P.S. this would be for a small range, under 30 x 30.

I have a 30" slide-in range in my island, as well as a prep sink, prep area on both sides of the range, and a raised bar with two stools. My island has back-to-back cabinets that are 30" deep on the kitchen side and 15" deep on the great room side, making the island over 4 feet wide.

Do you want the breakfast bar to be on the long side or short side? It would help if you could post a floor plan of your kitchen, or at least the dimensions and basic layout.

When determining the size of your island, you'll need to account for aisle width, how much the oven door sticks out when open, whether there will be two people prepping and/or cooking, how you'll ventilate the range, what you want to store in the cabinets, how many people will be using the breakfast bar and what their ages and level of mobility are.

I would recommend at least 12" of prep space on each side of the range, and at least 15" of leg room for the breakfast bar. So, with standard 24" deep cabinets and the bar on the long side, your island would be at least 54" by 40". With the bar on the short side, it would be at least 70" by 24". Does that help?

If possible, put masking tape on the floor where you want the edges of the island to be to get an idea of size. Cardboard boxes work even better.

Here is a link that might be useful: photos of my kitchen

Uxorial, that is very helpful. I think I should have no problem fitting that in. The breakfast bar would be on the long side, I'm generally the only cook, and it looks like I can do 24" of prep space on each side, with a good 24 inches for the breakfast bar. I think that comes out to 54X72, however I'll have to think more on the isle width's. I think I'd like at least 4 feet between oven and counter, which means I'd have to cheat on the other isle. However, that isle will not get much traffic, at least not traffic that competes with the cooking. All the cooking, prep, clean up will be on the oven side. I'm not nearly far enough along to post a floor plan or anything. Currently the future kitchen is our laudryroom and bathroom. Will need lots of $ and lots of demo before I get to that point. I just like to plan a bit, so I can get an idea of what time of $ I need to save for this project. Thnaks for the help and for the pictures. Your kitchen is so nice, love the warmth and the efficiency! That's exactly what I'd like to end up with.

Uxorial--how did you handle venting your slide-in range in the island? A friend of mine is thinking about putting a range in an island similar to yours, but has had trouble finding vent solutions as she's not sure she likes the look of having a large hood in the middle of the ceiling. Thanks!

Jenn-Air vents through the floor/basement. Downdraft.

If the downdraft option is, well, not an option, I recommend using an inline fan in your ceiling. My wife declared to have no exhaust hood. I agreed with her minimalist aesthetic so I used a high-powered bath exhaust fan. I am a vegetarian (who prefers to dine out) so cooking with grease and fats is not an issue. If you are a carnivore, then a kitchen grade in-line fan would be better. Recognize that any exhaust fan is loud, but in the ceiling is more quiet. I also recommend a plater-in kit for the intake to continue a flush ceiling. Use a square paintable flush grille as well. I'd send a pic of my install, but I am new to the gardenweb so I do not know how to do it yet.

One last thing on the downdraft--the blower is usually located in the cabinet below the sink, so you lose the storage. A remote blower can be placed in the joists below, but you still must contend with the duct, which still eats up space. The remote blower can also be located outside the house, but then you have a 2' square x 1' deep fan box outside. And depending on proximity with you neighbors it could be unsightly (or beneficial if you dislike them). Either way, you have to vent out with a bath exhaust. Through the roof our out the wall with a 6" bath vent. $450 for the former installed and at least $1600 for the downdraft installed.

Uxorial did a nice job laying out parameters for you. However, a range often has an upper control box. You do not want to see that stick up. A cooktop with oven below is a cleaner look. You definitely want to keep people/kids away from the burners. A sink is preferred for an island, unless it can be super long. My kitchen is an open galley, 12' long by 42" wide. 33" sink and 30" cooktop. The rest is layout space. Two Kartell Spoon bar stools at the end. Base cabs on one side and wall cabs on the other. Paperstone counter top on wheat board. All done by my Swedish carpenter.

phillyhaus: I found these insturctions by celticmoon to be very easy to follow. Couldn't understand any of the other instructions! I'd love to see pictures, if you have the time.

OK here's the new, even more broken down version:
"How do I embed a picture in my post?
Your picture needs first to live somewhere on the Internet. Then you type the pictureÂs Internet address into your message and the picture appears right in your post in the spot where you typed that address code. HereÂs how to do it - explained step by step for those new to posting. (Quick and dirty version for advanced users to be added soon):

-First get your pictures into the Internet: Photobucket is one free, easy and widely used photo-storing site. There are others but weÂll go with this one. Go to Photobucket.com. and open a free account. Your home page is ÂMy AlbumÂ. There are long blank boxes on the right with Âbrowse buttons next to them. Click on Âbrowse and poke around to find the picture on your hard drive or (connected) camera drive. Click one to select it, and the Âbrowse button is replaced by a red Âremove , and a tiny version of your picture appears to the left. You can give your picture a title in the box if you like. Next click on the Âupload button just below. Site will tell you upload is occuring. Then you should be able to scroll down and see the picture living in your Internet album. Continue to move pictures from your digital camera or from your computer. Each then will have its own Internet address.

-Next resize your picture: This is important etiquette - otherwise your picture will post giant and make people have to scroll to the right to read every line of the thread. Not cool. So be nice and resize your picture first. Above your picture in Photobucket, click on the blue Âedit button. This opens a window with your picture. Above the picture, click on ÂresizeÂ. Select Âwebsize for a regular size and Âmessage board for larger to show more detail. Confirm in the popup warning box. You should see your picture resized.

-Post the picture in your message: Go to your picture in Photobucket. Look on the right for four boxes, each with computer code related to your picture. The third one down is the HTLM tag that looks like >ahref =http Copy that line of code and paste it right into the body of your message on the Kitchen Forum. Not into the boxes at the bottom, right into the messsage you are typing.
Check if it worked: Click on the Preview button to see your message. That address code should have been replaced with the actual picture. If the sizing isnÂt right try clicking your Ârefresh button. Sometimes Photobucket is slow. "

Thanks for the suggestions!

A slide-in range does NOT have an "upper control box" sticking up from the cooktop surface at the back of the range as was mentioned above...at least I've never run across one. Cooking/baking control knobs are normally placed just above the oven door. The entire surface of a slide-in range (front to back, and side to side) is flat - the cooking surface sits even with the countertop surface.