Do you have an island in your kitchen? Please help!

[NoviceNellie]

We are getting a new kitchen after 8 years in our house
I would like an island, but the room is only 10x11 ft. Is it big enough?/
DH says no . The kitchen units will be L shaped on two walls, and the other two walls have doors on them. Please say it can be done! I had a look at the IKEA planner and it just confused me...

[glenthebattleostrich]

In our first house we had a similar sized kitchen and put in an island. It worked brilliantly, we had our fridge and freezer in it (2 under bench units) and a breakfast bar type thing on the other side so didn't need a kitchen table. If we ever do another kitchen I'll insist on having another one, I loved it.

[NoviceNellie]

Yes! One vote for yes
We are intending to have our fridge/freezer in a corner, but it is good to hear it worked for you. We will have a table in the dining room for dinner, but an island for breakfasts and for sociability in the kitchen is kinda my rationale for a new kitchen - hence why I need to convince DH.

[fresh]

Since you work in feet...
The units will be 2ft deep. You need 4ft between the units and anything else (i.e. island unit) to be able to bend down to get things out of the cupboards/drawers. You will also need a minimum of 2ft to get through the doors safely (and more if the doors open into the room, they're usually 2ft6) and circulate around the other side of the island i.e. the side/s which aren't opposite units. I think this means that your island could be at most 2ft x 3ft, which doesn't seem worth it to me, in fact I think it would look silly.
Sorry, your DH is right. There will be lots of posters who say you don't need 4ft between the units and the island, but you do. If you have less you'll find that two people can't pass each other, and you'll be cramped every time you open a drawer or cupboard. It will drive you mad in the end.

[minipie]

Our kichen is 11'2 wide and we have an island.

We have got units on one wall, then a gap, then the island (which is 1 unit deep plus an extra overhanging bit as a breakfast bar), then a gap, then a blank wall.

I am not sure how big the gaps are - 3 feet ish? Definitely less than 4 ft. 90 cm (3 feet) is usually the recommended minimum I think.

It works fine. DH and I can get past each other with no problem and it's not cramped when opening drawers and doors. We are both pretty thin though

In fact I wouldn't want a 4 ft gap between my island and my other run of units, because it's very useful to be able to easily turn from one to the other (eg if I am prepping on the island I can turn round and chuck stuff into a pan on the hob without moving)

[minipie]

Obviously you could buy yourself more space (bigger gaps) than I have, if you don't have the breakfast bar.

[noddyholder]

I agree with your dh it is too small.

[Pannacotta]

Sounds too small to me.
How about trying out a small butchers block first, and seeing how you get on with that?

[minipie]

Kitchen unit is about 60 cm deep.

11 feet is 335 cm.

If you have a run of units on one wall, then an island which is 1 unit deep, you have units taking up 120cm of your 335 cm.

So you have 215 cm left to play with as the "gaps" between your units and island, and your island and blank wall (which in your case has a door in it).

So you can have two gaps of 107cm which is plenty IMO.

Admittedly that does mean quite a skinny island (only one cabinet deep) but that's ok. Alternatively you could have a slightly deeper island and sacrifice a bit of your spaces between - which is what I have got.

[StillSquiffy]

Our kitchen is 12 ft wide and we had v small table in the middle for years with walking space around it. It was hell - especially when people were sitting down.

I always wanted an island but was convinced not to by going into a showroom and getting family to sit round an island in a display kitchen - showrooms are usually not much bigger than this (take a tape measure). Once we'd factored in people sitting on stools, lounging around, there simply wasn't enough room.

In the end we got round narrow kitchen problem by having a breakfast bar area 'coming out' from one of the normal worksurfaces, with normal cupboards under. It does mean that instead of facing each other over the cornflakes you end up facing wall cupboards instead (although considering the state of my DH first thing, I consider this to be a benefit, rather than a downside).

[typicalvirgo]

I love having an island, but i have to say we have a much bigger kitchen space but even then if the door to the kitchen is opened at the same time you walk around it, it can still seem a bit awkward sometimes.

`Why don't you try getting a big sheet of newspaper and taping it to the floor where it would be and see how you manage getting around it. A big cardboard box to give an idea of volume would be even better.

[SecretSquirrels]

I used to have an island but got rid of it. It dominated the room and reduced flexibility of use.
The only good thing about it was when DCs were crawling they could climb right through one cupboard and out the other side. (Specially emptied for that purpose).

[higgle]

I'm looking at houses with a view to moving soon. I want a kitchen we can eat in, at a proper table not perched around a kitchen unit. I've looked at several houses where they have made great play of having an island unit but there is no room for anything else in the kitchens and you certainly couldn't entertain in them. Unless you have a huge kitchen where you can have a decent table and an island unit ( and a sofa) I think they are a no no.

[SecretSquirrels]

I do have a large kitchen and still had a round table and chairs when we had the island , but getting rid of it has meant I now have plenty of space for a sofa as well. I like to be able to move things around from time to time and an island is pretty fixed.