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hollyru_gw

What is so wrong with a corner sink?

HollyRu
11 years ago

Recently someone posted that she wanted to plan a corner sink in spite of much negative feedback on this forum. I did a search and did not find what she is referring to. I would like to plan a corner sink. Will I be sorry?

Comments (20)

  • _sophiewheeler
    11 years ago

    It's fine if it's a single bowl in a single cook apartment kitchen. In any other situation, it doesn't work so well. It actually takes up more space than putting it on a straight run, and only one person can use it at a time.

  • Kathy Rivera
    11 years ago

    Here's the recent thread I think you were referring to (link below):

    I posted there that I love my corner sink (though we are remodeling for other reasons). While putting it on the run may technically take less space, it also breaks up the amount of uninterrupted counterspace in a small kitchen. My current small space, if the sink was on the straight run, I would only have a lazy susan between it and the stove on the perpendicular wall! Since it's a corner sink I have almost 3 feet of prep space in a tiny U shape of cabinets!

    Also, my husband and I can work in it together fine. And we aren't small people. A half step to the side and he can share the water stream - no big deal.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Corner sinks - are they ever ok?

  • blfenton
    11 years ago

    My prep sink is a corner sink. I did it so that I wouldn't have to be looking at a wall while prepping. It is on the corner with the peninsula and allows me to look outside as well.

  • Debbi Branka
    11 years ago

    Love my corner sink! (Obviously before backsplash or paint.)

  • ControlfreakECS
    11 years ago

    I have a corner prep sink in a peninsula as Bfelton describes. I like it very much, but wouldn't personally want to be at it for clean up, of course, my clean up sink faces a wall, and lots of people don't like that idea either.

    It really depends on the overall layout. Everyone here will tell you, "post a layout, it is can work well in some circumstances and needs, but is not good in others."

    Negatives I've heard are: reaching to clean that deep corner behind the sink, feeling trapped in the corner (especially with DW open for loading), and not good for 2 person kitchens (can't really use sink at same time.) But everyone tolerates differently the many compromises that have to be made when designing the "perfect" kitchen.

  • dan1888
    11 years ago

    Corner sinks can be very usable , if one was placed on a convex corner as you often see with prep sinks on islands. There two sides of the basin are accessible for multi-users in a kitchen with several people trying to work.
    Just visualize that with one sink in a concave corner.
    You can't. It limits use to one person only.
    There are kitchens built for only one user at a time. Probably a shrinking number. In those spaces it may be a good option. Design for one or design for several.

  • rosie
    11 years ago

    In a small kitchen, short on counter space, room to stand and work, you probably do not want a corner sink. Draw one on graph paper and see how it loses inches of work counter to stand at. In return you gain additional space behind the sink...

    That said, a corner might be just the right place for a sink in any particular situation. I would never take it off my list, especially if the alternative were a counter sliced into 2 or 3 small, inadequate pieces by trying to center a sink under a window or some such thing.

  • PRO
    Rachiele Custom Sinks
    11 years ago

    Well, I thought i would throw in my 2 cents. There are many positive reasons for having a corner sink. As a kitchen designer, I used corner sinks several times in my designs. I thought I would point out some of the negative aspects so that these could be taken into consideration.
    1. Dishwasher location... If you have a corner sink and a dishwasher adjacent to it, the door will open in the sink work area making it difficult. Moving the dishwasher further away creates the possibility of dripping on the floor or countertop on the way to the dishwasher.
    2. As an undermount sink, the sink is often pushed further back (away from the user) in order to get a decent size sink. This will likely cause undue back aches reaching over the larger countertop space in front of the sink. There are ways to eliminate this issue by clever kitchen cabinet designing.
    3. Often there is a sizable chunk of countertop behind the sink that could be difficult to clean.

    Off the top of my head, those are the three issues that came to mind. It has been many years since I designed kitchens professionally, so I am sure I forgot a thing or two. I hope this will be helpful to someone out there.

  • sombreuil_mongrel
    11 years ago

    Well, using arithmetic, it takes 5 sq ft of stone to house a 30"sink on a non-corner, but 12.5 sq ft in a corner.
    Coincidentally, it also takes the same amounts of floorspace for each situation.
    The corner sink robs sq ft'age, costs more in material, gives little in return.
    Casey

  • weedmeister
    11 years ago

    I'm still kicking my remodel around. I am limited on what I can do with the sink and where it can go. I also did not want nor have much room for that kind of corner sink. So I was thinking about this kind. It would still have the space behind it, but perhaps not so much. In this configuration, the GD would be on the left.

    I could also do the same thing with two separate slightly larger sinks.

    Here is a link that might be useful: double corner sink

  • rcoop
    11 years ago

    We just got rid of our corner sink. It was my least favorite part of my last kitchen and that included 30 year old appliances and cabinets that were falling apart.

    I am not saying all sinks are like this, but ours was a double that was not straight across. There was one sink that went on each side of the L so they were parallel to each counter side. Here is a picture of one like ours.

    The splashing was incredible! And two sinks like that are not efficient.

    I think people that say no to a corner sink often think of the type of sink I posted. Other then two people not being able to stand at a single large sink and maybe the arm distance on the sides, I can say that other corner sinks might work differently.

    My parents have a small kitchen that is terribly efficient and well planned. They have their sink next to the corner and there are no problems with that layout for me. Not all kitchens can follow all design rules and it is what works for you.

    ETA: Weedmeister- that is the same corner sink that we hated. See all the splash space? I would look at different corner sink layouts that people like if you want to do a corner. Like a single bowl or the single bowl with the low divide posted above.

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

    This post was edited by rcoop on Thu, Feb 21, 13 at 20:08

  • Kathy Rivera
    11 years ago

    Funny, I've never thought of one of those split sinks as a corner sink - probably b/c I've never seen one until GW. I've only ever seen the kind I have - a large single bowl in the corner (and now since GW I've seen some doubles/apron fronts, too). Mine fits my largest pots/pans/etc which is why I think it functions great as a sink. And the 'dead' space behind fits my Keurig, phone base and paper towel holder - which I would have NO other room for anywhere else on my counter if it wasn't for that 'wasted' space.

    weedmeister - the kind you are talking about (and that rcoop says was terrible!) are pretty bad it seems. The two sides are very small and there is way more wasted space in the between/behind area. Someone about 6 months ago was putting one in and every was telling him not to.

  • cookncarpenter
    11 years ago

    Yeah, those corner sinks are terrible, but I love mine just the same...:)

  • beaches1980
    11 years ago

    We bought an existing house that had a corner sink in the island. I like that my sink faces the windows, and I like that it gives me more uninterupted space on the island, but I wouldn't have designed it this way from scratch.

    Loading the diswasher is a bit a of a challenge. I often drip water on the floor trying to get dishes from the sink to the DW. Also, we just replaced our sink & countertop and because of our corner sink, we were limited to what size of sink we could fit.

    I still really like my kitchen, but I would not have designed it this way.

  • dreamojean
    10 years ago

    It seems to me there's a difference between a "corner" sink literally along an L so it has to straddle a corner VERSUS the "corner" sink pictured above, where the actual countertop creates space in the corner for the sink. In the former one person stands in the literal corner; in the latter you could have 2 people standing in front of the diagonal. So the latter isn't a true "corner" sink, it's much more graceful. I think I'd hate a main "corner" sink, but the diagonal along the corner means it's not really a corner anymore. so i'd consider the diagonal if needed...

  • jakuvall
    10 years ago

    I do one or two a year. I only ever use a recessed corner sink- the face of the cabinet is set anywhere from 3-5" back from the counter run. I end up with these primarily in smaller kitchens where to solve counter top issues-i.e. longer continuous runs of counter. (Though I am currently working on a huge kitchen with a corner sink at the request of the client and it solves counter/ range hood/ style issue for them.)

    Being a die hard geek I do the storage/counter calculations- every time I have used one there is a net gain, every time. Just arithmetic.

    Downsides
    -counters always cost more
    - you must put a cabinet between the sink and the dishwasher to get sufficient clearance with DW door open.
    -It can be difficult to also move the trash away from the sink cabinet but with proper dishwasher placement it isn't a problem.

    I have never, and likely won't, put in a simple diagonal corner cabinet for the sink.The recessed cabinet-gains enough floor space and clearance to the make it easier to get DW and trash to work AND you can fit a wider sink for the same wall space, while not having so far to reach into the upper cabinet.

    As to having two people access it at the same time well you can't. In my own kitchen we have a single sink set on a straight run and if both of us tried to access the sink very often one of us would be maimed by now :) IF double access to a sink was a parameter I'd be using a 45" wide sink.

  • dreamojean
    10 years ago

    Jakuvall, might you have any photos you could share? You sound very knowledgeable. In our situation we have a double sink about 33" wide now and it works well, and have another 42" sink (antique double super deep cast iron ) in a former tenant kitchen available to us. I'm set on a double sink even bigger deeper one side and smaller the other but with two cooks I worry about access. A contractor I hired suggested a corner sink for our small kitchen that is 12' end to end without much space for an L shape for a sink in the L. My instinct is that a corner sink near the window would be seriously awkward vs along the line of wall or just on front of the sink or in a peninsula

  • cookncarpenter
    10 years ago

    For as bad as many here seem to say they are, there is a place for corner sinks. Our kitchen is 10' x 10'-8" and with the window, door, and traffic pattern, there was just no alternative that seemed to work. The corner window faces Southeast, so it has wonderful morning lighting. Yes, the DW is right next to the sink, but we have lived with it that way for 27 years, and actually don't find it troublesome. The kitchen is very functional, given the size constraints. We recently went from a cooktop and wall oven to a range, and the work pattern hasn't really changed much. So while corner sinks may not be the most desirable, sometimes they are the most practical.

  • benlinus
    10 years ago

    My preparation sink corner sink. I did this so that I do not want to look at the wall, cook. It is located on the corner of the peninsula, and allows me to look outside as well. I like very much, but I would not personally want to be clean, of course, my net sink to the wall, and many people do not like the idea.
    Find Out More Here

    This post was edited by benlinus on Thu, May 9, 13 at 7:04