From Kitchen Designer to Custom Sink Pioneer: The Inventor of the Workstation Sink

For more than two decades, I made my living designing kitchens. I loved the problem-solving. I loved the people. I did not love the sinks.

Most “standard” sinks are built to hit a price point, not to support how people actually prep, cook, and clean. The layouts were often awkward. The depths were wrong. The accessories were afterthoughts. And the more time I spent in real kitchens, the more obvious it became that the sink was the most undervalued tool in the room.

That frustration turned into a simple question.

Why is the most used workstation in the kitchen designed like it is barely used at all? That question ultimately led me to design and build custom kitchen sinks that function as true workstations, not just plumbing fixtures.

Why I built my first custom sink

As a kitchen designer, I watched homeowners spend real money on cabinets, stone, appliances, and lighting, then get stuck with a sink that slowed everything down. A sink is not décor. It is workflow.

So I started sketching solutions based on what I saw every day in the field. Ergonomics. Real reach distances. Real cooking habits. The kind of details you only notice when you have designed kitchens and cooked in them daily.

Those sketches became prototypes. Those prototypes became a new standard.

At Rachiele®, we specialize in custom kitchen sinks made in the USA that are engineered around real workflow and real use. From 316L surgical-grade stainless to copper, brass, and bronze, every sink we build is tailored to how you cook, prep, and clean in your kitchen rather than how traditional sinks are designed.

The workstation sink, before it was a category

Long before “workstation sink” became a common phrase, I introduced the first workstation sinks to the market, built around integrated ledges that let the sink do more than hold water.

What started as a function-first idea became one of the most widely adopted innovations in the kitchen world, and it has since been copied by nearly every sink manufacturer on the planet.

But copying the look is the easy part.

The hard part is understanding why each detail exists and how it changes the experience of the person standing at the sink.

Today’s design trends show renewed interest in multifunction kitchen sinks that elevate workflow in stainless-steel kitchens, where durability and utility are prized features. [Architectural Digest]

Patents, yes, but the real difference is the thinking

I hold 10 U.S. design patents, each one tied to a specific improvement in how people prep, cook, and clean.

And while patents matter, what matters more is the mindset behind them.

Most sinks are designed by people who have never had to solve the “real kitchen” problems I saw for decades:

• uncomfortable stance at the sink

• wasted counter space during prep

• awkward transitions from cutting to rinsing to loading

• accessories that slide, tip, warp, or just live in a drawer

I wanted a sink that worked like a tool, not a compromise.

Why materials matter at this level

I’m the founder and CEO of Rachiele® Custom Sinks, and we build fully custom sinks using exclusively domestic 316L surgical-grade stainless steel, copper, brass, and bronze.

Those materials are not a marketing line. They are the foundation of heirloom-grade performance. A sink should feel better at year ten than it did at year one.

The part most companies will not do

I still personally speak with each client.

Not because it sounds nice. Because it is the only way to design a sink that truly fits the household. Cooking habits, height, handedness, cleanup routines, what they cook, how often they cook, how they entertain, and how they want the kitchen to feel.

That one-on-one collaboration is rare now. It is also the reason the finished product feels so natural to use.

The path here was not straight

Before I launched Rachiele® in 1999, I founded Luxury Home Products online in 1998 and grew it into one of the early online retailers in the home space. Later, in 2008, I stepped away from retail to focus entirely on one thing: designing and building the finest sinks in the world.

That focus is why the company looks the way it does today.

And it is why nearly 90% of new business comes from repeat clients and referrals.

What this really is

These are not just sinks.

They are handcrafted kitchen tools, built around how people really live, designed to last generations, and made to make the most used workstation in your home feel effortless.

If you are planning a kitchen and want the sink to finally make sense, start with a conversation and we will design it around your space and your workflow.

If you are planning a kitchen and want the sink to finally make sense, start with a conversation, and we will design it around your space and your workflow.