What's with the bathroom double sinks as a new standard of bath amenities?

[Frugalityisthenewblack]

I don't get it. All the home shows on television, when the prospective owner sees the bath they invariably comment on a double sink as being desirable.
I use the bath after my husband, if I can't wait I use the spare. Am I the only one that thinks two sinks is an unneccessary element that uses up extra space?

[happy2bretired]

I wouldn't have double sinks for anything...I HATE cleaning bathrooms.

[Frugalityisthenewblack]

I once was a guest at a holiday home where two guest rooms shared a bath. There was ONE door to a room with a bath and toilet (another gripe I have is the confusion two doors to a bath can cause regarding whether or not it is occupied). The space connecting the two rooms was spacious enough to have a sink/mirror near the door to the tub/toilet room. Like some hotels have. Makes more sense to me for a practical design.

[ChiliPepr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frugalityisthenewblack I don't get it. All the home shows on television, when the prospective owner sees the bath they invariably comment on a double sink as being desirable. I use the bath after my husband, if I can't wait I use the spare. Am I the only one that thinks two sinks is an unneccessary element that uses up extra space?

We LOVE our double sinks in the bathroom. I know it is not a big thing, but it allows us both to brush our teeth, shave, do girly stuff while the other does their stuff. We both go to bed and get up about the same time and it just gives us more flexibility and comfort.

I guess it is like anything else, it adds a bit of convenience to our lives that we appreciate.

[Sarah in SC]

I agree with the OP--never would I have double sinks!
A-cleaning sucks
B-privacy --I mean, if we want to brush our teeth at the same time, it doesn't require two sinks to do so.
C-Waste of space. I designed our custom house and made the bathrooms normal sized, not some giant cathedral for the throne.

[Midpack]

Our master bath has dual sinks. But I'm not allowed in there, I've took up residence in the hall bath almost 20 years ago. Not sure why DW insists on dual sinks for herself?

Actually, house had dual sinks and we put new dual sinks in when we updated that bathroom, for future resale. I know they're expected these days, don't think much about why. Watch HGTV for a week, double sinks are expected in master baths, show stopper for some buyers or major disappointment for others. I can't remember seeing a buyer glad to see a large vanity and single sink, but there may be some.

Same things can be said about granite countertops, hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, and several other things most buyers "must have" - even though some don't know why.

And our next house will have master dual sinks, one sink would be a show stopper.

[Alan]

We've lived in places with one sink, and two sinks, and I definitely prefer two sinks. However, it is way down the list of things that go towards the decison of whether to buy the place or not.

[GRambler]

The plans for our house had a double sink. We deleted it and went with a nice size single and more counter space.
It's rare to share the bathroom.

[martyb]

My wife likes double sinks in the master bath. Our previous house (we are renting now) had double sinks. However, even with double sinks, we NEVER used the 2nd one. We lived in that house for 12 years, and I don't believe the 2nd sink/faucet was used even one time! Now that we're about to be house shopping again, on her list of "must haves" is a double lavatory in the master bath. Go figure...

I will say though, that in the event we would want to put the house on the market, having a double in the master would be beneficial. Like my wife, many house shoppers today consider a double lavatory in the master to be a "must have". For some reason, it's just considered a desireable feature...

[MBAustin]

When we lived in Germany, our rental house had 1 upstairs bathroom with 1 sink and no counter space for all 4 of us. Getting ready for work/school in the morning was interesting to say the least. We finally put the kids' toothbrushes downstairs in the powder room which helped a bit.

When we moved back, the luxury of double sinks in the master bathroom was wonderful and I can't imagine going back to sink sharing.

[Animorph]

Definitely one sink per person.

[FIREd]

We only have one sink in our master bathroom. It works just fine for the two of us (I am used to having a single bathroom shared by the entire family). However, our bathroom with its lone sink is considered "outdated" and would be a liability if we were to sell the house.

[JakeBrake]

We have 2.5 bathrooms. Both full bathrooms have double sinks. The .5 bathroom has a single sink. Our previous house had his and her vanities (with one sink in each) in the master bedroom.

I had no idea some people had a problem with double sinks. Thanks for the warning.

[meierlde]

Or you can go to the limit in the house I live in. When my parents built it they put in 2 master bathrooms. (Although 1 is shared with another bedroom.

[Texas Proud]

I like the double sinks... sure, we can get by with one, but then our stuff would be mixed up etc. etc...

Since the cost is very little and to me the convienience is good... why not

And how long does it take to clean a sink.... come on.... not a reason to not have one... (wouldn't you have to clean the counter space where the sink would have been anyhow)

[DFW_M5]

Its a convenience feature and comes from the idea of two working spouses who need to get ready for work at possibly the same time. Our Master bath has two sinks as well as the jack & jill bathroom that our kids rooms share. Also, have 1.5 bathrooms in addition to the aforemented, but when we downsize, we will certainly drop one fullsize bathroom

[bbbamI]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Texas Proud I like the double sinks... sure, we can get by with one, but then our stuff would be mixed up etc. etc... Since the cost is very little and to me the convienience is good... why not And how long does it take to clean a sink.... come on.... not a reason to not have one... (wouldn't you have to clean the counter space where the sink would have been anyhow)

I agree. What would one do to dirty up a sink that would take more than three minutes to swipe out?

The house we live in now is the first one we've had that has two bathrooms and a double sink in the master bath. Two bathrooms are a must for me now. I love the double sink...no elbows flying in my face and plenty of storage underneath.

[JOHNNIE36]

Our master bath has dual sinks. Only one gets used and that belongs to DW. I have always used the guest bath since it became habit in 1990. This started when I was playing golf about every morning and didn't want to wake her. I prefer this method and so does DW. If after brushing my teeth I decide to use the throne before I shave, I am free to do that. When we have overnight guests, I move my gear to the master bath for that time period. I wish we had put double sinks in the guest bath.

[MichaelB]

Like many other modern conveniences, for us dual sinks went from "hey, that's a nice feature" to "it's a basic requirement" in a short time. Conveniences are like that.

[Katsmeow]

Lack of the ability to have double sinks would be a deal breaker for us in a house. DH and I often use our respective sinks at the same time and it is convenient not to have to wait for the other person. But that isn't the only reason we like two sinks. More importantly we each put our "stuff" around our respective sinks and like to have it where we can each do that and leave our stuff out.

We are in the process of buying a house and we looked at one house that was nice but in the large master bath there were two vanities, only one of which had a sink. We immediately priced in our heads the cost to add the second sink.

In the house we are buying, there are two sinks but nowhere to sit down which I don't like since I prefer to sit while blow drying my hair. We expect to eventually yank out the cabinets (there are other issues also such as no drawers) and to put in a kneespace. It wasn't a deal breaker but is something that we will deal with eventually.

As a buyer we avoided houses that didn't have features that are expected in a house at a certain price point and which would be hard get later. So we are buying the house we are buying even though it doesn't have any wood because we can easily add it later if we want. On the other hand, if a house didn't have a separate toilet room in the master bath then I would reject that house until it could easily be made into a separate toilet room as that is a feature expected and would hurt resale value (same with a separate shower in the master bath -- it is expected and would severely hurt resale not to have it).