What do you think about kitchen islands?

[Newtomarket]

DH and I can’t make up our minds about having a kitchen island. We think they look nice but at the same time look like an obstruction. We have the space to put one it but the kitchen I think will suddenly feel cumbersome because of having to navigate around the island.

What do you think about kitchen islands? Do you have one?

I think they make sense in a kitchen-diner-lounge layout but only look good when you have a single row of cabinets / units behind it and the cooker / sink is on it so you can be more sociable. I don’t see the value of them in just a kitchen

It depends on how you'd use it. I'm desperate for one because I hate doing food prep and baking on the normal surfaces at the edge of a room. I like to have space. But then I make huge lengths of pasta, roll out dough a lot and have quite a few bulky kitchen gadgets on the work top that get in the way.

I would love one, but my kitchen is not the right lay out

I think they look good when you have the space. A lot seem to be squeezed into small spaces.

I have an IKEA once which I use for food prep. I don't have much work surface in the kitchen, so this doubles it.

Best thing I ever bought. I have a large kitchen and the kids do homework at the table so i felt I was always having my back to them when sorting dinner etc so now they sit at the island and I can chop and peel to my hearts content while also looking at them and helping with homework.

I have a moveable island that I got from IKEA. Means I can push it to one side if I need to, or get rid of it completely should I decide I don't like it anymore.

I love mine BUT my kitchen is very large (8m x 5m) and it's the best use of the space for us. We have an Lshape for the rest of the units and the oven/sink etc are on those sides as I like a completely worktop based island which is used for all prep and for sitting at/congregating around. It's a big island and has quite a bit of drawer and cupboard space underneath. I think islands that have been squeezed in don't work so well. There is a minimum of 1.2m between ours and the units on the walls - people can easily walk past or open cupboards on either side and it not feel tight for space.

@GrumpyHoonMain

I think they make sense in a kitchen-diner-lounge layout but only look good when you have a single row of cabinets / units behind it and the cooker / sink is on it so you can be more sociable. I don’t see the value of them in just a kitchen

Yes this is possibly true - we have a dining table and sofa area at the end of our kitchen, as I say it is a big room and would almost look too bare without the island!

I hated the one in our kitchen it felt like it made the room into a load of corridors- it was enormous though and the kitchen in general was a terrible design for actually cooking in. Also the hob was on it and splattered everywhere.
When we redid the kitchen we changed it for a peninsula unit with a half wall round which I much prefer, kind of keeps the kitchen and dining parts separate but still open.

We'd love to have one, but don't have space - DH reckons you need a bit over 1m on each side for two people to pass comfortably, otherwise the kitchen becomes difficult to use - we're assuming you'd have more than one person in the kitchen at once, else you wouldn't need an island to start with.

@JumpingJamboree yes ours is a moveable Ikea one too.
www.ikea.com/ie/en/p/tornviken-kitchen-island-grey-oak-80393372/

We've had one for about 6 years now. We have the kitchen / diner / sitting area set up so its a big room and its just kind of the focal point of everything. Think its 2.5m x 1.2m. Sits in front of just one linear run of units. Use it pretty much constantly - breakfast is always at the island, quick dinners if its just racing off to do various sports etc whilst I / H chat / potter / cook. Other times its used for homework, baking, food prep. Very social when people come round.

They do come in for stick on MN for being a dumping ground. Nothing is out of my island (in fact, other than a coffee machine, I don't have anything at all out of my worktops full stop) although it has a sink at one end - don't use it much (use dishwasher) but everything is washed and put away etc so for my love of minimalism, you do have to be quite tidy.

I hate them, sorry but you did ask!

We have a large one; about 3 meters. We have a 1/2 sink on the end. It's fantastic, best thing we did to our kitchen. All meal prep takes place there and we eat on the island most evenings. It's the hub of the house. So for us it's great. But it only works because the kitchen is the correct shape and importantly width for the island.

Our kitchen is 6.5m x 3.5m and it is square. It’s away from the formal dining room. I like the idea of a moveable island but I might get a small table and locate it alongside the free walls and leave the space in the centre.

It sounds like your kitchen might not be quite wide enough for island. However, I would try either a peninsula or a thin island like the ones in the photos. It sounds like it’s to big to have nothing in the middle.

I hate them! They just seem to always be in the way. If I have a kitchen large enough for an island, I'd rather have a table and chairs in there tbh.
But, I don't really want to look at people when I'm preparing meals- I go into my kitchen to escape

@Africa2go

We've had one for about 6 years now. We have the kitchen / diner / sitting area set up so its a big room and its just kind of the focal point of everything. Think its 2.5m x 1.2m. Sits in front of just one linear run of units. Use it pretty much constantly - breakfast is always at the island, quick dinners if its just racing off to do various sports etc whilst I / H chat / potter / cook. Other times its used for homework, baking, food prep. Very social when people come round.

They do come in for stick on MN for being a dumping ground. Nothing is out of my island (in fact, other than a coffee machine, I don't have anything at all out of my worktops full stop) although it has a sink at one end - don't use it much (use dishwasher) but everything is washed and put away etc so for my love of minimalism, you do have to be quite tidy.

How do you manage that minimalist set up? Do you have hidden storage etc? I really like the minimalist look but always end up with stuff out which is annoying.

I’ve seen islands in kitchens smaller than 6.5m x 3.5m (up to not including the units). I thought our kitchen was in the spacious enough category (sad face). How big are people’s kitchen?

I might make one out of cardboard to see how it feels for about a week.

I think my kitchen is 6.5 by 4.2m with a large opening on one wall (semi-open plan). It’s only just wide enough for a 90cm wide island.

If you saw islands in smaller kitchens, no wonder you felt they were in the way.

Love mine! We have a sink between a dishwasher and a washing machine and have plenty of counter space for food prep.

They can be very helpful for food preparation in a kitchen the size of a tennis court. As a replacement for a table to eat at I hate them, work surfaces and dining surfaces unless you are very short need to be very different heights.

That doesn't sound wide enough at 3.5m. Do you have units either side? If so, your usable space is 2.3m (3.5m minus two lots of 0.6m units). You need 1.2m circulating space around an island unit, so 2 x 1.2m = 2.4m. So there isn't space.

Even if you only had units down one side, you've only got room for an island 0.5m deep and that's not feasible. If you want a perching space, or a space for setting out plates on their way to a dining table, consider a peninsula coming off one run of units.