Kitchen island/table

[Tomboytown]

anyone eat on their island at bar/worktop height?
Trying to decide whether to make it multi level. I think I like my feet on the floor and I have a back problem which means I need a bit more support. Can't imagine long social dinners at an island.

No good for children, shorter or older folks. Have a lovely big table instead.

We have an island with two sides of breakfast bar in our kitchen and a table in the dining room. Bar stools with foot and back tests are comfortable to sit on. If you are only going to have one, have a table.

Our kids like bar stools, but they're not little anymore. Oldies, yes, my parents wouldn't be happy clambering up. I need the island for worktop and sink as well.
Something like this, could be up to 4m

Are you sure there's enough room between your island and the perimeter kitchen units? Looks like if the FF breaks there isn't enough room to pull it out.

We have this but you could have a low table where I have the high one. I have another table nearby so the bar height was to make the kitchen sociable, which it does.

I have a veg prep sink and the hob with over under. Your pix is not going to work as the sink is not at Work height. If it is, the bar stools will be on stilts!!! Either it should be all the same height, or the table/sitting area lowered to standard table height.

I think the bigger issue is the layout, basically you've got it like sitting at a bar, which really doesn't work for sociable dinners if everyone's basically lined up like that.

We have a peninsula, it's huge, but the u shape of it makes it sociable.

You really need to have people facing each other if you wish to use it for meals.

In addition putting the sink in it is a mistake, because then you're eating meals looking at dirty dishes. Eating round the sink isn't fun.

Lastly the height is off. Mine is the same level as my work surfaces so works as a table, however in yours you want to raise it, so it's then difficult for older or less fit folk to sit there.

I think it needs a little rethink.

Sorry, that plan is very basic, not really to scale, and that island is what I'm playing with. How long, how high. 4-5m to work with. I like the bar area around the sink with a couple of high stools. Then I was going to have the rest worktop height, but thinking I should drop it to table height

From the other side

The be honest it doesn't look like you have room for an island? It looks very cramped. Also I think having a shared sink/ dining space will not work. Having a lower sink like that will also be too low, especially with a bad back.

I think you need a big rethink.

It's not to scale.
The sink is normak height, not lower?

Will there be any space for people's legs under the island, or will the cupboards/drawers underneath go right to the edge of the surface? A friend has stools with no space for your legs and it's not comfortable to eat at.

I think if you like it op then go for it.

I think really the point is the raised area is uour seating area and you've people seated round your sink. In practice that's not a pleasant way to eat meals. The fact it's raised above worktop height just makes it harder to get comfy as well. You've then got people lined up like they are at a bar or sitting at the counter in an American cafe, it doesn't seem to fit your purpose.

Ideally you'd have nothing on your island, but if you do need to put something there, go for the hob and make the bit you eat at work top height.

If the sink is normal worktop height, why have you a further raised bit for seating- it's higher than a table anyway? It makes no sense to have it higher and it makes the space inflexible.

Trying to find pictures
The sink would be tucked away in the high bit With high stools. The lower but with more comfy full back chairs
Yes, plenty of space underneath

3 level?

You can't really leave kitchen planning to guess work and not to scale drawings. There's safety issues at stake and it's a big investment. Don't get it wrong. Make sure you get any plans you come up with yourself, safety checked. I've been going through past posts on MN and there's a designer who checks them for mumsnetters called @OnePlanOnHouzz
I don't think she sells stuff. Just design services. Give her a call.

It would work better if seated round the lower bit, it's u shaped and more sociable, and the sink up in the raised bit. Still not great though...why raise any of it?

You cannot have any of it raised. You cannot use anything that’s higher then a conventional worktop height. Even that requires bar stool ms, not chairs.

I do have a small sink but it’s a long way from the seating area as you can see. However I have a large double Belfast sink elsewhere.

If you have lots of space, you can have a 3m work top and have a further 1 m as a table. My round wood table has cupboards under it. The island is 2 cupboards deep. So the whole island has a huge amount of storage. You can certainly have a hob and oven on the island and it’s my second oven that’s below it. If you keep the seating at one end of the Island it frees up all the cupboard space along one side without moving chairs out of the way.

Any decent kitchen showroom should have island designs and designers that understand the best use of an island.

It's ok
That's just the first drawing that we threw together to get a feel for it. The island length and height and stools all still to be determined.
Yes, bluntness, that's exactly my point. I'm thinking that eating high up doesn't work, so the eating should be lower.
But I still like the idea of a couple of high stools for casual. Why raise any of it? Because I like the idea of a casual bar type area, it's a bit different and it defines the sink area a bit

Do you not have a kitchen designer?

If you go someplace like wickes they will do it for you, you then don't have to buy from them.

Yes, I have a kitchen designer but ultimately I have to decide what's going to work for the way we live

Why do you want the high stools then? It's easy to fall for all the glossy photos but it doesn't seem like you are needing them, just that you like all the photos.

It doesn't seem workable or practical.

So are you going to sit at bar stools and have the eating area at chest level? Or would you prefer it where you have a normal place setting? Two levels means more cleaning where they join and it’s a very inefficient use of space to have it so linear. You cannot use it for prep, dishing up or anything other than eating. We have pop up sockets near ours for computers, music, phones etc. It’s a convivial table with multiple uses. If you have one long linear Bar it’s very limited in what you can do with the area. It’s not sociable either. Feet get in the way of using the cupboards.

Honestly I think uou need to find a new kitchen designer. Normally plans are to scale and they should be telling you the stuff we are telling you and advising you on what's workable.