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.

The main advantage is that it's actually a granite kitchen island, meaning I have a massive work surface at comfortable height when I need it, which doubles as table when eating.

@Yesterdayforgotten yes they are. The trend here in Ireladn is to go self build, ie you arrange everything from start to finish People think that its cheper, they will get better deals (they forget their purcahses are a once off). They forget that they work full time, it takes time to organise everything plus they are not as knowlegable. My partner knows what needs to be done next, what standards things should be before the next guy comes in etc. He is used to dealing with architects engineers etc, keeps a very tidy site for health and safety reasons, gets good pices cause he buys these things all the time. yet people crib bacuase he has put a 10 per cent profit on the over all cost or when it come to pay the contignecy 6 monmths after the buils its like getting blood out of a stone. Defoe agree on the en suite its my sancttuary, my next one will have a bath and a shower in it so i dont have to use the main batch at the other end of the house. Dont want the upheaval again, but am lucky the house will be compeletly finshed before move in and the last time i moved i left my old house that moring for work and came home to the new house that eve, everything was moved up, all had to do was unpack. Agree on downstarirs bathroom too, also have a walk in cloakroom so shoes and coats go in there, no hanging coats at end of stairs

I am looking to buy a house now and know lots of people looking to buy houses right now too and the things I/they don’t want:

• rooms knocked through into one huge space. Give us individual spaces where we can escape and get peace!
• kitchen island (for the sake of it, if it is a huge kitchen it works)
• bifold doors
• grey kitchens
• high gloss kitchens
• metro tiles
• grey everything

All things that are hugely dated.

Kitchen islands have existed since I was a child and that was some half century ago. Hardly a new fangled thing that is faddy and likely to go out of fashion

I've just moved into a house that had a kitchen island fitted by owners before last. Owners before us removed it (sold house searches are great for seeing what people have done to houses over the years!)

Since moving in (4 weeks ago) I have discovered that the massive piece of granite that was on the island is resting in between the garage and the shed. What the buggery bollocks am I meant to do with that?!

Yabu as nothing is as bad as Artex/woodchip/pebbledash! I had an unreasonable amount of glee stripping woodchip wallpaper from our airing cupboard recently, we had it replastered and now it’s lovely and smooth. Next up will be the one random wall over the stairs with it!
No view really on islands as I have a galley kitchen (Victorian terrace) which barely has room for the dishwasher to open so I’ve never experienced one. I don’t like it when people extend into the side return of houses like mine to make a wider (island friendly) kitchen though because it cuts off that side of the original house from any windows and makes it too dark.

@BlackBucketOfCheese

I am looking to buy a house now and know lots of people looking to buy houses right now too and the things I/they don’t want:

• rooms knocked through into one huge space. Give us individual spaces where we can escape and get peace!
• kitchen island (for the sake of it, if it is a huge kitchen it works)
• bifold doors
• grey kitchens
• high gloss kitchens
• metro tiles
• grey everything

All things that are hugely dated.

I have metro tiles, I thought they work quite well in a Victorian house ☹️ Agree with the rest though!

I haven't realised but isn't that just a table that you can't move and can't use one edge of?

Agree that was not an island, it is a table attached to the end of cupboards. And would not be the normal definition of an island, which is a stand alone unit, normally with storage cupboards built in, where the top Work surface extends out over those cupboards, making it suitable to sit at.fully.

I have metro tiles, I thought they work quite well in a Victorian house

This is how decorating stuff is I think. Some things look great in one place and bad in another. I am quite partial to bight blue bathroom fixtures in some mid-century houses where they are really fun and happy, but it would look weird in a Victorian house!

I can't be doing with islands. A friend of mine (who's v well off) bought a house and stuck one in the strangely small (given the size of the whole house) kitchen - you have to sort of shuffle your way around the kitchen and two people can't pass each other in there.

Just have a nice table if you want somewhere to sit and eat, surely?

@GoatCheeseTart

Our island is fab but only used for food prep. Can't imagine eating at it.

Of course, yours is not designed for that, would not be comfortable. This is the part of my island we use for eating - just the eating section is 120x90 cm, so bigger than many average kitchen tables.

I'm struggling to see why this is preferable to a table, tbh... And it certainly isn't bigger than most tables I'm familiar with?

Do people really not buy the perfect house because the walls and carpet are grey, it's not an Airbnb - you can paint and redecorate!😂

*BlackBucketOfCheese
I am looking to buy a house now and know lots of people looking to buy houses right now too and the things I/they don’t want:

• rooms knocked through into one huge space. Give us individual spaces where we can escape and get peace!
• kitchen island (for the sake of it, if it is a huge kitchen it works)
• bifold doors
• grey kitchens
• high gloss kitchens
• metro tiles
• grey everything*

I love these posts where the posters "know " people ( taste makers we should be taking notes from) who want this or that. 😂

You wouldn't buy a house because of tiles or paint colours or kitchen doors ????🤷‍♀️ 🙄

You wouldn't buy a house because of tiles or paint colours or kitchen doors ????🤷‍♀️ 🙄
I knew someone who discounted an otherwise close to perfect (for their needs, that is) house because it was painted Magnolia.
She settled on another one purely because she liked the shade of green in the living room 😂
She was a complete halfwit, but there's an alarming number of them about.

Well obviously it depends on the size of the kitchen and no shouldn’t replace a kitchen table. But if you have a huge kitchen and room for both? The space needs filling with something otherwise you’d just have cabinets round the edge of a large room.

Love the idea of a ping pong table though!

I do love ours. It has a stainless steel surface so great for prep and loads of storage.
We have a separate kitchen table. Also not open plan living as lounge is completely separate.

Surely it just depends on your house. I wouldn’t say they are out of fashion or bad. I understand they don’t look good shoe horned in to a small kitchen though.

You wouldn't buy a house because of tiles or paint colours or kitchen doors ????

If I am buying a house at the top of my budget I don’t want to totally renovate everything. I’ve renovated before, I’m not doing it again, ripping out tiles usually means dealing with lots of other unnecessary faff - in many circumstances it can even mean a new kitchen or bathroom carcass is required.

I’m happy to repaint but if people have put in expensive grey wooden floors and window frames then that is much more than a lick of paint.

I know lots of people who are moving because we are all trying to get into the same school, which was guaranteed until some boundaries changed. Many of us talk about not wanting rooms that are knocked through. It is common here that Victorian terraces are knocked through from front door to back door and it goes against what a lot of us now want. Maybe millennials just want something different from family homes. 🤷‍♀️

No house I buy is ever going to be 100% to my taste but I’m not paying extra money to buy what am estate agent determines as tasteful, to then have to spend £30k+ to strip it back.

Someone mentioned woodburning stoves upthread. I absolutely loathe ours (put in by previous owner.) I'd whip it out in an instant if I could be bothered. Pointless fashion accessory in a centrally heated London house, and when it's cold enough to use it's really difficult to light due to the cold air in the flue.

@Thisismytimetoshine

You wouldn't buy a house because of tiles or paint colours or kitchen doors ????🤷‍♀️ 🙄 I knew someone who discounted an otherwise close to perfect (for their needs, that is) house because it was painted Magnolia. She settled on another one purely because she liked the shade of green in the living room 😂 She was a complete halfwit, but there's an alarming number of them about.

People really are swayed/put off by the presentation of a house, that's why there are home staging companies.

Agree that was not an island
What exactly does make it 'not an island'? Was certainly sold me as one.

Kitchen island: a piece of furniture with a worktop (= a flat surface on which food can be prepared) and cupboard space, that is placed in the middle of a kitchen.

@BlackBucketOfCheese

You wouldn't buy a house because of tiles or paint colours or kitchen doors ????

If I am buying a house at the top of my budget I don’t want to totally renovate everything. I’ve renovated before, I’m not doing it again, ripping out tiles usually means dealing with lots of other unnecessary faff - in many circumstances it can even mean a new kitchen or bathroom carcass is required.

I’m happy to repaint but if people have put in expensive grey wooden floors and window frames then that is much more than a lick of paint.

I know lots of people who are moving because we are all trying to get into the same school, which was guaranteed until some boundaries changed. Many of us talk about not wanting rooms that are knocked through. It is common here that Victorian terraces are knocked through from front door to back door and it goes against what a lot of us now want. Maybe millennials just want something different from family homes. 🤷‍♀️

No house I buy is ever going to be 100% to my taste but I’m not paying extra money to buy what am estate agent determines as tasteful, to then have to spend £30k+ to strip it back.

Knocking through those terraced houses seemed to be popular 20 years or so ago. I never much liked it, it's one thing to live in a space like that alone but when you have more people it's not very private and can be loud. Aesthetically it also seems to me like you are losing most of the period charm and making it look like a new build. So why not just buy new build?

You wouldn't buy a house because of tiles or paint colours or kitchen doors

Honestly, you’d be surprised by the amount of folks who will buy a house for the decor and not buy it if they don’t like the decor. Picking up a paint brush is a step too far for them, . As batshit as it sounds, they actually exist.

I think we all know that list though was the posters own and not anyone else’s 🤣🤣🤣

We bloody love our wood burner. We’re on our second one as I swapped the black one for a cream enamel one. I sold the old one on eBay and there was practically a stampede to buy it, so they are not universally unpopular. Our house is ancient and drafty and the wood burner is a godsend.

No house I buy is ever going to be 100% to my taste but I’m not paying extra money to buy what am estate agent determines as tasteful, to then have to spend £30k+ to strip it back.*
*
Course not. That would be daft.

But it might take a long time if it's kitchen cupboard door colour and tile type driven as opposed to just structural choices.

I think they already are. They take up too much space. I would rip out. I prefer a huge table in my kitchen.

I think this completely depends on the size of the kitchen island. Massive ones? Hell yes get rid and let them die. More modest ones that don’t take up the entire room? Well they are both stylish and functional which artex wasn’t. It had no function.