My island in my previous kitchen was 26" x about 4'. To be perfect honest, I hated it. It was too small to serve as a gathering space (I think because people felt too close together?) It was too small to serve buffet style on. It worked okay for prep but the narrow end didn't work well, it only worked well if I went around to the wider side.

Anita

hi there!!!!!! my sil has a small island, probably about 2 1/2 ft and i have to say, it seems small to me. she does put food out on it to serve and we all mill around it so it does serve a purpose. it also doesn't have an overhang for seating. maybe if we could sit at it, i would like it better, but honestly, i think it looks a little silly.

i did see your previous post and that breakfast bar was just plain strange to me!!!!

also, my island has base cabinets of 24 inches deep and then an overhang of about 14 inches. would your inlaws have shallow base cabinets? if not, there overhang would only be a few inches which doesn't leave much leg room for seating (which i think they want).

all that being said, if they really want an island, then i say go for it. islands always seem to be a good central point to congregate around. maybe there's won't be ideal, but as we know with this whole kitchen process, sometimes you gotta compromise. maybe someone will post a pic or an island this size so you can get some ideas. just because i don't like how it looks in my sil's kitchen doesn't mean it won't work in a different kitchen design.....

My first island, for 5 years here in our townhouse, was a wooden cart from IKEA, probably 22" deep x 28" long. When we redid our countertops 4 years ago, I had the kitchen guy build me an island with a granite countertop. The island is 2'x 3', and the top including the overhang is 28" x 38". It seems palatial! We do NOT have the "required" aisle space, but having this island for prep and storage (2 spice drawers across top and 2 deep pots and pan drawers below) is far more important. It's not designed to sit at, but we love it.

I just posted under your other thread. I'm having a 30x60 island put in next week. I'm a little nervous now about it being too small after reading the posts. We will have shallow cabs so we can get one seat on the end and two on the side. From what we had before( a really tiny kitchen) this will be nice for us. Like gglks said it is a gathering point in the kitchen. My kids will love having breakfast there. Once we get the granite in it will probably be closer to 32x62.

I posted a picture of the layout on the other thead too, hope it helps.

My island (cabinets only) is 33" x 43". It's FULL Of good usable space, and we love it. We even have a sink in it and use it quite often. I don't believe in congregating around the island myself, but it is a nice barrier to the real cooking area by the stove for DH (so people aren't in his space). Ours has 3/4" overhangs because of the inset, so total size is 34.5x 44.5. I wouldn't do without it :)

It's four sided...there are a few custom pieces (they're all actually "custom" because they have toe kick drawers, but some are made of what would be stock if you leave out the toe kick drawers. The sink cab is a 15" cab, then there's a trash compactor, book shelf, chalk board, two drawers and a shallow cabinet.

Our island is 31.5" across w/out the granite, 33.5" across with. It's fine.

Sure, a bigger island (in a bigger kitchen!) would be really nice, but we worked with the space we have. We were just happy to even fit an island in our kitchen at all. Ours doesn't seem too skimpy to us.

Thank you!!

Oh Igloo, you're the BEST. Your island is perfect, and I'm amazed how functional it is though I would never doubt it given how much attention to detail you have. You made me so reassured about it. We're getting our contractor to add in the island after (the builder would charge them an arm and a leg for custom) so we can do custom depths and all that jazz. The main thing is that they want an island...I don't know if they're tied to seating but I'll ask them.

And thank you too CatMom!! CatMom, I know you have a small overhang at the end. May I ask how long your island is, and how long is the overhang?? I think it would be perfect for them.

Positano, I think we're safe. I was getting worried too about the responses.

Thank you everyone, once again this forum has helped ease my mind.

And Cat_mom, can I also ask how much aisle space you have around the island?? Thanks!

My island is 26'' x 60''. It is used for food prep, cooling baked goods and collecting dirty dishes. It is built from an 18'' cabinet on each side of a DW. Except 36'' height is too high for me to use comfortably, it is perfectly usable. We don't try to eat on the island. It is wide and long enough for serving buffet-style.

The island planned for the new kitchen is 30'' wide because that is all that fits between two walls of cabinets. I'd say if they need the counter space, a narrow island is better than nothing.

My island is 30 1/2" x 61" I love it. I do all my prep work there as I have my trash pull out in my island. On the back side I have 2 stools which my 18 and 22 year olds us quite often. I know others have bigger but this works good for us.

Redroze, our island is only 26" wide but 6' long and yes, it's been wonderful. I would do a narrow one again in a heartbeat.

MDMC, if you don't mind my asking, what is your countertop? If it's granite, what is the name of it? And your island is gorgeous...as is your whole kitchen!

If we left out the trash compactor and that shelf behind it (which is only 9" deep) we'd have enough room on that end for a couple of seats quite easily. If I remember right, your island would be open on one side to the eat in kitchen right? That end could easily be a couple of legs instead of cabinets. Personally, with the eat in kitchen I wouldn't do the seating at the island, but thats obviously a personal decision...I'm just saying, I could easily modify mine and still have a great deal of function.

Personally I'd do an island like mine, but put a prep sink on their eat in side. Our prep sink side faces the dining room. When we entertain we use that disposal like crazy for scraps. The same type of sink could be planned with a drop in cutting board to fill the space if you don't always want the hole.

We use that sink daily...I can't imagine (ok I can since we did) living without it again.

DH asked me what I was posting..I explained the issue and he spent 5 mins telling me how well "we" planned that islandand couldn't do without it :oP (He's actually the cook in the family so I guess he gets credit).

Our stove is far larger than our island....but both were planned for function. If you want more details on cabinet sizes just let me know and I'll share. Your parents probably don't need a chalk board LOL

The clearance on our island (dining room side) is actually only 33" but because that's all open space due to the 3' wide doorway, it's not an issue in flow at all. Your parents place has similar open areas...you only need to worry about clearance on the fridge and window side. And 36" is plenty! But you'll want to plan that as well. My isles are planned using the detailed specs on both the stove and the fridge doors. You'll want to know how far they stick out when open. We had a single door before and you couldn't enter the kitchen if someone was in the fridge...now with french doors, you can still get by. The stove is a wider isle...I wanted to be able to stand infront of the open door and take a hot cake out (should we be lucky enough for a burgler to break in and cook us a cake that is). Many people plan only on the door opening size....you really want to be able to stand in front, verses on the side of an open oven. It's so much safer!

Ours is 27" wide, well the top is, the marble sits on 24" D cabinets. (It's 64" long) It's been great, I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Forgive me if I just don't pick out the pictures of the island, i've got to get going...

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen pics

My island is a standard 24" base cabinet with a 12" overhang on 2 sides. So therefore it is about 3' wide by 4' long. It was the only size I could make fit but I love it! Couldn't imagine NOT having it.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

I'm another with a narrow island. I would rather have it the size it is than to NOT have it!

The cabinetry is 25" wide x 48" long, but the granite top is 30.5" wide. (We have a very deep overhang because we had an eating bar added at one end and we needed it to be about 30" square and I wanted the island top to fit the same width.)

I am very happy with the size and it has plenty of storage in 4 drawers and 4 cabinet doors (which you can't see from my photo).

aisle space: pantry side--granite edge on island to granite edge on msg ctr is ~36" and island cab itself to msg ctr drawer is ~37.5-38". sink wall side--granite edge to granite edge is ~42" and cab to cab is ~43.5-44". The entire length of the granite top on the island, incl the table top at the end, measures ~86.25" (the tabletop overlaps the island countertop by ~6", slightly more than originally planned or necessary, because we were trying to stay within the kitchen walls with the tabletop, and that piece had already been cut for us).

Hope this helps!

Mine is 4' by 2'. It will be the same size after we renovate. We do not have a sink or any appliances in our island. It is a great space for kneading bread, rolling out pasta, preparing food, setting up a little buffet.. etc

Did I mention how much the people on this forum rock? You do. Thanks to everyone for the measurements, tips, photos...your islands are all beautiful and functional. I think my mil will be tickled pink with her island. I know she wanted one soooooo badly and it's nice to hear that many of you have small and mighty ones.

Mine is 61 x 31 (countertop measure). I don't have a sink or overhang for seating. It is the perfect size for prep. All prep. Just prep.

mdmc, your kitchen is really lovely. Could you share what that scrumptious looking countertop is?

Thank you so much!

This is a really neat thread!

Anyone? I will be getting about a 30" X 50" island with granite top ... for an island that size, do you need to have toe kicks all around on all sides... would it look funny to do that? the island is for prep purposes (no seating)

Here's ours. 30" x 92". Toe kick only on one side. I think our designer blew it and should have had a toe kick all around so it wouldn't look lop-sided. We didn't catch it in time. It is not noticeable unless you are standing where I took the photo and looking for it.

Regarding the width, our soapstone only came 30" wide and I wanted a seamless island. I like it, as I can reach all of it while standing at the sink. A few more inches and I'd have to walk around it to wipe it.

-Babka

{{!gwi}}

Redroze - I have a smallish kitchen, and when we remodeled, we decided we couldn't go without the island. Before, my island was 2' x 4' without seating. With 3 kids, I really wanted to incorpoate at least seating for 2 so that the option is there for someone to sit and chat while I'm cooking.

To make that work, I decreased the cabinetry to 18". I also added a curved counter to help get the needed overhang. The final counter is 28"-32" x 60". The end cabinet on the island (not visible) is still 24" deep for the pull-out trash. Now that it's done, I LOVE the 18" deep cabinets. I have shelves in the bottom, and can see everything when I open the doors. Things stay very tidy and orderly. Before, I lost stuff in the back of the 24" cabinet all the time. Couldn't see back there and had trouble reaching without crawling into it!

My aisle space between range and island is 36". I only have 34" (don't tell) between my dishwasher and island and 36" between the back of the island and wall. So far it has worked out really well. IMO, small island is better than no island:)

Just wanted to chime in that my island was installed and its 31x61.I absolutely love it!! Great prep space, seats for the kids, landing spot for fridge and all around hangout spot. So glad I put it in!!

We are planning a 24" x 60" island in a u shaped kitchen. This will give us between 3.5" and 4" clearance on all sides. I hope 24" isn't too narrow. Anyway, on one long end of the island is the refrigerator and on the other long end is the stove. I hope I won't come to hate the island being between the two appliances!

Hmmmm

Hmmm...good point about the toekick. I guess it helps to avoid the island looking too boxy too!

Suzatwork - I think your approach will work for my in-laws, thank you! I like the idea of doing a curved side so it doesn't cut in too much to the other side of the room. I also must say your stools ARE ADORABLE.

Positano - I had no idea! Just goes to show when you have beautiful cabinetry, things like size really don't matter too much.

Judydel - I'm sure the island end will come in handy for a landing space for stuff coming from the fridge, and prep area for stuff that will be cooked on the stove.

I've been reading this with great interest because my husband has been lobbying for a small island in our soon to be redone kitchen. Given that the U-shaped kitchen is not that big, the island would have to be 25 by 60 inches, tops, and that could not allow much space between it and the wall counters -- 40 inches on one side, maybe 34 on the other, where the aisle would be impassable when the dishwasher is open. Anyone have such a tight arrangement and do you like it?

I have a small kitchen 10x10, we debated on putting in an island or a peninsula off of a wall. The standard 24" base cabinets seemed to wide with a narrow space everywhere around it. What our cabinet guy suggested was getting a 18" x 36" cabinet with 2 doors then putting the entire island on casters, which you will not be able to see, so it could be used either as an island or a peninsula, the casters lock so no unwanted movement. The finished height will be the same as the other countertops. It solved all our problems.

wantakitchen: I have an arrangement like that (we're still pre-remodel). Our island is 39 x 62 and has a 36" cooktop in it. On one side of the cooktop, there is room for plates or dishes. There are about 40" of aisle space. We use it for buffet serving and food prep. I have a giant cutting board that is built into this kitchen. When my husband's family is here (30+ people), I take the cutting board and cover my cooktop with it, and we use that as a flat surface for buffet dishes also. Works great.

On the other side of the island, my cooktop faces the dishwasher. When my dishwasher is open, there are 12" left between the island and the dw. I have adjusted - when I unload dishes, I simply unload on each side of the dishwasher as needed, or stack the dishes that go on the other side in a pile and then finish up. I do still try to get through past the dishwasher, I just have bruises on my shins. Overall, it's not a big deal, and people can go around the other side of the island. Even though it's not huge, it works for us. I would try it.