Kitchen Islands

Kitchen Islands

Kitchen islands are the most popular additions to kitchens in the past couple of years. This concept has single-handedly revolutionized the way kitchens look, feel, and work. With kitchen islands, the kitchen has come out of obscurity and become a place where everyone likes to hang out, and not just cook. In fact, the majority of kitchens today have islands. Even in kitchens with limited space, people like to make space for an island.

First let’s look at how kitchen islands make kitchens overall more functional and aesthetic:

• As a space for cooking: While kitchen islands do not always have cooktops, this can be a great idea if you are able to arrange an overhead vented hood or a fan for downdraft, with another exhaust fan in the ceiling. Having a cooktop on the island makes it easier to just cook, serve, and eat right in the kitchen without having to go to the dining area.
• For food preparation: Being able to wash your vegetables and fruits, cut them up, and dispose the waste in a bin stored under the sink can free up the rest of the kitchen for others to cook or eat. Having a butcher block on the kitchen island is also great for saving space elsewhere. If you have electrical outlets for plugging in small appliances, which you can use on your island, you can complete a major part of your food prep here. Also having space underneath the island to store your most-used appliances can make it handy and save you considerable time.
• Cleanup area: Your kitchen island can have a dishwasher, storage for all your cleaning equipment and solutions, as well as compost bin and garbage bins (the pull out type). This makes it easier to clean up after the food prep. It also makes the kitchen overall easier to clean.
•  Casual dining: This can encourage more of your family members or friends to come join you in the kitchen while you cook or even lure your children away from the television and have a hearty meal away from any distractions!

A well designed and arranged kitchen island would need connections for electricity, water, and drainage. It would also help to connect the stove, fridge, and sink in a triangle.

Kitchen islands do not have to be fixed. Movable kitchen islands are becoming increasingly popular as well. These are advantageous when you have a smaller kitchen of if you want to make way for a larger crowd or open up your kitchen for more working space during festivities or parties.

When designing a kitchen island, a good rule of thumb to follow is to ensure you have at least 40” of space from the countertops and shelves or cupboards. The purpose of the kitchen island would also determine what kind of material to buy for the countertop. If you are using it for cooking, then it would be a good idea to have a heat-resistant material on it.