My sister just remodeled her kitchen and went through the same dilemma. She's a big baker so she went with a stainless, undermount, single basin sink that was large enough to fit a sheetpan. If you want to soak pans, bring a big one with you when you shop. She also chose a model with rounded corners at the bottom so it's easy to clean.

Definitely get an undermount - MUCH easier to clean.

DO NOT get a white enamel sink - you'll be forever cleaning it (I have one now and absolutely hate it, because it's always dirty regardless of how hard you scrub).

I agree with the no white enamel!!! *Nothing* gets mine looking clean but bleach, and I hate using it!

Undermounted basins are definitely easier to clean. Just make sure to have it installed by someone you trust, as a bad installation job will lead to leaking and or the basin separating from your countertop.

undermount, yes, single deep basin yes! I got a deep undermount with a dual basin because I thought that's what I wanted. Wish I had done a single basin instead.

I completely agree with the crowd regarding undermount and single basin. in my experience, a 2nd basin just gets used as a dish drainer or something, effectively halving the size of the sink.

aesthetically, i'm a sucker for a farm house sink, and though it was more work to install and mount, am very pleased we went that way in our recently remodeled kitchen.

i also think a high quality white sink can be great. i had lousy fortune with a previous stainless sink that very easily scuffed and never looked clean - white fireclay is a good option. so far not a lot of scrubbing, though we're conscious to rinse the sink to avoid stains

My current single basin is the first I've ever had, and I love it. Before, with a double sink, one was for washing and one basin was for the drying rack. Such a waste! The large basin is big enough to get entire pots and pans (or small dogs) into, without getting soaked. I put a drying rack on the counter when I need one, or use the (again, new to me) dishwasher as a big drying rack.

I'm in the same situation as JuniperBerry. I remodeled my kitchen and got a double basin because that's what I always had. Now I wish I had a single. I'm forever shifting pans around and splashing over the top.

Make sure you can wash dishes in that new sink of yours without splashing water up and over the back of the sink. My IKEA faucet is too close to the back edge (no matter the angle I swing it)-- I can't wash a single plate without getting water everywhere and having to mop up. And I'm an experienced, tidy dish washer! The sink looks beautiful but this flaw is really annoying.

I prefer having two basins. Inevitably there comes a day (a week?) where I just don't have the time to devote to dishes. I'd rather have them in the sink than on the counter :)

Stainless is vastly preferable to enamel.

I can tell you what not to get: a "modern" deep, narrow, square cornered sink without a garbage disposal. It's absolutely impossible to clean, can't fit big pots, or more than one pot for soaking because of the width, and no matter how hard we try to rinse it constantly and empty the trap, there's always something has something gnarly hiding in the corners and rotting in there. Because it's deep, it hurts your back to learn over it and wash too.

Fortunately, we're in a rental. If I had a chance to design my own kitchen, I'd definitely do a single, wide, medium depth, stainless steel undermount with rounded corners and a garbage disposal (I know that's not an option for everyone--I'm just talking about my own ideal situation.)

growing up, we had an ceramic sink; etched like crazy and things were soooo loud to put in the sink.

I had an overmount in our apartment and it got so gross around the edges.

When we renovated our kitchen we got a cheap undermount sink from ebay, for $100.

We got, yet another sink when we got new countertops. Same double bowl stainless, but the one was insulated way more and is a lot quieter. I wanted the smaller bowl to do dishes in, but it's just too small.

If I did it again, I would get an undermount stainless, insulated single rectangle sink.

I don't know what your budget is, but Kohler is the best, in my dads opinion, who is a pro plumber. He also love Moen.

Our apartment still has the original sink cabinet; the cabinet part is white-painted metal, and the top is a huge piece of enameled cast iron (I think--it's really hard). The counter has runnels so I can place the dish drainer directly on the counter without one of those bases that always get dirty. The continuous counter/sink means there's no gap to get dirty or leak, but I break more dishes than I did with our previous stainless steel sink, because it's so hard.

I remodeled 2 years ago and went with a deep, stainless steel, undermounted, single basin sink. I love it. It's deep enough to hold a big pot, and big enough to wash sheet pans without getting water all over. It's so easy to just brush crumbs into the sink, or to wipe any spilled water back into the sink. Oh and I think it's insulated, which makes it quieter.

We just replaced our white cast iron sink (hated it with a passion! never, ever get a white sink!) with a black composite granite double bowl sink top-mount sink. We absolutely love it! One of the bowls is deeper than the other which is nice.

The thing we learned though is that you need to be aware of where the drain is! Our new sink's drain is about 2" further back than our old sink-- talk about a pain in the butt!

If you plan to get a sink substantially deeper than the one you currently have, here's a tip I've seen. Determine the depth difference then stand on phone books or something equivalent to the difference while working at the sink. Some of the big new sinks can be 4-6 inches deeper and it can really bother your back.

Also, if that's actually YOUR sink in the photo above, make sure that your faucet handle clears the window sill with the new sink. If the new sink is deeper from front to back, faucet placement may be tight!

I always worry about mildew buildup with undermount sinks. I haven't really looked into it much, but it just seems like no matter how much you scrub, eventually there'd be some mold between the counter and sink from all the moisture that you can't get to. Has anyone had this problem or know if this could happen?

When we remodeled our kitchen I bought the deepest double-basin sink I could find (And I bought mine on Amazon because I could not find anything that matched what I was looking for in any local store). It's stainless steel and undermount, so it's easy to clean. I do a lot of baking and a lot of canning, and most of what we eat is made at home, so there are *always* dishes waiting to be washed. With a double sink, I can keep them all in one side, and still have the other side clear to use for rinsing veggies, filling pots and pitchers, and so on.

Ultimately, the choice of one vs two basins is really going to be up to personal preference - you need to determine which will work best for you.

I second (third?) the recommendation to make sure to check your faucet, to ensure that it hangs over the basins far enough, and doesn't hit things like the window sill. You'll also need to consider the type of faucet when buying your sink - do you prefer separate handles (in which case, the sink needs to include holes for those!), or an all-in-one style? Do you want one with a separately mounted sprayer, or one where the sprayer is actually the faucet head (again, you'll need to make sure the sink has a hole for that sprayer). And you'll also need to consider your dishwasher - some require a drainage-type port on the sink itself, so you'll want to think about whether it's got enough holes for that.

Our rental home has something that looks like this: http://www.amazon.com/Kohler-K-3760-NA-33-Inch-Stainless-Kitchen/dp/B002UYJ8IE, except ours is bigger.

Initially I didn't understand the purpose of the shallow part, but now I love it. For one, the shallow part sits over the dishwasher, so now I don't get the counter wet after rinsing dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. For another, much like the description says, it's the perfect staging area for prepping messy foods - no more getting the counter dirty.

HeyNowTex -

You are right, there is mold in the silicone between our undermount sink and the counter. I can't figure out how to get rid of it.

I still like it better than our old overmount sink that regularly featured a puddle of water and crumbs around the edge.

The new sink is white composite, our old sink was stainless steel. The white composite also gets moldy in the corners. I would think hard before going with composite again, since our old stainless did not seem to have that problem. I guess it's possible I just notice it more because the new sink is white.

FWIW, my all time favorite sink is the Franke Orca. I don't have one now but will at SOME point in my life! I like the variety of accessories available for it - even though the sink and accessories are on the pricey side. I also like that the back has a small bump in to allow for easy faucet placement.

And I agree with Jenipurr... if I had space for a double sink, I would love to keep my dirty dishes in one side instead of stacked on the counter.

One last thing - if you do decide on a stainless sink, go for the highest gauge you can afford.

You'll find lots of very inexpensive sinks that look identical to more expensive ones. The difference is likely in the gauge. Thinner gauge will likely be much more noisy and possibly dent more easily.

And to REALLY complicate things - the higher the gauge number, the lower the gauge of steel. So a 22 gauge sink is going to be thinner than an 18 gauge sink.

I much prefer what I have - enameled cast iron with double basin. Easier to keep clean and better looking. Scotch Brite pads are a wonder. I've had single basin and stainless steel and they were not for me.

Ailene, I'm assuming you have a dishwasher that will clean most of your dishes and cookware. If you have items that aren't suitable for the dishwasher, make sure they'll fit in your sink.
The facuet on my main sink is one that pulls out and switches between stream and spray. I love this for filling pasta pots, the coffee maker and just rinsing down the sink.
I have a double sink, one side stores the items that need washed by hand, and the second side stays open for using the disposer, rinsing things before putting in the dishwasher and rinsing the handwashed items. I also have a medium bar sink in my island (with disposer) for food prep. This is very handy and would add one in my next kitchen.

Slightly off topic, but valid question: what is the purpose of that small corner basin in the pictured sink? Hand washing? Dentist-like swish bowl? I've never understood that design...

Is that small corner basin for a food disposal?

Everyone has great advice. I'd just add that if you're on a budget, don't cheap out and get the lowest priced sinks. We didn't get the lowest price but only went one step up. The gauge of the metal is too thin so it dents easily, and the sink was oddly warped and ended up being all kinds of trouble to put in. It's overmount--I'd prefer undermount but we weren't replacing our counters so that wasn't an option. But as long as you take care to clean around the edges of an overmount it's not a big deal. Just take the time to compare the thicknesses of the sinks and find one that seems solid enough!

My house came with a single-bowl, fairly deep, overmount, white enamel, Amercan Standard sink. I love this sink! Yes - it does stain like you wouldn't believe but I keep a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on hand just for using on the sink and it works like a charm!
It's not quite wide enough for sheet pans but I make do.
I LOVE my pull-out faucet head that alternates between stream and spray. How did we survive before those?

I always worry about mildew buildup with undermount bar sinks. I haven't really looked into it much, but it just seems like no matter how much you scrub, eventually there'd be some mold between the counter and sink from all the moisture that you can't get to.

Information about kitchen sink options
http://vindak.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/everything-about-the-kitchen-sink/