Kitchen Island Designs and Ideas
So you’ve been scrolling through Pinterest and top of your new kitchen wish list is an island (we understand, ours too) but have you thought about why? What do you want an island to bring to your kitchen and how would you use this extra feature?
We want to show you some of our favourite kitchen island styles, approaches to designing bespoke kitchen islands for different functions and just give you a bit of inspiration of how to make your kitchen island dreams a reality in a way which personally works for you, and the way you live.
Kitchen Island for Preparation and Cooking
Short of worktop space? Kitchen islands are great for adding more useable preparation and cooking space to your kitchen. If you have the space, then you may have the additional option of adding either a hob or sink to your kitchen island.
There are pros and cons to either. The sink is not always the best option if you want to hide away the washing up pile but, in a space where otherwise you would be looking at the kitchen wall while doing the washing up – not ideal – a sink on the island is a good solution. This provides a more pleasing and social view, allows you to watch the birds in the garden or nag the children with their homework. Alternatively, you could have a smaller prep/drinks sink – not meant for mass washing up but close to hand for smaller needs.
It is now commonplace to integrate a hob into the kitchen island, facing out into the room. With kitchens increasingly becoming the social hub, it removes the need to cook with your back to the rest of the room and is ideal for socialising with company at a breakfast bar, cooking with the family or supervising the myriad or activities that happen in a busy household. With the latest technologies of venting induction hobs and noise reduced extraction, the conversation is uninterrupted by a bulky overhead extractor or a noisy fan.
Kitchen Island As A Social Place To Gather And Eat
Whether a quick breakfast perching spot or an integrated dining table, by incorporating seating into a kitchen island you can align the cooking and preparation with the dining and gathering point for a connected way of living.
The most frequently requested (and space efficient) way to include seating into a kitchen island is with a high bar seating area. This can be designed as a continuation of the kitchen worktop height to create a seamless kitchen working/dining space or in a contrast material/colour to emphasise the feature. If you haven’t got room to have a breakfast bar along the length of the kitchen island then maybe there’s an option to create a ‘perch’ at the end – contrasting round worksurfaces work beautifully for this.
If you are after a space that can seat more people, or is more comfortable for longer periods of time, booth seating or an integrated table height dining table are great options to discuss as a part of your kitchen design.
Kitchen Islands For Extra Storage
With the typical number of kitchen appliances and gadgets on the rise, the question of where everything is going to fit is another kitchen design challenge. An island can provide much needed extra drawers and cupboards for all those extra pieces of Tupperware (or even wine storage with an undercounter wine fridge!). Shallow depth cupboards work well on the back of an island to allow for that added bit of storage alongside some breakfast bar seating.
A Kitchen Statement Of Design
Alongside its functionality, a kitchen island can be designed to make a statement, create a point of interest different to the main section of kitchen. By designing in a contrasting colour, shape (an island doesn’t have to be rectangular!) or texture, you can create a focus and feature within the design. (This could also save having to choose between two colours you love!)
Come and visit us in our Southampton kitchen showroom or give us a call to start the journey towards your new kitchen!
