina, go with a bullet proof granite. I opted for Black Galaxy in my kitchen. It has little copper specks so that picks up all of the copper in my kitchen but otherwise is not particularly busy and I have to look hard to find any debris - which is either a good or bad thing :-).

Me personally, I love looking at the beautiful copper sinks like Helen’s and some others I’ve seen on this forum. However, I would not have one in my own kitchen. I am just not a living-finish person. Similarly, I love looking at the gorgeous marble counters on this forum. Oh, they are just heavenly! But I wouldn’t have it in my kitchen. My granite counters are impervious to everything, and don’t even need to be sealed. That’s me. For a sink, I currently have an undermount single-bowl heavy-gauge stainless steel sink. I can bang my pots around, or dump coffee or wine and let it sit, and the stainless steel is impervious. That’s what I like. I have too much going on with family, work, etc that I just can’t fit in even one more iota of upkeep of anything. If I had a more serene lifestyle, perhaps I could.

For my next kitchen, I would like an apron front sink instead of the undermount I have now. I have my eye on the Elkay stainless steel apron front because it is made of the impervious stainless steel, has a corner drain (the best!), and the apron is somewhat narrow (I don’t like the thick apron fronts). That’s just me - HTH.

P.S. In a previous kitchen, I had a black (anthracite) Silgranit Super Single undermount sink with corner drain. I loved it, and it never showed anything, including water marks. Its surface has a somewhat slippery finish which means it is super easy to clean. The only reason I didn’t get it again was because a black sink would not work in my current kitchen, and the lighter Silgranit colors are not as easy-care. I am unfamiliar with Blanco’s Silgranit in an apron front version.

@2many - I realize I might not have answered your question because it depends on the copper material used for your counter. If it already has a patina and it is a natural patina, then just the act of using it will cause it to change. I don't think you have to take any measures to start it going as I have found many things cause the patina to alter - it's part of the fun.

Of course you can have a lot of fun by writing messages to your DH in lemon juice :-).

M Miller, thank you! I'm afraid Stainless will not match anything else in our kitchen. We are going with black appliances and a black/dark gray soapstone countertop. But low maintenance is a must.

What about a Soapstone sink? Maybe a carved one? How difficult would it be to match, at least somewhat, to whatever soapstone we choose for counters? How do they stand up to daily wear and tear?

Haley, if you’re kitchen is perfectly maintained you just are not having enough fun in your house. A well-lived in house is going to get dings and spots and stains, especially when you have kids. Copper is not hard upkeep, it just changes color if it reacts with something you set or spill in it. Then it goes back to copper. And I have yet to fumble while hand washing a wine glass in the sink and have it break, so I treasure how forgiving it is.

I don't expect it to be perfect, but I don't think I would like the sink constantly changing like that. They're pretty, but I think it would make me crazy.

To answer your original question, I have the Blanco Ikon 33” in anthracite. Absolutely love it, and yes I would call it a very easy care finish. I’m far from being a clean freak, so I love that it does not show general dirt or water spots, unlike a black cast iron sink I’ve had previously, which showed water spots, and worse, showed a lot of scratches and wear, even though I thought I treated it with care; there’s no comparing the two. I also got both sets of sink grids for the Ikon, the full bottom grid and a partial shelf grid that sits above. I’m sure these are contributing to the sink’s still perfect condition.

Just noticed you said you were going with soapstone and black appliances- that’s similar to my choices as well, and I love saturated, deep colors and zero regrets with following my own tastes. You may get comments that your kitchen will be too dark. If you take into account an updated lighting plan, don’t let it deter you.

Oh it's beautiful!

I did like that it had a few accessories to go with it. I figured they would be useful. I don't remember what type of drain it has though. Is it stainless, plastic, or will one from another brand work with it?

Sorry for the bombardment of questions!

Does the 15.25 inch basin width plenty of room? I assume most things fit length wise at 29 inches.

I think stainless and color matched drains are both available from Blanco. I went for the stainless 3 in 1 basket strainer, which I find very functional.

And here is a view of a standard half sheet baking pan I used for tonight’s dinner, ready to be washed. It’s nice to be able to lay them flat for a good soak, impossible to do in my previous split bowl sink.

I like that strainer combo. And yes, I currently have a double basin and I hate it. Anything bigger than a bowl is a pain to wash.

What has been said about Signature Hardware?

Here is a link to Starcraft's in-depth research and rating of the company's products. They get a 5-6 out of 10 from Starcraft.

Starcraft Builder's Write-up on Signature Hardware

This is for their plumbing fixtures, NOT their tubs and sinks. Please don't conflate the two!

I actually have a copper Signature Hardware sink and it's great. I also have Signature Hardware cast iron tub and it's been great. I would have no issues buying a Signature Hardware tub or sink.

FWIW I found a shot that gives a good idea of what a living patina sink looks like - it's virtually maintenance free.

I did NOT wanted a hammered bottom on my sink because I thought it would be problematic for cleaning and in when looking at sinks, most of the hammered sinks were of poor quality and looked artificial and obnoxious. I did opt for a hammered front because I thought the bottom of my sink and the front would be exposed to different things and the hammered front would better disguise any discrepancy. Also the way in which Havens actually "hammers" the apron is very subtle and not the busy obnoxious look that most of them have.

I do have a relatively inexpensive hammered copper sink in my guest bath because I am not concerned about maintenance in that room since it is used almost never :-). It is from Premiere Copper which is a great source for copper stuff. They supplied my copper hood as well as copper accent tiles. They also did a custom copper medallion - my designer sketched it out using an Art Nouveau statue of a crane that I have and we both love. I also have a copper ceiling. My old kitchen had the standard dropped plastic sheets covering fluorescent tubes and my new lighting now has lots of canned lights - under cabinet task lights. However, I have structural soffits so my designer used the higher space in the middle to create a dramatic coved copper tiled ceiling with uplighting.

Here's a pretty good shot of the sink when it was installed. It pretty much still looks like this with some shiny patches that fairly quickly change.

Copper medallion with crane and copper hood

Front of my apron sink which has the very subtle hammered treatment

Terrible photo of the coved ceiling :-)

Helen, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you like copper.

Looks beautiful by the way!

We may get brave sometime in the future and try copper, but right now, we just can't afford it. I've looked at the more cost-friendly options, and I just don't like them nearly as much as the Havens or the Rachiele.

OT: (sorry to hijack for another minute, Haley), Helen, the interior of that sink is gorgeous! Your kitchen is beautiful, tasteful, and I can't wait to see the reveal... I'm sorry you've had so many outside issues.

Haley, I understand about not wanting a living patina in the kitchen. I do love Helen's, and sure am glad DH hadn't seen her photos, otherwise he'd have strongly pushed for it. He has great taste, btw.

2ManyDiversions, no worries! It's keeping the post active so people keep commenting.

Yes, they're beautiful! Maybe one day we might be brave enough to try a copper sink, but I'm just not sure how I would like it. I know soapstone is considered a "living finish" by many, but it's a bit more predictable.

This has been an interesting thread! I myself embrace both worlds of living finish vs. low maintenance/easy care. You’ve seen my kitchen which is on the low maintenance end of the spectrum (Silgranit and one of the more bulletproof granites, Volga Blue). But I have soapstone remnant counters in one bath, and living finish copper sinks in two other baths. I did consider soapstone for my kitchen, but ended up needing a very large slab for a seamless island, since visible seams really irritate me, so I had more options in granite.

I’m a rather messy cook but fairly tidy in the bath, so I get to embrace both worlds :) My husband on the other hand is not the tidiest guy, so I am glad the living finish copper is contained to our private bath. (His toothpaste brand is helping the copper evolve in patina lol). Our powder room copper sink only experiences mild hand soap, so it looks virtually the same as since new.

I’ve honestly loved how all of my choices have turned out. But that’s because I spent months reading different threads and asking many questions here before committing to choices. Ask as many questions as you need, to feel confident in your personal choices.

Hahahaaa! I can imagine. However, I would probably be a worse culprit if we had copper sinks in our bathrooms. I'm a slight skincare fanatic and use chemical exfoliators on occasion. I can just imagine how many shiny spots would be in my sink.

@Helen, I love your backsplash behind your cooktop! Anything you could share about the name of the blue tile or where you found it? The crane is lovely too!

@ DN - Thanks. The backsplash tiles are Pratt & Larson - from their metallic glazed line. C611. They have a slight iridescent glaze and are much prettier in person than in the picture of the tile from their website.

Pratt & Larson Tiles

Very nice; I love the iridescence. We'll see if the SO (significant other) can be persuaded, lol.