Double Sinks--Nice-to-have, or Need-to-have?

I'm watching Tiny Houses on TV and a couple is building a tiny house on a trailer. Not sure how big the house is, but I'm thinking 180-200 square feet maximum. They bought the house framed out but that's it--they are doing all the rest. And they are spending 100k to finish it.

One of the things they are putting in this little house is double sinks in the bathroom.

I often see HGTV shows where the couple walks into an otherwise lovely home and then they see there's only one sink in the master bath and that's the deal breaker.

I'm feeling like an old pioneer woman right now, because I truly don't know why it's so important to have double sinks. I have one full bathroom in my house in which I raised 4 kids. That bathroom has a single pedestal sink. We survived!

I know I sound like an old fogey, but could someone explain to me why two sinks is essential? Especially in an extremely small home.

Just curious. As for me, if it were my tiny house, I'd take a few extra square feet of hanging out space with family over two sinks in the bathroom.

We've never had double sinks in any bathroom. For 4 years in NJ we had a master bathroom and a hall bath just outside the master so we used separate bathrooms. Currently we just have one sink in one bathroom and it works fine for us. Maybe if one, or both, people have lots of product it might be an issue, or if either person takes a long amount of time to get ready every day, but otherwise I don't really see the need.

But I often don't understand the people on HGTV and what they want. Yesterday we watched an episode of Househunters where the woman was ecstatic over a kitchen island that appeared to be about 8 feet by 10 feet. The entire center of it was likely to be wasted space because it was just absurdly huge.

I grew up in a family of 7 with one sink in one bathroom and we all survived. We now have one sink in one bathroom for the two of us and we do just fine. One of us uses the sink then the other one uses the sink. I do not want to share my sink time with anyone. I want room to move around unimpeded and privacy. One does it for us.

Like so many other design trends, these things are hoisted on us I guess so we'll feel dissatisfaction with what we have. We had double sinks in one house and honestly it wasn't having two sinks that was nice, but having a large counter. In this house, we are back to a one bowl 31" sink base and that will do just fine. Now that I think about it, two toilets makes more sense when there's a man in the house.

I could see two sinks if both partners needed to get ready at the same time, for efficiency. I only have one sink per bathroom. If we really need to get ready at the same time, we have a 1/2 bath downstairs.

In my current family/life configuration, one sink in one bath is fine.
When I was growing up, we had a 2-sink bathroom. Three females and 2 males living in the house (Dad away at sea much of the time and Grandfather mostly in bed with a
myriad of medical issues). The two sinks made it possible for us girls to multitask in the bathroom, often together, and probably made it possible for the guys to get in there every once in awhile. :)

Would I require 2 sinks? No. Do I love that this home purchased in 1991 has 2 sinks? Yes. We get ready for work at the same time and we have the counter space to do so hence, no dancing around in the mornings.

I grew up 1 of 6 kids in a 3bed/1bath house till age 10. No one got more sink time than handwashing or brushing teeth. So I totally know we could be fine w/1.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by herbgeek

I could see two sinks if both partners needed to get ready at the same time, for efficiency. I only have one sink per bathroom. If we really need to get ready at the same time, we have a 1/2 bath downstairs.

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That is the "efficiency fix": two bathrooms. :) That way two people can get ready with no waiting.

In our main bath (which is also the master bath) we have a vanity large enough for two sinks but which has only one. It's just the two of us and it's never been a bone of contention. And it is nice having the countertop space on which to spread out. Of all the changes we've discussed for that bathroom, there has been no discussion of adding a second sink.

The whole HGTV esthetic just escapes me. I have less than zero interest in granite or marble for a kitchen countertop yet HGTV seems to have pounded it into every homebuyer's head that they have to have it at any price point. If I never see another huge "prosumer" range (Wolf, Viking, etc.) and an exhaust hood that looks like it could evacuate the kitchen at the local diner -- all for people whose idea of scratch cooking is Hello Fresh, I'd be fine. I had to talk my mom out of putting shiplap siding on some of the walls of the bedrooms in her house (it's not appropriate to the house, we don't have the money for it, and it's been done; no offense to those who have it and like it). I just don't consider important what HGTV considers important. And I'm thinking most of the people watching HGTV didn't know they needed what they need until HGTV told them everyone needed it.

We have two sinks in 0ur master bath. One gets used for bathroom stuff - tooth brushing/shaving/whatnot. The other gets used now-and-then for hand-washing delicate things. In 20 years the two sinks have been used for morning-efficiency perhaps 3-4 times.

The double sinks in my daughter’s bedroom are similarly silly - one she uses for her bathroom stuff, the other gets used to fill up the cat’s water bowl, which sits on the counter next to it. Seems an unnecessary sink as well.

We don't have cable, so I am completely oblivious to what HGTV thinks I must have, and it sounds like that's a good thing!