Your Choice Makes All The Difference!

The design and functionality of your kitchen is such an important factor, affecting the overall flow of your home. Your kitchen sink has a lot to do with this process and can greatly impact the efficiency of your kitchen.

When designing your kitchen space, much consideration goes into the sink. Not only placement of the kitchen sink, but the design of the kitchen sink itself. This decision is very personal and many of our clients have strong feelings in terms of farmhouse vs. stainless steel undermount/overmount. But that is just one part of the story – consider the actual style of the sink. Let’s break it down here:

Kitchen Sink Lingo

Before we get into design, we must talk about the different types of kitchen sinks. This particular chat won’t get into materials which come with a multitude of factors including durability, finish, cleanability, price point, and aesthetic. We will dive into those details in a separate post pertaining specifically to our top 5 kitchen sink materials for 2023. For now, let’s talk types of sinks.

Apron Front Sink (AKA Farmhouse Sink): This sink has a front facing exposed side that is cut into the cabinet.

Undermount Sink: This sink sits underneath your countertop. It attached to the bottom of the countertop from underneath.

Overmount Sink (AKA Drop-In Sink): This sink has an exposed visible rim or lip on the perimeter of the basin that rests just over the cut-out for the sink.

Kitchen Sink Styles

This is where that functionality comes in to play. Lifestyle has a lot to do with this one. For instance, our youngest son is a pastry chef so over the years our sink had to accommodate large cookie sheets. We took this into account when designing our kitchen and went with a single basin. So, let’s start there!

Single Basin: Obviously a fan favorite in the Caulkins home! This design gives us plenty of room to hand wash those larger items without a pesky divider. If you’re doing a lot of cooking or baking, a single basin makes a lot of sense for pots and pans and baking gear.

If you use your sink for food prep as well, fear not! The delicate dance of cleaning and food prep can be managed with a host of manufacturer accessories which will divide the basin when needed.

Double Basin: This design is desired when you want to really keep the cleaning and food prep separate. There are so many people who are used to this 50/50 set up and just don’t want to change. Understood and luckily, there are options for the split now too so you can really customize if desired.

Dual basins come in handy when you want to clean on one side and rinse on the other. Personally, I’m a big dishwasher fan so I’m only washing items too large to fit in the dishwasher. I need a commercial dishwasher but that’s a whole other story for another time…

The Wild Card

I saved this one for last! This is a real workhorse of a kitchen sink. It’s a single basin undermount and is a workcenter sink with a non-traditional shape and I’m here for all of it!

The integrated ledge system of this sink creates a multi-tiered bowl and allows accessories to work within the sink, creating a seamless workflow. There are additional options for a bottom and shelf grid, a cutting board, roller mate/shelf grid, wire basket and more! I have to note that we are not affiliated with this company and are not getting paid or compensated in any way to promote their product. I just think its an awesome kitchen sink!

A well appointed sink will effect the overall look of the kitchen. Consider the fact that more than 60% of your time in this space is spent at the sink, so the functionality is paramount. Choose wisely and let an expert builder guide your design choice. (That’s us – we are the experts) 😉

Let’s talk about your project!