Ours is 9x 4'10" at it widest points. It is arched on two sides

66x88. Not too big.

secondhalf-I certainly don't think 3x7 would be too skinny. Ours is pretty small-2x6 and it serves us well:

Don't have an island - so ain't got pictures. I do have three practical comments.

When you say 3 feet wide, are you talking about cabinets or the countertop? Whatever depth you use in cabinets, the countertop will be 3" larger.

The island counter needs to stay at least 3 feet from the front of the refrigerator with 3.5 feet or more being a preferred distance. This is the minimum distance to be able to effectively use the ref (even a french door), minimum to be able to service or replace it but also is the minimum walk through aisle (well, not including the ref handles).

Your tape looks like you have a seating overhang the points towards a step. Unless you have about 5 feet from the edge of the overhang to the step, you may want to reconsider that choice.

Seated people stick out about 2 feet from the edge of a counter (your basic teenager takes more). You need to leave room for someone to walk around behind the seated person and not accidentally fall down the step.

I think leela4's 2 ft wide island looks great - and I wonder of making your island 3 ft is a mistake. Can't really tell from the pic but I get the sense that more than 2 ft will create too narrow of an aisle?

Not intended to hijack but if Leela4 reads this again, I posted a separate thread to ask you about your kitchen.

I don't have an island, so nothing to offer except to listen to Bmores advice on dimensions.

13 ft. long by 4 ft. wide (at ends- the middle bows out a bit)

Ours is just over (in both directions) 4' x 9'.

Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen

Hey everyone- this is incredibly helpful and it's fun to see so many different interpretations. Every one is so differnet but they all look like wonderful places to work or have a cup of coffee.

Bmore-thanks for the great points. We have quite a bit of flexibility right now. That step down may disappear as the next room has a cathedral ceiling and the contractor can raise the floor to make it even. And, on the other side of the island, we will have 5 feet as nothing's going on that wall. We can also knock down the wall altogether.

Leela4- the 2 x 7 pic helps a lot!!

Good Lord, Allison, do you ever have an awesome kitchen!

Ours is 4x8.

I love these threads. pps7, I remember your kitchen and just love those open shelves.

Sorry for the dark picture - someday I'll take some when the lighting is favorable! And I shouldn't post right after pps7 because I am so obviously a pps7 wannabe. My island is 4 x 6.5.

mpagmom, you got the west elm stools! I'm still lusting after those.

Ours is pretty much a 6ft by 6ft square

I don't have an island so can't help you there, but I wanted to comment on your statement: "Now that the kids are grown, DH amd I decided we can finally divert our attention to US :) and we are having a great time renovating."

I think that's great. My dh & I had been waiting 15 years to build our dining room, and while we enjoyed some of it, there was still a lot of stress with us butting heads. I really admire you for enjoying the process.

i need to take new pics, but mine is 6' x 10'. i can tell you that 6' is way too wide since it is darn near impossible to reach the center for cleaning.

Old one was 2x4 (little bigger since stone hangs over cabinets)

The new one is 4 x 10. (Actually slightly larger, but this is a good round down number)

4x9, with kitchen width 12.5 feet for an aisle of 40":

In addition to the island sizes, it would be super helpful (at least for me) to know aisle widths as well - just like what claybabe posted.

Ours is a little longer than 9 by a little longer than 4.

The dimensions are 116" l x 42" w. It follows the footprint - but about a foot shorter - of the previous counter that was against a wall we took down. It's a nested "L" with a large, single level surface at the other end.

It's big, but is doing exactly what we want it to do: multiple work zones. I'm a bit oc (??) when I work. I love having most of my utensils and things off of my work area, just grabbing the tools as I need them. The elevated bar not only provides a buffer between the kitchen and LR/DR, but a way to keep things handy but off of my work surface.

Not a size or style for everyone, but we are loving it.

{{!gwi}}

pps7, I have you to thank for posting those on a thread maybe a year ago. I love your stools, too.

I swear, this is just the best place, ever.

AnnaA- I love your protected work cubby. It wouldn't work in my kitchen but what a great setup you have.

Everyone- this has helped me see that my current plan makes the most sense for my kitchen...looking at yours in action and seeing the 4ft width in your larger settings tells me that if I go any wider, a wall WILL need to come down, and I'm thinking our home already has enough openness.

Thank you, and I hope this thread is helping others too. It's been invaluable for me.

Not quite done...but island is 9'8" x 3'4". I am loving the size. Feels well-proportioned.

This is fun. Mine's technically a peninsula because it abuts a wall, but it functions as an island:

That doesn't show the island part... Here's the rest:

It's piano-shaped, ...but I can't get it all in. Does this work?

It's 7'-6" x 5' to 7'-10" (that is, the big number is at the largest part of the curve).

Maybe this is best?

Sorry ... too many pictures but I just don't hav ea good way to get a good angle on it like these other beautiful pictures!

Good Lord, Allison, do you ever have an awesome kitchen!

Thank you, Deedles! I'm still pinching myself!

Here's another skinny one: 2'2" x 6'. We got greedy and wanted seating too, so most of it is open underneath for stool storage.

Aisles are: 36" on sink side, 45" on stove side, and 46" on fridge side (that's a thoroughfare). Works well for us.

Here is our island. It's 8 x 3 and we have 42 to 48 inches of clearance around it. I love having all the counter space!

Just about five feet square (67x64)... that's the counter top size. It overhangs the cabinet by 1.5 inches.

Totally off topic here...my apologies!

annsch -- Love your kitchen pendants! they are exactly what I was looking for.....if you don't mind me asking, where did you get them? Thanks! :)

In my last house, it was 2 ft wide... well, the cabs were standard 24" with a 1.5 overhang on front and back, with the exception of the little bump out area and the 18" x 42" dropdown counter that you can see in the picture. It was about... 17 ft long? I think? I can't measure it now, but we had it extend to replace our kitchen table, so it angled at the end. It was wonderful. Miss it.

2nd
What we did was to make a mock up of the island from refrigerator cardboard. We could then play with size, position, width, etc etc. We had an existing island and added a few inches in width and length and then played with the position. It really help to see what worked and what did not. We then used the dimensions to design the island.

My island is just a little over 9' x 4'... I love the span! I'm also able to reach across and am glad we didn't go deeper. Aisle width along 2 non-open ends is 42".

Pinkdots- in older threads you often have better luck getting answers from people who likely won't be back on the thread to see your question...if you start a new thread with their GW name somewhere in the re line. And, you can always use google to search for the info. I found annsch's finished kitchen information for you that way. It's got the info re pendants. Hope that will help you track them down.

Here is a link that might be useful: Annsch pendants

kristymc731 - is your island really purple?? I would LOVE to see more!

What an amazing post, and how generous of everyone to share their pics with those of us just beginning our kitchen journey. Is there a similar thread called "What color is your countertop?" ;-) Because I have seen some impressive ones in this thread. Wow. Just wow. Better than designer kitchen mags.

I'm just starting to think about redoing my kitchen and this thread is so helpful!!
Thanks for starting it secondhalf and thanks to everyone who's contributed pictures, dimensions and wisdom.
Please keep 'em coming. Nice to see the peninsulas too!

Ours is 11.5' x 4.5'. It's not done yet, but you get the idea.

No, purplepansies, it is not purple island. It is glittery gray quartz. Most of my kitchen accessories are purple + jewel tones though.

Love looking at pics of all these fabulous islands. So helpful + inspiring.

Here's mine. It's 4'x9'. The aisle between the sink wall and island is 49", the aisle between the cooktop and the island is 41", and the aisle between the oven wall and island is 63". It's 43" between the cooktop counter and the wall oven counter.

The space is perfect for our three kids plus the dozen neighbor kids who are always in my house :-)

Hope this helps. Good luck with your remodel!!

Here's mine. It's 4'x9'. The aisle between the sink wall and island is 49", the aisle between the cooktop and the island is 41", and the aisle between the oven wall and island is 63". It's 43" between the cooktop counter and the wall oven counter.

The space is perfect for our three kids plus the dozen neighbor kids who are always in my house :-)

Hope this helps. Good luck with your remodel!!

Here's mine.
Island dimensions: 4'x8'8"
Aisle between fridge and island: 44"
Aisle between cooktop and island: just under 44"

Ours is 10 x 4ish... It might be a bit wider in the middle of the arch. 14" leg room on the seating side. This IS our kitchen table. We love it. Love seeing all your islands! Wish I would have done this when we were designing.

This is a fantastic thread! Thank you for all the pictures! It's incredibly helpful.

kristymc731 - what color is your grey island painted? I'm looking to paint ours grey and use rift cut oak along the perimeter cabinets. I love the color grey of your island and it looks like you have a stainless steel leg panel. Another touch we were thinking of adding. Can you post some other pictures? Love the chairs too!!

What an incredibly helpful thread! It has saved me from returning to panic mode. About a week ago I saw the spray-painted outline of the planned island for our new kitchen and it was 10 inches less in width than I had been told. (I had been told 46" wide and it was drawn as 36".) After seeing all of the posts and photos, I will be very content with 9' X 42"(we were able to add 6" back in without losing too much aisle space) . Thank you to all posters!

Unfortunately, mine will only be about 5' by 3.6'. It's my greatest disappointment as I wanted to be able to seat at least 4 people. Not looking likely. I'm just heartbroken. Sooo, in my case, size does matter! :( Tami

Here is our island. It's 54x81 which includes a 15" overhang on 2 sides for our family to sit. We do not have a kitchen table and use the island for that.

and the other side: