Which side should my draining board be?

[whoknows1230]

Posting here for urgent advice as kitchen is currently being measured for worktops.

Got a sink that is 1/2 bowl in the left then a full bowl. Which side should the draining grooves be? Aesthetically/use of space-wise, I think they’d look better on the right but I think most sinks have them on the left (including in my old kitchen, which seemed to work)

Will it be weird having them on the right, especially as this means the layout will be half bowl (with tap over), full bowl, drainer?

Aesthetically it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference to me. Mine is currently on the right, it's fine and I think it would feel awkward if I had to start using one on the left! Maybe it's because I am right handed and it's easier to pass things to the right?

Our drainer is on the left, my mum's is on the right. Both seem ok to me.

Mine is on the right as it is the only way it would fit.
Before kitchen refit the old sink had the drainer on the left.
My utility sink drainer is on the right, I can't picture which way the old one went!

On the right is fine, once I'd got used to it being different.

Do you have a dishwasher or not? If you don’t do much washing up then it doesn’t matter as much.

Right because I’m right handed so will naturally turn that way. Ditto dishwasher to the right of the sink for cases of rinsing before loading.

On that note are you going draining board integrated into sink, or cut into worktop, or…? I really want this sink pictured and DH is very anti draining board cut into worktop so don’t know what to do!

I'd say next to the half bowl - the half bowl is usually in the middle of the full bowl and the draining board. So on that basis, the drainer should be on the left. I would find this odd as a right handed person, but I'd get used to it pretty quickly.
It would look very odd for the drainer to be next to the half bowl, with the main sink the other side, I'd say. Also, the hole for the taps is generally by the half bowl, and you'd want the tap in the middle too.

Always on the right for me as that is the most comfortable as I am right handed.

Thank you - you’ve all reassured me. I think I was worried because I can’t actually think of anybody’s house I’ve been to that has a drainer on the right.

We’re having a dishwasher too which will be below the draining grooves if we have them on the right.

Either side looks ok. If you have a dishwasher I’d put it closest to that. I’d definitely have the half bowl (rather than the full bowl) next to the drainer though.

The sink is already in so the grooves would have to be on the left if they went next to the half bowl

If you don’t wash up much you can just get a drainer to fit over one of the sinks, I hate draining board/cut outs they’re useless really.

OP I’ve had draining boards on both sides and it makes no difference, it’s just what fits best in the space imo… if needed at all.

I’ll see if I can get a photo of what it looks like at the moment…

We have a drainer on the right! And I can think of several friends' kitchens where it is the same. Not unusual at all.

Much more odd to have the half bowl not in the middle - I think the left/right thing is a red herring here (in that there isn't a right/wrong layout on that basis). But I'd have a good google for pics of the layout you're thinking of (ie - half bowl to one side) to double check before you cut it in.

If you have the tap on the far side, it won't reach over to the drainer to rinse it down (as well as just looking quite odd).

Most are reversible so just have them which ever way makes most sense space wise in your kitchen. Which side will give you most workable room? I think your set up is similar to ours with the dishwasher. We were going to change ours so the drainer was over the dishwasher, but we realised we like to stack the dishes above the dishwasher to make it easy to load which would be more awkward with a draining board above.

I'm right-handed so I hold the brush/sponge in my right hand and the item I'm washing in my left hand, so it feels natural for me to have the drainer to the left.

What works for one of us won't work for all of us - walk through your process and decide on that basis.

If you have layout limitations and you have to have it one way or the other, I'm sure it will still be fine, you can always make it work.

Hopefully this will work!

The tap will be going at the top of the half bowl.

Dishwasher is to the right, then there will be worktops all the way to the wall on the right.

We have had our new kitchen a year or so now. Doesn’t have any draining board at all.
The sink is also with wall to the left. It’s honestly great, and I’m so glad we didn’t get any groves cut ( the supplier recommended against as weakens and stains).

We use a dishwasher for most, and just have a brabantia drying silicone mat stored under the sink if we need to wash and dry more by hand for some reason. Ie dinner party
Or just put fresh tea towel down if I’m hand washing say champagne glasses or wooden things

Surely it's just personal preference? Struggling to understand why anyone would make a big deal out of it.

If you are talking draining grooves cut into the worktop though, they always strike me as being utterly useless whenever I've been in an air bnb with them.

I’d say right because I’m right handed but it does seem odd to have the half bowl on the left in that scenario. Do you need the half bowl?

Mines on the left

Mine is on the right. I find it easier to move pots from left to right and have always had draining boards on the right. It's personal preference unless you are limited by the layout

Left or right doesn’t matter in general, though it’s more common on the left for RH people I think.

But I do think the drainer needs to be next to the half bowl. That’s kind of what it’s for. Any drips from the drainer drain into the half bowl rather than into the main sink - keeps the main sink cleaner. If you look at all in one sinks with the draining board and bowls all in together, the half bowl is always in the middle with drainer to one side and main sink to the other.

I think it would look totally fine aesthetically with the drainer to the left tbh - can’t see an issue.

Definitely next to the half bowl! It would look peculiar any other way. But the sink isn't actually 'in' yet, from that pic, so you could just rotate it and have the drainer next to the half bowl on the right if you wanted.

I think this is one of those things where it really doesn't matter. Part of me thinks it would look odd to be on the right in your scenario because of the half bowl on the left but this is probably only because it's "usually" full bowl, half bowl, drainer.

I think maybe it's better that the drainer has the half bowl to drain into so it isn"t draining into the full bowl of washing up.

(My drainers have always been on the right, throughout my life though!)

Yes, ours will be very similar to the one in your picture. Undermount sink with grooves cut into the worktop.