The Complicated World Of Sinks

Can we talk about sinks for a minute? Wow. I never knew there were so many different options out there. For years, I thought I wanted a white farm sink. I just dreamed of the day. I had always had Formica countertops with an overmount sink. You know the kind that sits on top of the counter. I just disliked it so much! I found this image on google to give you an idea of what I am talking about. When I would wipe off counters into the sink, it would always get stuck on the sink lip. Uhhhh I could go on and on. Not to mention the aesthetics of the over mount sink just don’t mesh with me.

When we bought our townhouse I was so excited for GRANITE countertops and an under mount sink. Hallelujah! However, I didn’t do granite in the bathrooms upstairs so they had Formica with an over mount (some people do this,like it, and it looks great). I totally regretted that I did Formica upstairs (don’t worry I finally went all under mount sinks in the new house).

So now I am building our house and little did I know all the type of options there are for sinks.  I mean I knew that there was under mount for stone counter tops and over mount for Formica. There is so much more than that. Let’s start with my dream of a farm sink. Ok, I still love them but we had a white sink in a house we rented. That poor white sink was so beaten up. It had scratches and scrapes all over it from pots and pans. It just showed every little mark. So I knew that a white farm sink would show all the same scratches. Then I thought about a stainless farm sink. I could still have my farm sink but it wouldn’t show all the wear and tear ( I cook a lot with cast iron and we use our kitchen a lot). After talking to my cousin; she talked me out of a farm sink completely. She said that they are trendy (which is true but so is everything else so that was not a deal breaker). She also said that because they are so low and the apron of the sink is where a cabinet would be, they get scratched up. Does that make sense? So when you stand in front of a sink there is usually a cabinet there. With a farm sink, there is the front apron of the sink right where your jean button or belt buckle hits. So you are always rubbing up or scratching metal on metal at the front of your sink. I had never thought about the outside apron part getting all beat up. How sad to spend all that money on a farm sink to have it look all beat up in a while. It wouldn’t matter if I did the stainless either because the front would still be vulnerable to get scratched with belt buckle, buttons, and whatever else. That was what made me decide that my dream of a farm sink may not be all its cracked up to be.

So I was back to my quartz countertops with an under mount sink. Then you have to decide if you want the bowl to made of stainless steel , composite granite, cast iron, quartz ( yes you can have a quartz countertop and matching sink), or copper.  I chose stainless steel but I then had to choose a bowl size. You can have a single open large bowl, 50/50 bowl ,60/40 or 70/30. I decided that I would like the 70/30 bowl size best so that I could clean larger pots and pans on one side. But the options don’t stop there, people. What side do you put the garbage disposal on? I’m still torn about this one….uhhgg it literally keeps me up at night. I don’t know? The small side? The big side? I ended up putting it on the small side but I’m still not sure I made the right choice. Here is a picture of the sink at the Oakwood Homes Design Center that will be similar to the style I chose.

Finally, let’s talk about this lowered bridge sink. I have rarely seen them but my mother-in-law has one and it is sooooo convenient. Talk about getting some pots and dishes washed. Not having a huge divider going all the way up the middle of the sink is so nice.It just comes up a little to leave space between where it stops and the top of the bowl. When it is lower it makes it so easy so put stuff back and forth between the sinks. I love it! This, however, was not an option with my builder so I will not have the lowered bridge in my sink. If I could have gotten it, trust me I would! Who knew that just picking out a sink could be so complicated. Lets not even get started about faucets to go on the sink.