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.

We want to have the sink set into it and have one side as a breakfast bar with stools.

However tidy you are they will always be something on/in the sink looking at you while you eat your breakfast. People eye will be drAwn to it.

@pinkbalconyrailing

I feel the same about open plan full stop.

^ Definitely this. Where do you hide the mess?

I think this may have been a really bad example to be fair - it also did a weird open plan thing where they kept different spaces but knocked down the walls either side of the fireplace which is like the worst of all worlds - you can't use them to do different things but nor can you talk to someone in the other part comfortably.

YANBU

Very naff.

@WhoWouldHaveThoughtThat

We have an island unit, I've always fancied putting a small pot with a coconut tree in the middle! But I'm not allowed... 🌴😢

We watched couples Come Dine With Me recently, and they had a hole in the top of their island which lead straight to the bin underneath. They just popped the lid into the hole when they didn't want to use it (it had grooves rather than a handle) and then ot could just used as part of the island. I goggled at DH and said that we must have one. He said that he wasn't paying money for an island, for someone to carve a circle out of it. I've tried arguing that it's bespoke and cut to size anyway, but he's not having it.

I'll break him. We haven't started the work yet.

@GervaseFen : Is Artex really making a comeback or do you speak in jest?

I'm just asking as I still have it from first time round !😥 - though, in my defence, I was not responsible for using it in the first place.

We're trying to move at the moment, and wish RightMove had a filter for kitchen islands, open plan and bifold doors

I like character and simple - brick walls, rooms with clear functions that are easy to keep warm, and that have decent sound insulation! We stayed in an open plan holiday let and I was murderous at the end of a week in it - due to the clutter going everywhere, and the way that the noise just bounced off the walls.

Is Artex making a comeback? I hope so, we have lots! It’s a relatively inoffensive stippled effect and we have high ceilings so less noticeable. After having our utility room ceiling smoothed as part of fixing damage from a water leak and seeing how much mess that made, requiring repainting walls, I can’t face having any of the others done. We don’t have an island though, there’s space for one but the previous house owners went for a farmhouse style table in the middle of the kitchen with lots of space round, which was one of the reasons that we bought the house.

@Freddiefox

We want to have the sink set into it and have one side as a breakfast bar with stools.

However tidy you are they will always be something on/in the sink looking at you while you eat your breakfast. People eye will be drAwn to it.

It's more for the DC to eat their breakfast at whilst I do the morning prep (lunchboxes etc). We had a breakfast bar in the kitchen of our old house and used it a lot for breakfast and lunch, but tended to eat dinner at the table in the dining room.

It's DH that wants the sink in it. Opposite where the cooker will be for easy drainage access. We've quite a small kitchen at the moment, yet the sink still feels too far from the cooker when you've got a pan of boiling water IYSWIM?

[quote Wingedharpy]@GervaseFen : Is Artex really making a comeback or do you speak in jest?

I'm just asking as I still have it from first time round !😥 - though, in my defence, I was not responsible for using it in the first place.[/quote]
Don't know if it really is but I have seen a few renovations where it was painted dark alongside claims made about it adding texture/drama etc.

I love my island, it’s not huge, but we have a fairly large open plan kitchen and if it wasn’t there it would just be an empty useless space as our table is down the other end of the room. Our island had a Belfast sink and large cupboards in it where we store all our cleaning products and pets things, which is lovely as I can look out into the garden through the sliding doors opposite while I do the washing up.

Not a fan of islands, so tend to go to bigger countries lol But they can work in some big spacious areas. But who wants a cavern anyway.

I love my little kitchen that has a REAL table, although it's small.

Are they really considered naff?? I don't have one because my kitchen is an awkward shape, but I'd love one.

Oh a Belfast sink though , (yes, envy)! I'm dying for one! If we ever get a new kitchen, I would sacrifice almost any other feature for one.

I had an island when this house was built 30 years ago.
Getting rid was the best thing I did. It's a huge kitchen but the island made it so inflexible.

I wonder if they became popular with TV chefs pretending to cook from home and needing a way to face the camera while prepping/cooking?

Islands are fine if there is plenty of space.
Breakfast bars are normally a mistake.

We removed the breakfast bar when we re-did our kitchen. At first everyone thought we were mad. When it was done it became clear that it was more open and felt larger giving more comfortable space for a big table and no loss of cupboard space as the corner wasn't well used anyway and gaining the wall for another unit. Breakfast bars are just clutter hotspots, and pointless with a table in the room.

I try not to look at the artex. It is a period feature... except where walls have moved, it's a bastard to apply it to match the patterns, and it smells like vomit for a week while it dries.

@BranchAndPoppy

Oh a Belfast sink though , (yes, envy)! I'm dying for one! If we ever get a new kitchen, I would sacrifice almost any other feature for one.

We had one in our old flat. It was lethal on crockery. If you put a plate or cup in it with more than a feather like touch, smash! DH wants one in this island. I am less keen. They do look nice though.

@VestaTilley Mon 24-Aug-20 21:13:35
Agree, I really don’t see what purpose they serve. But then I don’t like anything modern in the home 😂 open plan, grey walls, bifold doors, filled in side returns. Yuck yuck yuck.

You would hate my house that I had built to my own design then.

My living space is one, not particularly large room. It has white walls BUT is open plan with a grey kitchen and magnificent bifold doors. I love it.

I do live alone however and wouldn't have like the open plan when my kids were at home.

Islands will be out of fashion soon.

As will those huge kitchen diners.

Our parents houses were great, we could all escape!

I think islands are quite old fashioned now. I don't like them at all - very ugly.

Good job we don't all like the same things though eh?

I looked round a house once where the island contained every part of the kitchen and there was nothing against the walls. So to get from the sink to the fridge you had to go around the island. Or the dishwasher. It was the most bizarre thing. The guy selling the house thought he had come up with something truly brilliant. He fancied himself as a design genius.

Oh and an island with breakfast bar

I couldn't give a shiny shite about "fashion", tbh. Certainly not when it comes to kitchens.

Separate kitchen is coming back. Watch this space.

Inevitable really for so many reasons, privacy and space elsewhere is one.

You heard it here!