What do you have room for? Will you have seating? What aisles and clearance will each size leave you on each side?

3 ft is wonderfully useful, but 4 could be better, especially if you want cabinets opening to both sides...Only if it doesn't crowd the room. Feeling crowded isn't worth it.

rhome410, We will want to have bar stools (3-4?) on one side (adjacent to FR). On one side between island and sink, cooktop, the walking space can be up to 4', haven't decided. On the other side is our family room. If the island is 4' wide it will go into the FR space a bit and at 3' it will line up with a wall in the kitchen. On one end of the island will be the kitchen/eating nook. I have never had an island, we are replacing a peninsula, where we did not have seating, with the island. I just want to make sure we utilize every space but not overdo...just another one of my dilemnas. Suggestions or pics would be appreciated from anyone!

Our island measures 109" long and 42.5" wide at the widest part and 30" at the narrowest. The cabinet is 95" x 28"
I made it narrower at one end for 2 reasons, 1. I didn't want people sitting in front of the cooktop 2. We needed that space for walking. It seats 4 comfortably. I keep 3 chairs around it all the time and have the 4th one on the wall across from it and just pull it up to the end when needed. It is great to work at, I have plenty of room, not sure I would want it too much wider.
Here's a pic.

I would prefer it for myself if the island didn't overhang into the other room, but ended even with the kitchen wall. 3 ft is a nice depth. If you can leave enough aisle on the other side, maybe you can make it 3'3", so you can have 2 ft deep storage accessible from the kitchen side, but have 15" of overhang, which is what's recommended for seating at counter height.

Nancynj, thanks so much for sending the picture and measurements, that really helps me to visualize.

Rhome410, thanks for the ideas.

I want to make sure I have enough surface area to prepare and set out food for a buffet, especially if people are seated at the island while I am setting up.

I don't know if it will help, but here's the island from our last house. I think it was 39" deep.

this is OT, but Nancy, I love your granite!

The island advice I have is, definitely make it a flat island. Then when you need a lot of work space, you have it. I used to have flat, but moved to a house with -bi-level, which is cute but 20% as functional.

Mine is just 43x33 or so (give or take a 1/16 of an inch). I'd make it as big as is reasonable :oP Using nice wide isles around it, and I'm with rhome...I wouldn't extend into the living room.

Remember when figuring out island size to include overhang in your sizing. My cabinets are 43x33, but with overhang it grows. You don't want to plan to the tenth degree and then find out you have no room for overhang.

The peninsula w/bar stools in the place we moved from was 40" deep and I really liked that depth. It was enough room for one person sit across from another person working or serving, or even for two people to work across from each other. Best wishes.

Thanks all. The width of the island will be including the overhang. It will overhang on one side only. So, now what do you think? Would 3' be enough if you think of a flat island, nothing on it (no cooktop or sink) 8' long, 3' wide with 3-4 bar stools? Thanks. I so appreciate your advice and pictures.

Our island is smallish at 48" x 48". There is a single 24" x24" drawer base centered on the sink side. We have really wide aisles, so we have room to reconfigure it if we ever change the countertop.

Ours is 4 1/2 x 8 1/2. If there's any way you can, go for the 4 foot width-we LOVE the functionality of our island. We also have an overhang on one side only with 2 sstools. We could easily add another

{{gwi:1496083}}

Best way to know is to mock it up somehow...or see if you can find one in a showroom or store that's similar to what you have in mind.

I think 3 ft is enough surface for what you want to do, but only gives you 12" of overhang, which is less than the recommendation for leg room at counter height.

The other thing is that if you want to set out a buffet while people are seated at the island, that means the parade of people helping themselves to the buffet are going through your kitchen...so you'll want an aisle roomy enough to handle that traffic.

Check how far your reach is, in terms of things you'd want to pass to people sitting on one side of the island. Ours is 36" wide, then there's a raised 18" bar (total = 54"). I can reach 3 feet to pass a plate just to the inside edge of the 18" bar, but I can't always be sure that I can safely reach further. Does that make sense? And with the new countertop, I don't want to just shove my plates or serving dishes across to someone waiting on the other side. It's not ice hockey!

Cate, that makes perfect sense. I have done the exercise of reaching and 3' is very good, but am still concerned about it being a little small with stools on the other side.

Rhome, I hadn't thought of the 12" overhang. What is the recommendation for an overhang?

Pattiem, I want your kitchen!

I searched through GW posts several months ago to try to determine the ideal amount of overhang for my island. It seemed generally agreed upon that a minimum of 12" was desirable. Of those who posted they had less than 12" overhang, some were happy with just 10", but at least an equal number wished they had more. Many of those who had or wanted more than 12" were taller/and or had longer legs. It seemed like if you had the space, 15" was ideal. We are not taller in my little family and didn't have extra space so we went with 12". We're almost finished with our remodel, but haven't gotten our counter stools yet. Best thing to do is to put together a mock up and see what overhang depth each family member is comfortable with. Some other factors to consider are:
- If you have granite or quartz counters, it's generally recommended you get additional braces with more than 10" of overhang.
- I know that 12" overhang with laminate is fine - I almost got laminate and my counter/laminate guy wanted additional support if I went over 12" (I don't know if this is standard though).
- If you have kids, you may want to consider what substance is at hanging foot level underneath the overhand on your island and how durable it is. When my daughter was between 4 and 8 years old, she tended to kick the back panels of our old island constantly - luckily they were pretty durable.

Someone had posted the link below of seating clearance guidelines from the "National Kitchen and Bath Association". I also found it helpful. HTH - Best wishes

Here is a link that might be useful: NKBA seating clearance guidelines

Chefkev, Thank you for all that great info and for doing my homework for me, I appreciate it! LOL.

Chef, Just checked out the NKBA website, it is great! Thanks!!!

Pattiem, What's the amount of your overhang?

We had a 12" overhang at our last house for our 42" high bar. That worked fine and I wouldn't have wanted less, so I'd be concerned about it being enough for a lower height where legs will be at a different angle and need more room. (We're not tall either.) We're going with about 17" for our island, which is at 33-34".

I just checked-our overhang is 12" and it's been fine. Also, as far as reach, I'm only barely 5 feet tall and can't reach completely across my island, but it really has never been an issue. We are a large family (6 kids, 2 grands, my parents live with us, and my brother's family of 4 practically lives here) and entertain ALOT and the island is a joy. It's fabulous for cookie making marathons, arts and crafts, cutting out patterns, food prep, and staging food for parties and casual get togethers. And it's the BEST for pizza and football days! I don't consider my kitchen huge by any means, but it's probably one of the easiest kitchens I've ever had as far as functionality. The large island separates the kitchen so the work area is almost a galley and also acts as a landing pad for stove and fridge. This was a semi-custom home from a national builder that we purchased after most choices had been made, and even though my own husband is a contractor, we have found very little to complain about. Other than the fact that I would love a larger pantry (with my crew, I need a private market!), it's a great layout and was very well done

Pattiem and Rhome, thanks so much for your details. Like I said, our island will be 8' long and we are deciding on the by 3 - 4' depth. The height will be 38". This helps to hear different people's feelings about the specs of their islands and I never really thought about the overhang, I know I would have eventually, I'm a novice. Thanks again. Pics are so helpful.

Pattiem, is your layout posted anywhere? I would love to see details since it's working so well for you!

BTW I love the brick in your kitchen!

Hi Holly!
I don't have a posted layout, but I found this plan that is very similar. It really does work well-funny thing is that when we bought the house, I thought I'd hate it and want to rip it out. It's been said often that galley kitchens are the most efficient. Seems to have some validity. Where the plan shows columns and a pass through to the family room, there is cabinetry in the bottom of that half wall. I'll try to post some pics later
Pattie

Here is a link that might be useful: similar to mine

Pattie, altho Holly asked for your layout, I want to thank you for sending the one that is similar to yours. We have a galley kitchen as well, so this help me out. We have to have a support beam or support columns on the island which I am not too crazy about. Are the columns you speak of, the dark squares? (I'm new to this). Thanks.

Hi Mominthedubc,

Sounds like you are going to have a wonderfully sized island either way. But, I would say having a 15"+ overhang versus 12" is more important than worrying about whether the island protrudes into family room a few inches or not. This is a case of where Form needs to follow Function.

Our peninsula is 37+ inches, and though the perfect width for my arm reach for wiping up, if I could have afforded 3-4 more inches for chairs to scooch underneath the counter it would be perfect. We stole 4" as it was out of DR side of room, thank heavens we didn't go with the original plan of a 9" overhang which would have ended right where original wall ended. As it was, we extended wall/door opening from DR to LR to let counter on that side 'match' the width of the peninsula, but really gaining the function of more knee room is more important than worrying about a few inches going into another space.

Yes, the squares are columns that come down to a half wall of cabinets. We put light sconces on the columns on the kitchen side and you look right over into the family room. I really like that we have the "feel" of an open kitchen/FR, but also some separation to the kitchen-you can't see the after dinner mess from the FR, but you can easily carry on a conversation with anyone in there

sorry this one is dark-looking from family room toward kitchen

Pattie, Thanks so much! My DH and I love the brick in your kitchen, that's what he has been thinking about doing. It looks as though you have much higher ceilings than our 8' kitchen ceilings so your columns look way better than I think they would look in our house. The pictures really help. You have a beautiful home BTW.

Raehelen, thanks, good advice w/ Form vs. Function.

Hi All, I am wondering if you can just share your dimensions of your islands with me (and others)? When I originally posted the question, I was trying to decide between 3' and 4' wide. Now, I would like to know your feelings about:

1) The size of your island; length and width, especially islands with nothing on it (stove or sink) and...
2) Do you like it's functionality and would you change anything?

Thanks so much.

bump

Ours didn't have seating like you plan on the long side, so I didn't answer, thinking it might not be of help to you...But since no one else did either, here you go: Our last island was about 39" x 54", I think. Our current one is 48" x 60" with seating across the end. The current one also has a prep sink in one corner, and our last one had the 10 gallon aquarium on one corner, but both have been nice, very functional sizes.

Rhome,

Thanks for answering...I was feeling like people were ignoring me, LOL. I appreciate any and all inmput since I am so undecided about the dimensions of the island. Thanks.

Pattiem, I loved your stools. Can you tell me where you got them? I've been looking for something like that, and I really like the color of yours.

My island is 7.5' x 3.5' and that is a perfect size for us. It seats three comfortably. I especially like the fairly deep overhang, because it makes seating comfortable, even for those of us with really long legs. It has a prep sink near one corner. It includes, from left to right, a 15" trash pull-out, a shelf for the MW with a large drawer beneath it, a 17" cabinet with a knife drawer above it, the sink cabinet, and a narrow (11"?) tray cabinet. Hope this helps.

Holligator Sorry I didn't respond. Yes, this really helps. I am writing down everyone's suggestions or what they have and trying to see how it works in our kitchen. Have to decide by tomorrow, so I am still working on the plans. Thanks.