Double sinks in the bathroom

[irene adler]

H and I are having a post holiday/hosting family hangover lazy day date with HGTV.

Today's debate: Are double sinks really amazing or just expected? The consensus in our home is that counter space > the benefit of having 2 sinks.

This is colored by the fact that we have a gorgeous pedestal sink in our only bathroom and zero counter space.

Discuss.

[lime]

Single sink in the master bath is a dealbreaker for me.

I care about counter top space but not as much as having my own sink.

I had a pedestal sink in the hall bath in my last house and would do my makeup there sometimes, but there wasn't really enough room to dry or flat iron my hair.

[illgetthere]

I love having a double sink so I have my own space. However, I wouldn't want to give up needed counter space. Our master sink is 72", so there is room for it. I wouldn't want to be an inch from h just to have a second sink.

[krystee]

Counter space is more important to me.

[whitemerlot]

My master bath is incredibly small. I wish it were a little bigger, but wouldn't want a double sink. I don't have anything out on my counter other than soap, and in my kids bathroom soap and the toothbrush holder.

What do you like to keep on the counter?

[irishbride2]

Counter speace is much more important to me.

[magpie]

I love double sinks! I don't like storing stuff on the counter of the bathroom anyway (we have very smart storage build into the sink cabinets and vanity/mirror cabinets). We used to push each other out of the way when we only had one sink

[tacom]

Double sinks. I HATE clutter on countertops and more space would turn into FI's dropping ground

[polarbearfans]

I hate double sinks. When I remodel the bathroom, the double sinks are going. I prefer to be alone in the bathroom, so it's not a problem to just have one. I don't brush my teeth at the same time as my husband. Never have, never will.

[rikki]

We have double sinks, but I end up using "my husband's sink" most of the time. We are very rarely getting ready at the same time.

[jena]

DH and I used to laugh that everyone on House Hunters was obsessed with double sinks. Not a big deal to us at all. Counter space is much more important. Our 3rd house does have double sinks, but we were fine in house 2 with a decent amount of counter space. House 1 had just the sink cabinet with a couple inches around the sink and that was awful (for me it was awful, he gave no shits about it).

[mx27]

both!

[irene adler]

Jan 2, 2015 23:33:01 GMT -5 whitemerlot said:

What do you like to keep on the counter?

Well, for now we have soap. It would be nice to have the tooth brushes not on the window sill in our next home.

Double sinks are on par with the expectation that one must have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.

[steph96]

Jan 2, 2015 23:33:01 GMT -5 whitemerlot said:

What do you like to keep on the counter?

I have a tray that I keep my daily use stuff on (hairspray, makeup wipes, face cleanser, lotion, brush) and a plastic organizer that I keep all my makeup and makeup brushes in. Plus we have our toothbrushes in a stand, toothpaste, and hand soap. Our sink/vanity is outside of the bathroom so I feel like this isn't gross. At our old home, the sinks were in the bathroom and I kept everything put away.

I would pick one sink and more counter space. In the rare instances that my husband and I have to use our sink at the same time, one person stands in front of the sink and the other person stands on the side of the sink. We had double sinks at our old home, but I can't think of a single time that we both used our respective sinks at the same time.

[irene adler]

Jan 2, 2015 23:54:03 GMT -5 @domerjen said:

We're doing double sinks in our reno (60"), but I wouldn't do it if we had to have pedestals. pedestals are so pretty, but they are the devil for practicality.

ITA. They are a definitely powder room only kind of thing.

But our bathroom space is so limited, that it is the only thing that makes sense unless we move the plumbing.

[orangeblossom]

Jan 2, 2015 23:39:38 GMT -5 tacom said:

Double sinks. I HATE clutter on countertops and more space would turn into FI's dropping ground

This. DH has never met a surface that he doesn't like.  He feels like he needs to have everything on the counter at his disposal. This is despite having double counters, cabinets and drawers. 

Miraculously, he did better when the house was on the market. 

[Deleted]

Different bathrooms - lol. H and I don't share a bathroom (it's only the two of us, we have the room) - I swear, it's the best. I don't care how he keeps his bathroom and as he puts it "some things are better not knowing"

[babsbunny]

DH and I commute to work together, so we get ready together, so we always use our double sinks. There is a pocket door to the toilet/shower area allowing some separation when needed. I have minimized what is on the counter and could live with less counter, but not a pedestal sink. For us, I think we'll need double sinks for the rest of our lives (or be like other couples where one person basically moves into the second bathroom).

Things we keep on the counter: toothbrush, toothpaste, cup, deodorants, saline solution for contacts, contacts, mouthwash, face lotion, face soap, electric razor, comb, hair brush, box of tissues, thermometer, hand lotion, and allergy meds.

To your original question... in my area where homes are younger than 40 years old, double sinks are expected, not a bonus feature.

[Deleted]

Double sinks.
And I'm definitely like some of the Hs mentioned here.... I use all the counter space.

[mollybrown]

This doesn't have to be an either/or. We have both double sinks, and lots of counter space. The only thing we keep on the counters are soap dispensers and decorative candles, so I would definitely take the 2 sinks if I had a small bathroom that required me to make a choice. I actually think we have an excessive amount of counter space (at least 8 feet long), so only one sink would look ridiculous. I like not having to care if H leaves a blob of toothpaste or hair from shaving all over his sink. Double sinks are expected in my neighborhood, so I wouldn't skip it just for resale purposes alone.

[starlily]

We were lucky enough to have a lot of counter space in our condo with a single sink and in our house with double sinks.

I would actually forgo some of that space for a proper seated vanity area.

[VillainV]

We love double sinks. Yes, we take a hit on coiner space, but we have baskets that hold all our stuff (long skinny ones, one on each side and one in the middle). Big stuff goes in drawers (like my hair dryer)..

Plus? My husbands sink is nasty.

We had a single pedestal sink in our last house, and it drove me crazy. Whenever we both had to get ready to go somewhere I ended up getting ready in the hall bath (which also had a pedestal sink and no storage and drove me batty)..

It's not a deal-breaker for us as long as there's a spot for me to apply makeup and do my hair.

[gogreengowhite]

When we renovated our hall bath we took out the second sink to add counter space. It also allowed us to put three big drawers under where the sink was for better storage than regular cabinets.

I love it, but DH and I also use separate bathrooms. He uses the master, I use the hall bath.

[whitepicketfence]

We installed double sinks shortly after moving to this home and I absolutely love having them. The bathroom is on the larger side so I thought it looked a bit strange with just the single. Also, it makes things so much easier when DH and I need to get ready at the same time as this is currently our only bathroom (we will be adding a second as the last phase of our major home renovation). We have plenty of counter space but I don't really keep anything out on top of the sink anyway. We have 2 large closets in the bathroom plus a large vanity with tons of storage space.

[scout8]

Jan 2, 2015 23:45:37 GMT -5 jena said:

DH and I used to laugh that everyone on House Hunters was obsessed with double sinks. Not a big deal to us at all. Counter space is much more important. Our 3rd house does have double sinks, but we were fine in house 2 with a decent amount of counter space. House 1 had just the sink cabinet with a couple inches around the sink and that was awful (for me it was awful, he gave no shits about it).

DH and I always make fun of this on House Hunters too. We only have one bathroom and it is small. On the rare occasion where we are both trying to brush our teeth at the same time, we always joke "if only we had a double sink, our lives would be complete". 

To answer the original question, counter space is more important to me, but that is probably because I hardly have any now. 

[Velar Fricative]

We have room for double sinks in our full bath but there is only a single sink, and I love the counter space we have. Double sinks aren't really common around here because I've never seen them in houses we've looked at or in friends' and family's houses. I only learned about them on HGTV lol. I don't see a need for them in our circumstances.

[ddi741]

We have double sinks in the master & guest bath & a pedestal in the powder room. I love the double sinks.

I can't wait to replace the pedestal with a cabinet just to have a place to put things.

[irishbride2]

I also wonder what in earth people do at their sinks that they need double sinks. We have them but we very rarely use them at the same time. If I'm washing hands post bathroom, I'm alone. The only time we might be together at the sink is brushing our teeth but that's rare too.
It's just not something I care about. We are redoing our vanity in the house we just closed on and are doing double sinks for resale purposes but I personally don't care.

[kadams767]

I always laugh at this too, though I also laugh at the need for a "master bath"/en suite bath, so my opinion is probably worthless. But DH and I rarely get ready at the same time, so don't give a crap about two sinks, and I don't keep my makeup or other stuff in the bathroom anyhow. So we are good with our single pedestal sink and bathroom that we, gasp, have to walk down the hall to get to from our bedroom.

[sa]

My husband and I argue about this (not that it matters now because we have neither a double sink nor counterspace). I prefer more counterspace, he prefers double sinks.

I don't like clutter, but when I'm getting ready I like to have a spot to put my make up on without having to worry about it falling over. Or if I'm doing my hair, I want to be able to put my hair dryer down or curling iron on the counter.

My ILs have a double sink with about 3 inches of counterspace and I hate it. I would much rather have one sink and more counterspace.

However, since my H and I do get ready for bed at the same time, he prefers the double sinks because he hates having to wait the full two seconds it takes for me to rinse my mouth before he starts to wash his face.