To island or not to island? Kitchen opinions sought - with pictures!

[TheStoryofmyLife]

So I've been persuaded by you lot my architect to keep two entrances to our to-be-extended kitchen (thanks to this thread). That sent me back to the drawing board on layouts.

Now after many hours slaving over a hot Ikea room planner, I've narrowed the choice down to two basic possibilities and would be interested in views of the neutral MNter.

It's a family kitchen, DCs are 9 & 12, we cook a lot and when we're allowed to have people in our house again plan lots of entertaining.

Our must-haves are:
Big table
Plenty of food preparation space
Lots of storage (we're giving up an under-stairs cupboard to a new loo)
Ability to face into the room when cooking

I have lots of thoughts about the pluses and minuses of each option but would love to know yours.

I've done these versions of the plans with plain cabinets as have loads of ideas for the decor (not grey!), it's really the basic layouts I'm keen to know your thoughts on. They're not 100% final so things like sinks or hobs may move. We don't have the width to do the classic long run of units, parallel island, table on the other side layout so these are the two options.

Which would you do?

Sorry I don't think either of those layouts work, they both look really cramped. i dont think you have enough space for all those cupboards, plus large table and either an island or peninsula. I would free up one wall of cabinets and rotate your table 90 degrees so its in the middle of the room.

B is less cramped than A but it will still be hard to get around the table I think. I agree with africa2go. I would free up one wall

Have you considered starting the island off the wall in A? So you still have one long run with an almost island parallel to it. I have seen may designs like that with two doors.

I can see in both plans, you are trying to fit in a lot of cupboard storage but I don’t feel the room is generous enough for that many.

If I had to choose one I'd go for A, but they both look a bit cramped.

B as the island will be a roundabout.

However they both look cramped. Maybe the table is too big for the space.

How about cupboards down the side and a table in the middle. To me it looks like It's not big enough for separate parts.

Put some cupboard space somewhere else in house )utility/shed.
Neither of layouts work.
Also in.A sink is a walk across from.hob, mistake.
Get rid of island and.concentrate on.work triangle and nice table.zone you can walk round.
Dont.think.facing into room to cook.is.as important as you think, table is true heart and big sink.zone, not cramped.

Kitchen designers want to sell you as many cupboatds as possible.

Freestanding shallow cabinet can also.do storage work.

We put.a big fridge in the utility and a small larder one in the kitchen to free up space.

We have no.window over sink either and.french doors by table

B.
Put the hob on the peninsula, parallel to the table.
Put the sink where the hob is.
Make the run of cupboards where the sink is into a "wall" of tall cupboards housing fridge/freezer, eye level oven and larder.
It'll look lovely.

Thanks everyone for the honesty!

Plenty of thoughts here I've had myself, but interesting to see your comments.

If it's not obvious, the three cupboards at the bottom right hand corner of both plans (next to the table) are wall cabinets above head height, so wouldn't be in anyone's way. The "real" table will be a bit narrower than the one in the pictures.

The layout some of you have suggested, one run of cabinets down a wall with the table in the middle is essentially what we have now and I hate it, so don't want that.

Appreciate your thoughts, keep 'em coming!

This is what I mean for the run.of cabinets in plan B where you currently have the sink

And this for the hob/sink layout
(replace the sofas in the picture with your dining table)

What’s the room dimensions, I have tired eyes!
I think my kitchen is similar dimensions
I have an island down the middle with table attached
Bit like this

Here

Sorry, but I don't think your kitchen is big enough for an island. The island you have in your plan is not very big and due to the lack of worktop space, I don't think it would be practical.

Not keen on the peninsular either because it cuts the room in half. But it's the best option of the 2.

Your kitchen is identical width to the one in my old house and I know how difficult it is to plan a kitchen. Too narrow for island but too wide for a galley. Your best option is u or l shape but that's hard to achieve with doors in opposite corners. (I wasn't party to that discussion.)

The island roundabout issue is important. You'll end up skirting round it to get to things on the other side, unless you can put everything you regularly need on one side.

And do look at photos of narrow islands like that online to see whether you like it. It's quite a different proposition to a deep island.

I've been debating whether islands have had their day. Do architects and interiors designers still put them in their own house?

OP - if you're going to have stools on your island/peninsula, there won't be room in pic A. No-one would be able to pass by.

Looking again, I'd definitely go for B as the starting point for the design.

Id revisit blocking door to corridor plan. Could.be temporary 5'year block...ie put fridge against it. Two doors are making your life v difficult and people going round in circles WILL drive you insane.

We have our cooker in what used to be the old chimney breast and it really opens out the room. Same size room only one access point though. No island necessary.

B

Neither are ideal but B is better than A. Could you have a built in bench in the corner instead of the seats along one side of the table? You could have storage under the bench and it would allow you to push the table back away from the peninsula a bit. A smaller table might look better too.

Thanks everyone this is really interesting! So many points I've been thinking myself.

@Joynot the room is/will be 5.6 x 4.3m so not long enough for your neat island/table solution sadly!

@NotABeliever I've looked into doing what you suggest but doesn't give me enough worktop space unfortunately.

@notangelinajolie @SauvignonGrower I actually don't like islands for just those reasons, and swore I wouldn't have one in this kitchen, but ended up considering it as seemed the only way to keep the sink and hob close together whilst allowing a good run of worktop. The "far" side of it would be mostly cleaning/utility storage, aside from the oven and an area for making tea/ toast to keep that near the table and away from the main cooking area, but I still have big reservations about the roundabout effect.

@NewHouseNewMe not planning on having stools as there isn't room, so that wouldn't be a problem.

@Myshinynewname the plan for B is definitely a bench seat, and the table will be slightly narrower IRL than the one on the Ikea planner.

@Nettleskeins I did have a great plan with only one entrance, but have been dissuaded from it! Might look at that option again though.

B seems the MN preference then, and it's mine too, but I do have concerns about cutting the room in half.

Thanks again, this is all good food for thought

In B change the direction of the table if you can from width wise to length wise.

Have a talk to Karen (OnePlan) on Houzz. She’s a very reasonably priced independent kitchen planner. Worth it for tricky spaces as she’s seen it all

I've an almost identical kitchen (extension) dimensions to you and planning our kitchen. Similarly struggling with island / table conundrum. We are having sliding doors to garden on one long wall.
We are sketching a combined island / table but it's not great.

I think if you want a big table then don't have an island.

I would redo it. It looks too cramped.

It's definitely not big enough for an island. I had one in my old house that we extended but it was a huge room.

I think your entrance into the room is wrong. It feels like you're cramming too much in.
I'd have the entrance directly in front of you as you walk through the front door. It then gives you a lovely area to have a u shaped kitchen. You could even put in a picture window into the room behind so it feels linked.

Essentially Plan B but fill in the gap where the door is and make the door a picture window , something like this.