Until recently, kitchen sinks primarily came in two main finishes: stainless steel and ceramic. They were mostly used for washing dishes and, occasionally, for unconventional uses like washing hair when the shower wasn’t working. Today, kitchen sinks offer a variety of material options, design styles, and add-ons. This blog will guide you through these three key aspects to help you choose the perfect kitchen sink setup for your needs.


Design

We can break this down into 3 main sections - the style, fit and material. These 3 elements are crucial to the design of your ideal kitchen sinks, and we’ll break it all down below.


Sink styles

For me, the easiest way to pick a sink for any client is to work down a checklist: 

 

How big do you want your sink?

This should be worked out based on space available and whether you are having a dishwasher fitted or not - No dishwasher, try and get a bigger then normal sink so that you have enough space for all the washing up  This should normally be planned out when you start designing your kitchen - as most Sinks are designed to fit into a Kitchen Sink Base Unit, and as such can be dictated by that size.


How many bowls do you need/ want?

  • 1 Bowl - great if you have no dishwasher or are known for needing to do lots of washing up 
  • 1.5 Bowl - usually the ½ bowl is used to rinsing food off plates or as hand washing space
  • 2 Bowl - normally equally split in middle to give you the best of both worlds  so that you have 2 full sized sinks 

 

The fit 

 

Sinks can be fitted multiple ways and these can greatly impact on the sink design and how your kitchen overall will look:

 

Sit on

This is the most common way of fitting a sink, effectively there is a cut out made in your worktop where the sink bowl goes, but the sink and frame as a whole is effectively ‘sat on top’ of the worktop. This is the most common type with stainless steel sinks and new build house types, this can also be one of the most cost effective ways to fit a sink.

 

Belfast

The majority of Belfast sinks are ceramic and done in traditional style kitchens. These are usually discussed as part of the initial design process as you need to fit a specific Belfast base unit to make sure it is supported and installed correctly. 

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Inset

Inset sinks are designed to  have a small lip all around the sink on top of the worktop, creating a much sleeker look compared to the sit-on. Most inset sinks can also be under-mounted.

 

Under-mounted

These sinks are designed to be installed under the worktop, so that there is no lip between the worktop and sink. It creates a sleek drop off from the worktop straight into the sink bowl below.

After working out these 3 key bits of information you will usually have a list of sinks designs that match your needs. The question is what material you want the sink in.

 

Sink materials

 

Ceramic

The Ceramic sink is one of the oldest styles of kitchen sinks. These sinks are most commonly used in traditional Shaker-style kitchens and Belfast sinks; all the visible sides are glazed to give them a shiny and easy to clean surface and are perfect for a country-style kitchen.

 

Stainless steel

If the ceramic sink is classed as the traditional sink, the stainless steel is the modern equivalent. Stainless steel sinks are the standard sink of the modern era; tough, durable, available in multiple designs, and a cost-effective price point makes this material one of the most versatile. 

 

Composite

Composite sinks are the perfect blend between natural stone and acrylic resins, creating a stylish and beautiful alternative to ceramic and stainless steel. These sinks offer most of the same pros as the other materials, but with one major advantage - they can come in different colours as standard!  

 

Acrylic

Acrylic sinks can be moulded and shaped to be blended into acrylic worktops creating seamless and hard wearing surfaces, which (in the right circumstances) can be sanded down and repaired. Acrylic sinks have a lot of pros to them - but the main one is creating that seamless look where the sink and the worktop are almost one.

 

Add-ons

By now you should have pretty much chosen your sink, but what about the extras that can take it from a functional piece of kit to your dream sink?

 

Drainer grooves

Drain grooves are available for every sink and are a vital part of most modern UK kitchens - having a place to put your wet dishes that will drain the water away from you can make a huge difference. There are 2 types of drainer groove systems: 

 

Part of the sink: These are attached to your sink already and are normally part of a ‘sit on’ style sink.

 

In the worktop: These are cut into your worktop when it is being fabricated and give a more complete look to your sink area - mainly used on Belfast and undermounted type sinks. 

 

Utili-Sinks

With the average new build kitchen getting smaller and people needing more space in their kitchens, we are seeing the rise of the utili-sinks. These are sinks with extra bits and pieces on them to help maximise usable space or to offer additional functions. For example, with small colander trays for washing fruit/veg or draining mats which are designed to be placed on the sink along with your casserole dish once you’ve finished washing up so that it drains the excess water straight into the sink, replacing the need for specialist drainer grooves.

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Waste disposal units

These units are a common site in America and are still a bit hit and miss in the UK. Why? Waste disposal units are both environmentally and household friendly - they can reduce odour in your home, by putting the food waste into it instead of into the bin and the resulting slurry can be converted to fertiliser or biogas by the water treatment plants. They also potentially have longer standing environmental impacts - like reducing the number of bin bags you use or the number of bins you have to keep.

 

What else to consider for your perfect kitchen sink design?

Matching accessories

Some kitchen suppliers do matching accessories to match key features of the kitchen. For example, matching the colour of the wastes and strainers to the colour of the tap; or making a full finish range so the sink, the wastes and taps are all the exact same finish, matching perfectly to make it one cohesive sink design instead of 3 or 4 items cobbled together. 

 

The perfect tap

We won’t go into multi-function taps or hot taps too much here, as we already have some really good blogs on them, but once you have chosen your perfect sink for your design you need to make sure your pick your perfect tap, Usually I’d suggest trying to pick the tap straight after the sink - that way you have the combo laid out. 

If you need help choosing your perfect sink design or would like a home designer to have a look at your full project click here!