Kitchen sinks may not be the first item on your list when it comes to remodeling your kitchen, but nonetheless it is a piece well worth a bit of consideration.  Choosing your kitchen sink can help set the tone for the entire rest of your kitchen, and you might be surprised at how many options exist.  In fact, you might even end up having a tougher time than you expected in making your decision once you realize what you have to choose from.  This article will help outline a few of the more popular styles and material used, as well as some of the pros and cons of each.  Hopefully with this information you’ll be better prepared to make an educated decision on the kinds of kitchen sinks that will work best for you and your needs.

Let’s first take a look at the various configurations that are available.  The most basic kitchen sink configurations include the single bowl, double bowl and triple bowl, as well as the option of having a main sink plus a prep sink. 

Typically a single bowl sink works best when you’re tight on space. In such a situation, splitting the sink into separate compartments just doesn’t make much sense. It’s better to have one bowl that allows you enough room to easily clean your pots, pans, plates and silverware (or just rinse them if you’re going to be putting them into a dishwasher later).

If you have the space, a double kitchen sink is definitely nice to keep things separated. For example, you might have one sink with your dirty dishes soaking while you clean and rinse them in the adjacent side with your kitchen sink faucets. Or, while preparing your meals you might use one side to accumulate your used cooking utensils while you wash or peel vegetables in the other.

A triple-bowl kitchen sink is really pulling out all the stops combining all of the above… In other words, you might be prepping in sink 1 (that also has a garbage disposal attached), soaking or washing dishes in sink 2 and finally rinsing in sink #3. Hey, if you’ve got the space for it, you might as well make the most of it, right?

Speaking of a prep sink, it doesn’t necessarily need to be attached to your main kitchen sink. For example, many people like to have their prep sink separately built into their kitchen island. By doing this you don’t run the risk of mixing fruit and veggies that you’re prepping with dirty or contaminated dishes and utensils. It can also be handy when entertaining to have it more readily available for making drinks.

Let’s take a quick look at the more common materials used in kitchen sinks.

Stainless steel kitchen sinks are by far the most popular and typically are also less expensive than other types of sinks. You can probably expect a stainless steel kitchen sink to run you anywhere between $350 and $800, depending on the amounts of chrome and nickel used and the gauge of the steel. You probably want to stay in the range of 18 to 20 gauge steel. If the steel used is too thin, it will be more apt to dent easily, and will also have a tinny sound. On the positive side though, stainless steel sinks go very well with most commercial appliances. They also clean up very well and will not chip. Finally, some people take advantage of molding their stainless sinks into a continuous stainless steel countertop, which makes for a very impressive look.

Cast iron sinks are another popular option chosen by many people. This is because after the iron is poured into a cast (hence the name cast-iron), it is coated with an enamel finish that can be painted a wide spectrum of colors. This makes it more fun for those looking for special color accents in their kitchen.

Because cast iron sinks are very heavy, the counter in which it is placed needs to be fairly sturdy; certainly it will need more support than your typical stainless steel sink. This heaviness does make the sink less noisy when the water hits the bottom, as opposed to the ‘tinny’ sound mentioned above. However, the enamel coating does make it more prone to chipping than other materials, as well as absorbing stains in the long run. A cast iron kitchen sink costs between $300 and $1500.

These are just a couple of the materials and basic configurations available to you. There are certainly many more options when it comes to selecting your kitchen sink including copper sinks, vessel sinks as well as kitchen sinks made from concrete, quartz, granite or any number of other natural or engineered materials. As you can see, there are more than enough options available to you that you should have no trouble finding the ideal kitchen sink, or kitchen sinks, for your home.