Is my kitchen big enough for an island?

[Celeste777]

I've had two kitchen designs drawn up. The first one said island fits in ok, second one said I don't have enough room around it for anything bar a very skinny island.
What's the minimum comfy space I need around my island?

OP the reality is you simply don’t have enough space for the island as your plan currently stands. If you ever plan to sell your property in the future, it will be seen as a negative. Shoehorning something into a space too small for it will look very obviously shoehorned.

I know that some people have said their gap of 900cm feels roomy and comfortable. I simply can’t see how that can be true. Space is space. 900cm is 900cm and it is simply tight given the use you intend to make of that space. I expect you will be making much use of your kitchen instead of popping in there once in a while.

Not all kitchens can have an island and that’s okay. A kitchen without an island is no disgrace.

I just really disagree with this as a blanket statement. We have just over 90cm between main run of units and island, which I've just tested and it means we take something off the worktop, turn, take one step, put it on the island. I'm not doing gymnastics, I'm cooking - how much more space in between do you really need?

I do think you have to plan the space very carefully and be vigilant about clutter, upper cabinets, good lighting, workflow, etc., but it can definitely be a very pleasant finished product- our architects have just asked if we're willing have ours featured in a high end design magazine, so it can't be that bad.

I know Mumsnet loves a diagram, so a very rudimentary measure and sketch in case it's useful, OP.

From the plans it seems your room is 3.1m wide?

No, you don’t have space for an island, no way.

600mm for units + 1200 gap + 1200 island
= 3000mm