Tiny House Sink and Dishwashers
Continuing with our coverage of kitchen appliances, this page will cover tiny house sinks and dishwashers.
It is said that the kitchen is the heart of the home. In a tiny abode, every space is vitally important, but the kitchen bears the brunt of day-to-day work: food prep, cooking, and cleaning up, nourishing the souls who live there. Therefore, the same wisdom that applies to every aspect of tiny living is even more important when designing the kitchen. Think carefully about your lifestyle, your space, and your kitchen’s usability.
Tiny House Kitchen Sink
If the kitchen is the most vital room of the home, the sink is its number one component. Bigger doesn’t necessarily means better. It has to be functional and easy to use, but you’ll have to balance its size with the need for counter space. 
The Farmhouse Sink
“It’s gotta have a farmhouse sink,” she states firmly. This is what we hear all the time. The question is, why? Are you willing to give up 36″ of counter space for an enormous sink just to make a decorating statement? The enameled cast iron sink shown above does look nice and it comes in several colors, but it weighs a whopping 146 lbs! It costs $1129.00* from The Home Depot.
Here’s something to consider: while you might be able to get a kitchen sink from Amazon for less, at The Home Depot you can inspect it for dents and chips before you bring it home. A friend told me her porcelain farmhouse sink broke in six pieces when she had her tiny house moved.
The Farmhouse Apron-Front sink shown on the right is made from stainless steel and is only 30″ wide. It still weighs 66 lbs. but that’s less than our cast iron behemoth shown above. It sells for $384.95*. I have seen one in gold tone for $479.00*.
Multi-Purpose Sink so Versatile it’s Called a WORKSTATION
This sink is so functional it’s called a workstation. This WORKSTATION SINK with integrated ledge allows you to slide custom accessories across the sink to streamline meal prep and cleanup without losing space on the kitchen counter. 5-Piece Chef’s set includes: roll-up dish drying rack, perfect for rinsing produce, drying dishes, and protecting countertops from hot items; bamboo cutting board won’t crack or warp, resists odors and bacteria; dish grid, dtrainer, and drain cover.
It’s only 27″ wide and sells for $519.95* with all the accessories shown. There is a 23″ wide version too. Only weighs 23.4 lbs.
Tiny House Dishwashers
When you think about it, you’ll realize that you will be using and washing the same number of dishes you did in a full-size house. Your culinary needs have not changed. Unless you like washing dishes after every meal, you’ll want a functional dishwasher.
Tiny Houses Need the Quietest Dishwashers
With a dishwasher it’s more about the sound level than the size. You will always be close to your dishwasher if you’re home so it needs to run very quietly. Here’s a Samsung that’s only 39 db. Regular price is $1,110.00* but on sale at the moment for $828.00*. It’s 24″ wide and weighs 95 lbs. Energy Star Certified, which means you might get a rebate from your local energy company. Uses less than 4 gallons per load.
Maximizing Space With A Drawer Dishwasher
The door on a regular size dishwasher sticks out about 21″ when fully opened. This might be a problem for an 8′ wide tiny house galley-style kitchen.
Drawer dishwashers are about half the size of a regular dishwasher. For a single person or a couple, this means you’ll be able to economically run a full dishwasher more often. You’ll also need fewer dishes, because they will be cleaned frequently instead of waiting until the large dishwasher is full.
Adding a Dishwasher After the Build
Counter space is always at a premium, but if you didn’t spring for the dishwasher during your build or your RV didn’t come with one, and you really don’t like doing dishes, here’s the answer.
The Farberware FDW05ASBWHA Complete Portable Countertop Dishwasher with 5-Liter Built-in water tank, 5 programs, baby care, glass & fruit wash can fit a variety of dishes (up to 12-inches in diameter at an angle) and is ideal for tiny homes, and campers/RVs.
It’s just 17.3″ x 16.5″ x 17.3″ and weighs under 45 lbs. If you have water electricity and 40 minutes you can clean your dishes – anywhere and anytime! It gives you the choice of using its built-in water tank or a quick faucet hook-up. Over 1,700 reviews. Just $379.99* (click on image.)
Our 400 sq./ft Airbnb in Oslo, Norway
Our tiny kitchen had an inductive cook-top, an oven, sink and drawer dishwasher. Apparently they thought it was fine to install the drawer dishwasher above the oven. Perhaps they intended to rent to NBA basketball stars. I could barely reach it.
I would have put it below the oven and used a microwave/convection oven.
The sink was too small to be usable. Being stuck in the corner made it hard to get to. Always try to align your sink with a window.
They should have used the IKEA planning software to design their kitchen. It might have turned out better. I don’t necessarily recommend IKEA, but the tool is useful because you can move things around easily, and it keeps your dimensions straight. Just a little planning for tiny house sinks and dishwashers will create a much better result.
Refer to our other kitchen appliance pages for additional information on stoves, cook-tops, and refrigerators.
The Portable Counter Top Ice Maker Everyone Wants
This amazing appliance will have ice ready in just six minutes and make twenty six pounds of ice every 24 hrs.
It runs at less than 45dB, which means your entertainment will not be disturbed. It measures just 12.32 x 8.74 x 12.59 inches and weights 15.65 lbs. Uses on 15 watts of power, which is a 10th of other ice makers. Reasonably priced on Amazon (click on image.)
The ice does not stay frozen in the holding section of the machine so you need to use it right away or transfer it to your freezer. If you let the ice melt in the appliance the water refills the reservoir and gets turned into ice again.
Freezing Drying: The Ultimate In Food Preservation
Preserve your garden produce, create the perfect emergency food supply, make camping meals and healthy snacks. Unlike other methods of food preservation, freeze drying does not shrink or toughen the food, and retains flavor, color, and nutrition.
Freeze drying maintains nearly all of the nutritional value of fresh food. Other methods of preservation, such as canning and dehydrating, use high temperatures that destroy much of the food value.
Refrigerated, frozen, and canned food just don’t last very long. Freeze dried food will last up to 25 years and does not need to be to be rotated like other foods. Freeze dried food is perfect for home storage. Harvest Right freeze dryers produce food that looks and tastes better than store-bought freeze dried food.
Freeze drying works great for fruits and vegetables, but unlike other options, it also perfectly preserves meat, fish, dairy, eggs, ice cream, and even fully-cooked meals.
Discover how fun and delicious freeze-dried desserts and snacks can be! From freeze-dried ice cream to gummy bears and the very favorite – Skittles! There is such a demand for freeze-dried candy that many businesses specializing in freeze-dried sweets are taking off.
Other pages of Tiny Life Consulting you should investigate
| Tiny Home Convertible Furniture from Expand
Tiny House Lighting Tips to Make it Great |
Designing a Tiny Home That Meets Your Needs