Have your heart set on a kitchen island? Here’s how to get the design just right...

According to surveys including the 2018 U.S. Houzz Kitchen Trends Study, kitchen islands are still enormously popular in modern kitchens. The island goes hand-in-hand for the continuing trend for open plan living, where this built-in feature is used to bridge the gap between cooking, dining and living areas.
If your dream kitchen must include an island, you must be careful to design it properly. The wrong choices or poor planning can result in an island that causes more problems than it solves, or that ruins the flow of the space.
Here are the essential design points to remember:
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• Measure carefully to ensure there is enough space

The biggest mistake people tend to make with kitchen islands is squeezing them into a space that is too small. If the ‘aisles’ around the unit are too narrow, you’ll have all kinds of problems. Two people may not be able to get past, doors and drawers may collide and the space becomes unusable. You may also find that an oversized island also makes your room look smaller if it’s crammed in. As for how much space to leave, expert U.S. kitchen designer Colleen Shaut recommends:
 
“Thirty-six inches is the minimum between cabinets, 42 inches is ideal for a one-cook kitchen and 48 inches is optimal for a kitchen with more than one cook,”

• How will your island be used?

If you plan to sit, dine and socialise at your island, make sure you build in enough knee clearance for seating. If the island is for food preparation too (islands can and usually are multi-purpose), you might want to consider a raised height worktop at seating areas to disguise any cooking mess behind.

• Making your island practical for cooking

If you have plenty of workspace elsewhere and the island has no hob, sink or other appliances, what will your motivation be for using it? Or will it remain unused? You can make your island more practical for cooking by adding helpful functional features nearby, from hobs and special chopping surfaces to sinks, dishwashers and storage space.

• Orientation and smooth kitchen workflow

Do your reasons for wanting an island include being able to keep an eye on the kids or joining in a social gathering while cooking? If so, it’s essential to orientate your island in the right direction and put all the essential appliances in the right place.

• Experiment with shape, form and materials

Kitchen islands don’t have to be square, solid blocks. They can be curved, smooth and consist of appealing contrasting materials. They can even be open for storage or have wheels, like large kitchen trolleys, or be more like seating than kitchen units. Have fun!

• The fitting is just as important as any other kitchen unit, if not more so

Kitchen units can be challenging to fit, especially if you’re having a sink, electrical appliance or counter-top hob built in. An island is also very deliberately the focal point of the kitchen, so the fitting needs to be perfect.
Choose only an expert fitter, such as the team at A&J Kitchens who have years of experience fitting kitchen islands of all shapes and sizes.