The major issue with having the rangetop/cooktop (did you really mean slide in range?) in the island is ventilation & potential spattering of people sitting at the island when you cook.

One way to mitigate the issue of a messy sink in the island is to have a bar that hides all of that. There are downsides to that option since some people don't like sitting on bar height stools and now the island countertop may be less flexible since it isn't at one height.

For the kind of cooking I do (sauteing, searing, simmering sauces, etc.) I wouldn't want my rangetop in the island. If that isn't the sort of thing you do, then this might not be an issue for you. That is why I suggest adding more specifics about your usage if you post to the kitchen forum.

I have always had a kitchen with the sink under a big window. In my new kitchen, the spot that could have had a sink and window is the least private part of the house (looks out to the neighbors) and it is north facing so it doesn't get great light. So, the thought was to put the range on this wall, with a vent hood as a focal point, and windows on either side; and the sink on the island, facing out to the kitchen table, and beyond that the garden. I think it will be nice to get to face out into the kitchen while at the sink, and while preparing meals. I am planning on getting a deep single bowl sink so I can hide dirty dishes if need be, but I think wherever you have dirty dishes - whether it be the island or wherever - they make a kitchen look messy. The soap dispenser is a good point, though.

A small raised bar would hide it and can be a great solution, depending on how you are going to use your island. It does take away from using your island for serving buffets, etc. though.

I think my island will have nothing on it, but possible a prep sink. I did read that folks with sinks in their island (prep or regular) can fill them up with ice and use them as a wine cooler during parties :)

If I can, I put the sink at a window and the range against a wall with a hood and a washable wall surface. Prep sinks are ok in the island if they are small and not in the prime working area.

So I briefly entertained the idea of moving it to the island. But then remembered I already bought the wall hood.

But for me, I rarely stand at the stove. I put stuff on, come back once in a great while to stir or flip, then off again. I was also concerned about the splatter, either hitting someone, or landing on whatever was on the other side of the island, etc.

I think I have arranged the Frig-Sink-Island so that I can prep in either area without much fuss. (but time will tell) And this will keep me facing my doorways and visit with any guests.

I do have another little sink in the coffee area. I also have a potfiller if I need water in a pinch at the stove.

So my island will be free of anything.

I see stools -- so imagine folks sitting there while the cook works. Imagine the cook's journey as she goes to fridge to get veggies, then to the sink to wash them ("'scuce me - oops - can you squeeze in a bit?"). Trims and chops them where? (Island is full of people, so can't work there. OK - work by sink with back to guests.) OK, throw the veggies into pot on the range. Oops - need some butter -- to the fridge. (Trek around island then back.) Watch what's cooking -- back to guests again.

Personally, I call those 'barriar islands'. Beautiful spaces designed by architects who don't actually cook.

As you can see in the first picture, I have my yellow ceramic paper towel jar (Workshop of David T Smith) and a handsoap dispenser (just replaced with a copper one). Usually I have an oil jar holding dish liquid out, but I've yet to find one that "goes with" my kitchen, so I took it out while taking photos.

I keep white racks in my sink. Sponge and brush stay in left sink. I wash pots/pans, etc as I cook, so no huge mess at one time. Usually prep dishes are put away before company even arrives. I also leave dishrag to left of sink. May have a wet one hanging on range handle until it dries, to move to laundry room.

Our last kitchen was U shaped with cooktop/under counter oven facing breakfast room. Sink was at window. I like this kitchen much better that that one, and not just because it's bigger/nicer.

Like Dekeoboe said, it depends where the fridge is situated.

Here is the before photo. The owner was tired of having no storage, walking across the kitchen to the refrigerator and having no room for his family to join him.

I don't design kitchens for myself but for clients. I've been doing this for 40 years and only two of my clients wanted a prep sink in an island and another one asked that an existing prep sink in an island be removed and a new top be made as well as a drawer to replace the blank drawer front. People have strong feeling about these issues and I accommodate them.

The family that lives in the house shown earlier did not care about entertaining but wanted their 3 kids to be able to use one side of the kitchen while their father (the sole cook in the family) had free use of the other side. He said he preferred additional drawers to a prep sink so that is what he got.

Kitchens are very personal spaces and no one cooks or feeds their family in the same way. Therefore, there are no rules that apply to all cases contrary to the opinions expressed in home improvement magazines and internet chat rooms.

As for my skill in the kitchen, it was pretty good until I married a really good cook and my son became a professional chef. I don't get to cook much but I certainly get to watch some pretty highly skilled people on a regular basis.

This is a kitchen I designed with a prep sink but the island was not intended for family use since their kids were grown and they don't entertain in their kitchen (ie they're my age).

The above designs are in existing houses where there are many other constraints. Exterior views, access, and zoning of kitchen activities rarely accommodate simplistic rules.

Putting a sink or stove in an island is the issue raised by the OP and that can often bring the appliances closer together but puts these appliances directly in front of people who sit at the island (if that is the intention of the design). In that case I find it unpleasant to sit in front of a stove with food cooking on it or in front of a sink with dirty dishes in it not to mention being sprayed with grease or water and so do most of my clients. Walking a few steps is often the better solution but in the end it's something my clients decide.

Anyway, I didn't intend to get into a boring kitchen design discussion only to offer my experience in the matter. Show me a kitchen you designed.

If there were only three work nodes in a kitchen they could be jammed together cheek by jowl but to allow for the real number of nodes the idealized traffic pattern would be more like an octagon with each node connected to each other.

Since all of these points can't be close to each other in a real kitchen, there are many possibilities for reasonable arrangements depending. of course, on the preferences of the owner.

As I said before I don't design kitchens for myself (or for magazines) but for my clients. If I had to design the ideal kitchen I wouldn't know were to begin.

Range in an island? My thought are you've got to be kidding - splatters and ventilation and fire risk. I don't think they make too many hoods with real power for an island (that aren't crazy $$). When you are cooking, do you really want someone to be able to reach over from the other side?

Since I haven't seen it mentioned, there is the relatively minor issue of venting a sink in an island.

This is truly a kitchen forum discussion but I think it has been completely hashed out there.

Exactly.

Our architect had the kitchen drawn with a raised bar island. I don't care for them and did not want one in my home, so I changed to one level. Also did not want island seating. I don't miss either.

Every decision you make when planning a kitchen is personal preference - whether for aesthetics, function or financial reasons.

I think the kitchen triangle is a nice idea, but consider the rules flexible. My kitchen has the range on the short part of the L and the sink and fridge on the long part (with the fridge being at the end). It is not an equilateral triangle. Mnay people seem to be worried about how many steps they take. Are we really that lazy that we can't WALK anymore? Someone posted they wanted their island too close to the perimeter cabinets because they didn't want to take an extra step. I just don't get it. My pantry is completely outside the triangle, as are my ovens. Not inconvenient at all. People want massive kitchens, but they expect to somehow not have to walk around them.

With the fridge on the range wall, the work flow is much better; though I'd still prefer it if the island had a prep sink. That way, the cook could visit with the kids, which was a big priority for me in my space.

That kitchen with the diamond windows is gorgeous! Is that one of yours Macv?

My current kitchen designer is pushing an island cooktop, and I'm now going to nix it.
: ) Thanks, all.

This is one of those areas where folks have very strong feelings on all sides. You really need to think about the way you cook and interact with the rest of the house and family to decide what is best for you. As you will see – lots of folks love their cooktop in their island.

If they are low enough to be effective they intrude, and if high enough to be well above line of sight they are not very effective (even at noisy high speed).

I really like the few pics I've seen on macv's kitchen designs - the only thing that wouldn't work for me would be the long walk with a pot of boiling water from the range to the sink in the first pic. My sink is 3ft to the side of my range and that's about as far as I would want it. A prep sink would allow me to pivot and drain, but I'm afraid I might run into DH (the kids know to keep out of the work aisle while the stove/oven is on - they have to go around the island to the fridge or the silverware drawer).

To the OP: you have to cook-- and live-- in your kitchen. You also have to go with what you know you can handle. If you think you'll hate seeing dishes and stuff piled there, picture your messiest kitchen moment and multiply that feeling by the number of years you will use that kitchen. In 10 years, will you be losing your mind? Probably. I, personally, lost my mind during the building of our home. :)

I chose a deep single-bowl farm sink, in a peninsula with a raised bar. A peninsula because I don't want people walking through the kitchen. You stay on your side, and I'll stay on mine! LOL There's also a dishwasher and trash compactor there. The raised bar gives me a little hiding power, the ability to communicate with anyone that sits there, and it's open to the great room. My cooktop is behind me as I stand at the sink. I'm not one to flame things in front of guests, or flip things high in the pan. If I was, I probably would have put my cooktop front and center. My mom thinks I'm ridiculous for putting a decorative tile design above the cooktop, because "do you really want to draw attention to a dirty cooktop?" To which I have to say "I beg your pardon, I was taught better than to have a dirty cooktop". That always shuts her up.

Certainly this is a passionate subject. It's always great to hear people's experiences, but you do have to go with your gut. And anything that "sorta" bothers you now...will really bother you later.

macv - how wide is that deep pantry (I assume it's a pantry with double or bifold doors) in the floor plan? My builder claimed my 3ft wide pantry (30" wide door) was too narrow to make deeper than 2ft. Of course then I'd lose some out of my 7ft wide coat closet that backs up to it, but I was thinking that I could have narrow shelves on either side, or shelves along one side and the back, and actusally have more sf of shelf space. I lose things in the back of the 16" deep shelves there now. Since I can stand in 1ft wide spot b/t DW and counter I was thinking I wouldn't need much open floor space in pantry (not unless I planned on storing Kitchenaid in there and then turning around while holding it to walk back out).

Thanks