There are as many variations of the country kitchen sink as there are country kitchens. Depending on the locality, a kitchen sink can be stainless steel, ceramic or porcelain. Country kitchens of the early 1900's almost always had a stainless steel or porcelain sink. Ceramic sinks for these kitchens became popular later in the 1940's.

One issue to resolve before purchasing your country kitchen sink is how much use it will receive. For many households where the kitchen is the center of activity, a kitchen sink should be constructed from heavy-duty materials. Although, dishwashers have minimized the use of sinks somewhat, there is still a need for rinsing dishes before they get to the dishwasher. Kitchen sinks can be a no-man's land where the cook may drain spaghetti into a collander or sand is rinsed from lettuce. Certainly, potatoes always need to be rinsed and scrubbed before peeling. It's a good idea to consider a garbage disposal when installing a new country sink. This will make it far less likely for you to clog up the pipes as the garbage disposal system will chop any items into small pieces before they go down the drain.

In old provincial kitchens, sinks were often cast iron or some form of pre-cast stone. They were virtually indestructible with volumes of every day use. Most had double ones. One for washing, one for rinsing as well as a drainboard. Many had one shallow and one deeper for doing laundry or giving baby a bath. Today's country kitchen sinks are pretty and useful. Most are free-standing or attached to a wood cabinet. The traditional look for today's sinks is one that has a cabinet under it and a skirt rather than a wooden cabinet door.

In most country farmhouses, the kitchen was the picture of simplicity. The sink reflected that simplicity with a single large basin with a cast iron apron at the front. Very often, the basin was porcelain over cast iron to insure longer wear. The clean lines of a farmhouse sink was enhanced by two spindle legs on either side of it. These sinks were nearly always white or a dark travertine stone color. The great thing about these sinks is how well they retained heat. This was especially helpful since hot water was not supplied in older country homes by a water heater. Usually, water was heated in a large kettle kept atop the cook stove for dish washing purposes.