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enigmaquandry

Double bowl versus single?

enigmaquandry
14 years ago

I had planned on a single bowl, white apron front sink (NO garbage disposal) for our kitchen but then discovered IKEA's DOMSJO apron sink at a much lower price, however it's double bowled. Any opinions of one over the other?

Comments (6)

  • enigmaquandry
    Original Author
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    actually, I think it may be offered in a single bowl, I cannot find out the depths however. Still, I'm undecided about the merits of single or double...

  • booboo60
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    When we were building our house last year I thought I was all set on a double bowl sink; I think that is all I have ever had. My son and his wife built a new home last year also and they finished before we did so we "followed" their progress closely. We went to visit them after they moved in and watching my daughter in law at her new double sink, she kept smashing into the divider with the pots and pans. She had a white double bowl and now the divider is scratched and scraped from banging the pots on it!! I decided to get a single bowl sink and I love it! It is huge and I can wash large pots, cookie sheets, etc. without having to stand them up because of the divider!! Sorry I took so long to explain myself...lol!!

  • celticmoon
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This topic hs had a lot of discussion. Try searching on 'supersingle' or 'single bowl' to pull up threads.

    Consensus seems to be that folks really like the single once they try it.

    My 2 cents: it is easy to make a single act like a double (e.g. use a tupperware bin to wash crystal at the holidays). Not vice versa. No way will I wrestle with fridge drawers, oven racks and roasting pans in a single again. And I do not miss the water splashing up off that stupid divider or the picking bits of garbage out from one side to the other side with the disposal. I won't go back to a double.

  • Buehl
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    When most people think of double-bowl sinks they think of the ones with both bowls the same size...and I have to agree that those aren't that useful (unless both bowls are really big...but that would mean a 48" sink base or so!)

    However, today there are a lot of other options for double-bowl sinks. Most of us who still prefer a double-bowl sink have unequal sized bowls. My sink, for example, has one bowl 21-3/8" x 18-3/4" x 9" and the other bowl is 10-1/2" x 15-7/8" x 7". I can fit my largest cookie sheet, my largest frying pan + handle, roasting pans/racks, refrigerator bins, and refrigerator shelves in my large bowl. I don't hand wash oven racks so they're not an issue.

    Whether a double- or single-bowl sink is right for you depends on how you use your sink.

    Do you cleanup as you go along so there are never any dirty dishes in the sink so you would not have an issue with trying to prep in a sink full of dirty dishes? Does only one person usually use the kitchen at a time so there's no competition for a sink? Do you have a separate prep sink? Do you only have room for a small sink base in your kitchen (generally If yes to all of the above, then you may very well be fine with a single-bowl sink.

    However, if you frequently have a sink full of dirty dishes or if more than one of you work in the kitchen at the same time (especially if one is cleaning up while the other preps or cooks) and you only have one sink in the kitchen, then think carefully about single- vs double-bowl sinks.

    Yes, you can put a dishpan in a single bowl sink, but then you have to find a place to store that dish pan when not in use...and they're not small. You also have to make room in the sink for the pan when it comes time to use it. If you leave it in the sink all the time...then maybe there's a reason (perhaps you really do need a small bowl on a regular basis).

    In our home, we frequently have 2 or more people working in the kitchen at one time. We do have a prep sink, so to some degree that issue is taken care of. However, then we analyzed how we did the dishes (or, should I say, how my DH does the dishes!). We realized that he likes to have one bowl to stack dirty dishes and/or soak pans and still have a bowl open for other uses like washing hands, soaking utensils, etc. It made sense to us to stick w/a double-bowl sink. In particular, my DH didn't want to have to find room in a sink for a dishpan once dirty dishes started stacking up (there's no way asking everyone to corral dirty dishes in only one part of a single-bowl would work) and he didn't want to have to deal with emptying it...it's a lot easier to just pull out a strainer.

    In the end, it's really how you use your sink. I will say this, if you cannot fit at least a 33" sink base in your kitchen, then I think a single-bowl is probably better since even the larger of unequal sized bowls in a smaller sink base probably won't be big enough. I would aim for at least one bowl to be around 20" wide (or greater). But, you don't want the small bowl to be so small that it's useless. I wouldn't go for anything less than 10" or so.


    HTH & good luck!

  • celticmoon
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Well said Buehl.

    In my post above that I meant to say I wouldn't want to wrestle with big items in a double sink again...

  • ejbrymom
    14 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I LOVE my double bowl. See the most current double bowl thread. Mine is a 60/40 split. I use the BIG side for dishes and it has my garbage disposal on it. I use the small side for veggie washing, food prep etc. I LOVE having a double bowl!