The Problem with Kitchen Islands

In the "triangle", though not necessarily laid out in the *one* pattern you propose.

An island in isolation is poor design, yes. Done right it works well.

There is no reason the island has to be in "isolation, quite the contrary. It's very effective opposite the sink. Like anything else, it can be done right, or wrong.

If the kitchen is laid out poorly it's not the fault of the island. Of course it's difficlut to wedge an island into a kitchen that is too small.

Large kitchens are popular. Once you reach a certain size they look strange without an island. Too much open floor. That leads to the perception that luxury kitchens have an island so people want to see an island in a more moderate sized kitchen as a luxury "feature". So you'd better get used to it. At least if the island doesn't have a sink or appliance in it you can remove it without undue difficulty.

Your opinion, other may not share it. Me, for one. Our island serves sink, fridge, cooktop, oven and dishwasher. Each of those - except cooktop which is in the island - also have their own, generous counter area. The sink has two, both peninsulas.

That's beginning to sound like a design flaw, not an excuse to throw in a island. If your kitchen is too much like a gymnasium to be used efficiently, maybe it's time to go back to the drawing board.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that islands seem to always have problems with finding even half-way good places to put electrical outlets.

I haven't seen a picture of your kitchen, but does an island really serve the items listed very well if you have to walk over to it rather than just pivot?

At least your cooktop is in the island, rather than just having a blank, isolated counter. What do you do for outlets?

So are your outlets under the counter so the cords get in the way? If your island is so close to sink and the dishwasher as to not require any walking, it sounds like you have no room for people to walk by anyone else. I assume your fridge and dishwasher are not part of your island like your sink is.

edit: "...so close to FRIDGE and the dishwasher..."

Pivoting is all that is required; 42" aisles on all four island sides.

Usually, use the ones in the walls above the normal counter tops. If wife want to do something on the island it has duplex outlets too. Elevated 3/4" above the top itself.

Not really.

Hmmm, Only if the kitchen is too small. Our island has built in wine racks, storage drawers, what not. More than enough counter top spaces along 3 walls. Island is easily movable also.You speak for yourself. We don't have any problem with island.

Smitty Two wrote in news:prestwhich- snipped-for-privacy@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com:

If you don't want a fixed island,use a rollaround table or cart,with locking casters. Then you can position it where it is most useful for a given task,or move it out of the way entirely.

My sister in law has a kitchen island and I think it's great for them ...When food is prepared on the island and the girls are helping each other with a meal , it's a great way to have a glass of wine, converse right across from each other while preparing food together... Also during harvest time shelling peas and reaping other benefits from the garden it is great for that. Great for demonstrating the kids on how to clean a fish as they can sit right across from you and learn.. I just built an entire second kitchen in our home these past few months. My wife has just opened a cake decorating business and according to the Canadian Govenrment health laws we can't sell food from our home in the same kitchen we use daily...It had to be a seperate kitchen...... So in building the second kitchen (cake studio) we put in an Island as it will be a staple in decorating a wedding cake, Bday cake etc. She already has a rotating table to put cakes on and could do it on a countertop, but they look better on display on an island to give a better picture of what the final product will look like... so I am very much FOR having an island.... We also had a section of our overhead cupboards removed that came out from the wall (seperating the kitchen from dining room) so we could use the countertop as an island and breakfast nook.... Jim

Hi, Our island can be work bench, table for pot luck supper when folks gather, grocery bags stay there until put away. Don't have to put them on the floor bending down. Some times we pile up news papers books we are reading. Yes, it is really an island between two counter tops. We have separate dining room for formal function. Nook between sun room and kitchen for casual eating. Sounds like a sour grape who does not like it. I guess every one is entitled toone's own opinion. Good luck with your cake business. Tony from Calgary in snow now.

Hi, And now, who is attacking walk thru pantry? Is it design flaw too? My god, my house is full of design flaw!

"mike" wrote

No. There are many factors in kitchen design and use. No one design is best for everyone for every job to be done so you cannot make generalizations. We do not have an island, don't have the room for one, but often use the kitchen table for the uses an island would serve.

True to a point but my last kitchen had 24' of counter top. That would make one hell of a long counter following your design criteria and a long way to the sink, not to mention inefficient.

My kitchen is likely to have three or four operations going at the same time, all needing a work area. The stove may have a pot or two cooking and some space is needed to hold seasoning, utensils used during the process. At the same time, bread may be rising and kneaded. In another spot, I may be grinding meat for sausage. I'll need three large stainless steel bowls to separate and mix the seasonings for three different types. Grinder gets put away, now the stuffer comes out and space is needed to make the links

While this is going on, a cake may be mixed too. Items are coming out of the fridge while others are going in the fridge. Some will be transported to the freezer or second fridge. It can be a very busy place.

Plenty of people are content to have morning coffee and later heat up a can of Chef Boy-ar-dee for dinner. They probably don't need an island.

A friend had a very large kitchen with a table in the center. Each corner had a door; outside, dinging room, to the basements, to the powder room. One wall had the refrigerator and range with counter, the opposing wall had the sink and lots of counter space. It was a horrendous design that looked spacious, but was terrible to work in with that layout. Moving the table to one side and putting an island would have saved miles of walking.

My kitchen is empty about 23 hrs and 33 min a day. TV dinners take 9 min in the microwave.

It was much busier when I was drinking beer.

I've yet to see an HGTV kitchen that was much more than an ostentatious display of granite. I don't think anyone has really cooked anything in those showoff kitchens.

But keep in mind that square feet of walking space in a kitchen is generally wasted space. In a busy kitchen, you sort of don't want clear paths everywhere, because that generally means that surfaces for stuff are too far apart, or just not enough table surface area.

Jim Yanik's solution of a moveable island is what I have, for now, and works well. Don't even need locking wheels, if it's heftier than a cart.

Carts/islands that can slide under countertops give big bang for the buck, as well. You can position stuff/work surfaces where you need them, and then shove things away. These carts can have shelves, as well (costco has/had them, about $70, nice big wheels, locking).

An island can be made with a dry sink, or if you feel creative, quick connects for water. Mebbe even a car battery with an inverter?? :) :)

The home we're buying has an island and we love it. The island houses the cooktop, along with a motorized, vertical air deflector and fan to extract fumes. When not in use, the hood retracts into the island behind the cooktop. This particular island is large and is where food from the refrigerator would be placed. The person merely swivels and there is the island top, rather than having to step around the open refrigerator or freezer door.

One last thing that's particularly cool is that the far side of the island houses a SECOND sink, termed a vegetable sink. It's for preparing food and includes a second disposal. There are too many times when we've been forced to stand shoulder to shoulder preparing food by the sink, so that we can dispose of waste or rinse things. This gives us a second spot or location to do that.

When you think about it, the second "vegetable" sink really makes sense and the additional cost isn't that much. I'd guess that plumbing for an island sink in new construction would be under $500 in most instances, then add $200 for a sink, $75 for a tall faucet and $150 for a disposal and you're well under $1k.

Nonny

As long as you like twisting 180 all the time, instead of just reaching left or right, or stepping to the side.

David

In article , Tony Hwang wrote: ...

How does THAT work?

What with plumbing, electrical, etc?

David