To think kitchen Islands are the artex of the future?

[GervaseFen]

I was watching a home renovation programme and every time they stick these massive blocks in the middle of the kitchen before ripping out the walls to 'connect' to
the garden. This time the island was a huge rectangle and took up most of the room with a little table in the space at the end. I can so image the future shows having people walking around and identifying these as the first thing to rip out and exclaiming over how much space they gain.

@Yesterdayforgotten I'm not proposing banning them honest and now see my views are very moderate

I just think when something becomes used indiscriminately it's going to get ripped out with glee later on.

I may get flamed for this so I apologise profusely in advance, but whenever I see people with an island and those gaping holes in their back of their house with bi fold doors I do judge. Of course if it’s done the right way (Porcelanosa kitchen, doors that open out to an ocean view) then fine, it’s quite fabulous. Otherwise I immediately think I bet they have a grey living room with crushed velvet sofa and an Audi on finance but wear Primark knickers. 😆😆

Is everyone else now getting kitchen island ads?

@Thewiseoneincognito

I may get flamed for this so I apologise profusely in advance, but whenever I see people with an island and those gaping holes in their back of their house with bi fold doors I do judge. Of course if it’s done the right way (Porcelanosa kitchen, doors that open out to an ocean view) then fine, it’s quite fabulous. Otherwise I immediately think I bet they have a grey living room with crushed velvet sofa and an Audi on finance but wear Primark knickers. 😆😆

Living room carpet is grey. House had been done up by builder when we moved in, and thats what he put in. Im kinda loath (and not rich enough) to rip out a perfectly good brand new carpet. Will you forgive me?

My sofa is brown. We bought it from M&S 14 years ago. Its definitely seen better days. But its comfy. We've looked for a new one, but after moving house we decided that we could we live with it a bit longer and besides we hadn't seen one we liked as much.

We have two very modest cars - both with unfashionable badges - which we bought new but now own outright.

But i do have primark knickers, mainly because they are just as good for an average day than an expensive pair.

I'm much more Ms Practical or Ms Sensible than Ms Fashionable or Ms Prentious-Showoff I'm afraid.

And thats why I have an island and bifolds. Which open out onto probably equally marmite decking (not my choice - again a builders decision - I've spent hours cleaning and painting the damn stuff this year).

@Benjispruce2

Is everyone else now getting kitchen island ads?

Nope.

I'm on bathrooms.

Which is salt to wounds seeing as i have a leak into my kitchen and a whole in my bathroom tiles at present!

This just goes to show that it doesn’t matter what some genius designer invents - self-cleaning work surfaces, automatic fridge replenishers, AI chefs that will do all your cooking - within a month, there will be a thread on MN declaring all the ideas “naff”.

I don’t get the social cooking thing. I dislike people in the kitchen when I’m cooking. I also like to eat in a different room to where I’ve just cooked and left a temporary mess.

oh gosh, that! A table in the kitchen is fine, but I would feel like the scullery maid if I had to live in the bloody kitchen.

Being six foot I can see a me height island would be better for food prep than a table, and deeper than a work surface, so you wouldn't have to use effectively a 10 inch space because there is always a kettle, toaster, pile of crap, on every side in kitchen. But alas my kitchen is a tiny galley :(. Also with open plan, what do you do with your toddlers when the ovens on, or the stove? Genuinely interested, as we had Stairgate on kitchen

DH usually cooks and he isn't the most sociable, he loves to be in the kitchen, especially on Christmas Day when there's lots of family round, he is soon off, escaping into the kitchen with the door shut.

I think it depends on the kitchen size. I hate them to sit at but they’re very functional in terms of creating extra preparation and storage space. I think all the fashion for big glass blocks of flats in cities is going to date the most - they are almost identical visually to the concrete tower block monstrosities of the 60/70/80s, except made of glass instead of concrete. I think they’ll date horribly.

squid outside of my oven doesn't get hot and I have an induction hob on the island which was too high for toddlers to reach. (Dh is 6'4'' so our custom made island is quite high). It would have been possible to also put stairgates on both sides of the island I guess, but we didn't need to.

Genuine question, how would would you cook with separate kitchen when DC are too small to be left unsupervised? With open kitchen I could leave them in the living room area with their toys and keep an eye on them while I did things in the kitchen. Can you only cook when they are napping then? Strap then in the high chair in the kitchen?

@Squidwitch

Teach them not to touch the oven. My toddler isn’t allowed to touch it whether it’s on or off (though they definitely try). The only thing tricky is the grill- I make them sit at the dining table and watch tv if I need to use the grill as I’m worried about them running around and knocking into it accidentally.

Alternatively, some of my mum friends with open plans have ovens that are higher up in the tall cabinets.

G5000, that sounds lovely, can only dream of working in a kitchen where I don't feel like a 12 year old in a nursery! Seperate kitchen was a nightmare when they were babies, can't see lounge from it, and you feel like you're hiding from them, this house is 1950s and everything that could be boxed off into a smaller space, has been! Nothing to help it I suppose, we rent and area is lovely

When mine were toddlers they’d be in the floor with toys while I cooked or in a high chair. My kitchen had a table at one end so they weren’t around my feet or near oven etc.

Nothing much to add just to say I love my kitchen island. And thanks to DD naming it I love the kitchen mainland too.

I also have artex, but as I don't spend much time on the floor looking up, it doesn't bother me. My condensation filled double glazing drives me mad though!

Love that @kingdomcapers

When DS was little he was either in dining room and kitchen door was open and could be easily seen or up of other end of kitchen at table, it wasn’t small like a scullery because it was separate.

@kingdomcapers 😆😆 kitchen mainland 🤣

I think open plan must be some kind of rebellion against parental homes with lots of rooms. DS1is just buying his first house. Top of his criteria was open plan and an island kitchen......

I was considering an island to divide my kitchen/ dinner/ family room. I wemt for an L shaped leather sofa instead. Loks fab & if I wsnt to party, it gets pushed to one side to make space for the dancefloor!
I have invested in a lovely sideboard in the dining area that is sitting along one wall (handmade) for lots of extra storage.

As you said, they take up a lot of space and unless you live in a mansion I don't see the point.
However, it's often the cheapest option design to avoid moving gas/ water/ drain pipes while pushing into an extension or other room.

I actually wish I had a very small kitchen so that it could only be one person at a time in there, at a push two. I'm not mad about cooking but I absolutely loathe and detest anybody chatting to me while I'm cooking. I still have to ask my husband to go away (you'd think after 25 years he'd get it). If we have people over I try to serve cold things or things that are already in the oven when they get here. My idea of cooking hell is inviting people to a barbecue .

@Benjispruce2

We don’t have ‘parties‘. We have family get togethers and use the dining/family room.That opens out to the garden which is big. Tend to do larger gatherings in the warmer months.

All of our birthdays are in the autumn/winter months, as is Christmas and New Year, which is when we tend to have people round, including friends and family with younger kids, so even if we spread into the garden, when it gets into the evening and colder, we will come inside. By family get togethers, how many people are you talking?

A lot of older houses are not really designed for islands unless they have an extension or walls knocked out and you lose a room. Our 1930s kitchen is 3m wide but about 7m long so it would be very difficult to fit an island in but a table easily fits at one end if you wanted one, likewise my parents 1920s bungalow had a large L shaped kitchen diner and an island would have looked odd in that, it had a table in the L bit.