Is this kitchen island too big?

[littletwinstar]

Dear all,

This is my first post. I'm really in struggle and hopefully can get some insight from you all.

I've always dreamt of having a huge island. My kitchen dining is 680cm x 430cm. (~29 sq ft). Around 300 x 430 belongs to kitchen area and 380 x 435 belongs to dining area.

Today I went to two places for a kitchen design and they came out like the attached file. Biggest size of island I could have with minimum passage way along each side of island.

I showed them to my friends and all of them said it's too big and have filled up the whole room. They think it doesn't look great. They prefer a small one like 120cm x 100cm with back of chairs facing dining area. That would be a reasonable size with a bit of space.

What do you think? If I'm going to sell the house years later, will the huge size island put people off because it makes the space looks very tight?

I will be very grateful for any input! Thank you!

I’m not sure you have space for an island and units either side - especially with stools.

What are the current drawn dimensions of the island? And what are the minimum passageway dimensions, per the kitchen company? I would want 100cm minimum to open the oven or fridge and stand in front of it - I don’t think you’re getting that.

I agree with your friends - an island maybe 140x90cm would give you 4 cupboards (two deep, two shallow) and a 20cm overhang at dining end for two stools. Anything bigger is just going to be miserable to use.

I think it’s too big, the sides feel quite narrow. The space feels cluttered, a bit like when people buy massive sofas for their living rooms that don’t fit the room.

No idea why I tagged the picture of my island upthread as ‘sensitive content’.

looking at your photos again, I think your room would lend itself better to a peninsula layout. I was adamant on island, and we do get good usage out of it, but peninsular layout would be better from a traffic flow pov. Less so for our kitchen where the path to the back door is diagonal, but definitely in yours.

I'd be putting an induction hob on the island for sure so you can cook and chat.

What are the people on the chairs going to be looking at row of units and the back of someone cooking?

How much space is between the sink and unit and then again between their oven and island and the fridge and island. You want that to be a good 110 - 120cm at least.

personally I’d have the overhang at the open end near the dining table and just have two little stools that tuck under, you need to be able to get into your fridge if somebody is sitting on a stool.

I love a big island but not at the expense of being able to walk around the kitchen.

I like elements of both plans. I think marginally picture 2, I prefer the sink in line with the cooker, the single cupboard by the door gone and the wall cupboards up to the ceiling - although would prefer an eye level oven, so much easier to use and clean. I also think the fridge needs to be housed. In terms of the island, I would go slightly narrower so that opening the fridge door whilst people are seated would be easier. Agree with pp though, I'd maybe get a few more designs done - although you do have lots of doors and windows, so perhaps that's what is restricting you.

Make your bench a U shape, corner pantry cupboard. Move the oven to the far wall.

Alternatively move oven to the far wall, corner pantry, fridge where oven is on first pic - french door to reduce space needed to open door. Clear off the right hand wall entirely, so there's space to get to the door, will help it not to feel crowded. Have island out from the fridge, facing the dining table.

Cupboards to the ceiling and drawers under all benches to maximise storage and look tidy.

We have a very similar sized island in fact the layout in your picture is almost identical to our kitchen. however we don't have any stools around the island and the sink and drainer is incorporated in the island. I left all the kitchen planning to dh as i wasn't well at the time. I do find it too big. It's nice having all the workspace but I find the area is just a dumping ground for any old crap- post, car keys, work bag, iron. It's just a mess constantly. It also irritates me immensely constantly walking round it to put pots and pans away. In hindsight I would have a smaller one !! dh on the other hand loves it and as he does most of the cooking etc I keep quiet !

Are you doing cooking demo shows?

Turn the island to face into the room and ditch the stools. Put your hob in the island, then you can easily access the fridge, sink and oven whilst your friends%family sit at the table to talk to you.

Currently no one is going to want to sit that close to you in the kitchen, they will be in the way constantly, and the access to your fridge is restricted.

Could you reconfigure and have an L shaped kitchen with a large island? Instead of a large American fridgefreezer you could have 2 undercounter units, or move it on the opposite wall. Then you have 60cm cupboards, 1.10 gap, 1.20 island (with 20cm worktop overhang), 40cm for chairs when tucked under, 1m gap between chairs and wall to walk around. That would look airy and generous and be practical, as you'd have enough space to open cupboards.

It looks like you have 2 doors, 1 into the kitchen and 1 into the dining part. Where does the kitchen door lead to? Do you need that entrance? If you could block that door, an L shaped kitchen would give you more storage and leave space for a big island.

I have a similar size room. We are integrating the dining and the kitchen together. So the long wall is all cabinetry. And then a slim 13ft table in the middle.

Nothing worse than a cramped island. I’m hoping this will play to proportions of the room. Maximise the length and feel generous.

Thank you all for your input! I have some serious thinking to do!

I have attached one of the better 2D floorplan for your reference.

Here're some more background information.
The kitchen dining now is still divided by a load bearing wall which I am planning to take it down with a condensation causing redundant blocked might be load bearing chimney (that's another long story). That's why the measurement is not quite exact - done by myself. Wren offered to send someone to do the measurement today. So we may have a more solid plan but still the wall is still there and builder might want to keep part of the wall as support. However, the basic and limitations are pretty much the same, I doubt there will be a big difference.

As I recall, all the walkway is around 90cm give or take. The diagram doesn't include measurement.

-There's a conservatory outside limiting the extractor's outlet (I insist venting outside).

• don't want to spend money moving the boiler that's why not safe to put gas hob anywhere close to it.

• I have just ordered the fridge last night (Black Friday extra 20% top cash back at Currys, still have it today for Cyber Monday if you want to buy something) so the size is fixed. It's a double door fridge so the door is slimmer.

• compare to oven, I use gas hob more in daily cooking

• I prefer no hob and sink in the island because I could have a large surface and do bakery on the island and also I could use the cabinet underneath as storage which I desperately need

• my house will be the gathering point of my friends, often 6 adults 6kids in total. I imagine some adults can sit on island drinking some wine and talk while some sitting in dining table. Extra seats are very welcome.

• I have an extendable dining table from 120-200cm x 80cm wide

• I have four pink chairs exactly like the one in second diagram. And two bigger one for now. I can buy more pink chairs to match. But I guess I can only fit eight of them maximum with three on either side and one on each short end.

Thank you for taking time to read such a long reply!! I appreciate it!!

Any thought?

You need to ditch the stools and the bit that the stools are under, then it will be fine.

I would open all cupboards, appliances etc to see how much space is left and then plan the island. The kitchen is a busy place and you need space to move around, multiple people opening cupboards/fridge/dishwasher at the same time. I would say a minimum of 3.5 feet between island and kitchen surfaces/surrounding appliances would be ideal.

If you tell a kitchen designer you want an island , you get an island irrespective of whether you have enough space to walk around it comfortably with the doors on the units etc open .

Sorry if you have said and I missed it but what is the measurement of the walkway bits, it only looks like 80-90cm, though that may be just the diagram not to scale

You are right. It's around 90cm give or take.

90cm walk around is really tight.

120cm wide. Make smaller.
If you look at your current dining table see how wide 80cm table is already. Can you put you table in the area you want island to gage spacing better?

As a comparison we have a dining table that’s 160cm long and 90cm wide. It fits 3 people either side.

I would probably be aiming more like 160x100cm for island. Or keep 180cm long but down to 100cm deep. A cabinet or dishwasher is only 60 depth usually, as most worktops are 62-65cm standard. So 100cm island is still really spacious

if you move the fridge freezer and free up that wall, you can flip the island, put the stools with their back to the dining area and have ample room. The fridge is the problem imho.

Way too wide, it will be a nightmare when people are sitting there and others are trying to walk through or get in the fridge. You have three doors that would all have to walk past the island to get access.

I think you’d be better having a peninsula as much more practical and I’ve been told islands are starting to go out of fashion (unsure if that bothers you).

If you cut the island down to 100cm deep as pp says that would give an extra 10cm of walkway each side, if you want the chairs get the stools that fit right underneath so they are not in the way when not in use

If the side opposite the bar / stools is going to have a wide drawer with cutlery in (ours does), check there is enough room to walk behind someone if they are getting things out of it

Looks lovely!

I could never be without my large fridge freezer so this would be a huge no from me.

Agree about the stools backing onto the dining area, I would build a nice wide peninsula out from the space marked “AH” and totally ditch the island. This would give you great storage, a seating area so people can sit and chat to you where you’re cooking and still a clear walkway for people to come in and out and get things from the fridge.