My wall oven is 43 inches from the island. It works great for me.

42 inches is considered minimum. I have 42 and it serves me well.

I wish I was home, because I'm sure I would jump up and measure it - AGAIN - for the umpteenth time. I stressed, and stressed, and stressed some more about it. I'm sure I measured for this thread http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0215494328206.html and recommend you read it or this one http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0215494328206.html.
Mine is 39" (42 between cabinets, but 1.5" overhang) and it is fine, but a few more inches would be welcome.

I have the same configuration (range across from short end of the island. I planned for 45" but the Wolf range sits out a few inches, so I have 42" which to me is perfect. People can get by each other very easily.

I did 43" cab to cab. We used a very scientific method to determine what works for us, DH and I moved the island cabs around and simulated working and passing until it felt just right. I wanted to be able to pivot easily from sink to stove but also be able to have two people maneuver.

Mines 48" and it's great, but it would have worked fine at 42" if that's all I'd had available. In my previous home I think I had 40" and it wasn't a problem.

Thanks everyone for measuring, adding photos, sending links! So helpful! I'm thinking of doing 41", but maybe I'll do 42" just to give me a little extra space. I've texted my kitchen guy to get his thoughts. I am pretty sure I had less than that in the previous kitchen (no walls have moved) and it felt fine - wish I could find my old measurements, but I think I threw them out while trying to reduce the clutter during this chaos.

My main problem in the old kitchen was that the doors on the fridge kind of got in the way when people were at the island (similar to your prob cal quail, but yours looks better off than ours was since it was also the main throughway) but we shifted the fridge down, so I think I'll be ok to move the island a little more towards that wall.

I'm so tired of thinking of this. I need to embrace uncertainty and imperfection.

And I need to figure out why my pics look rotated on my computer and phone, but when I go on this posting on my iPad, everything looks fine. So bizarre.

Counter-to-counter distance between double wall ovens and island equals 45" (people walk through this space to go from room to room). Counter-to-counter distance between cooktop and island is 42" (not a walk-thru area).

If no one is walking through the space I like 42" because I think it's handy, not having to take steps to the prep stuff on island. But if people are going to be walking through, you need more, all we could get was 45" there. A few more inches would have been nice, but it works.

Also our space from sink and DW to island counter-to-counter is 42". I like that too because this is a work area, not a pass-thru area. If someone comes there they are doing something, not walking on to another room. And I like it a bit close so that all tasks are easily at hand. I don't think I'd want 1 inch less, but if the layout was such that 45" was best, then that would have been ok in the working areas also. But I don't think I'd want to go more than that. I like to work fast, turn around, grab stuff, etc. If there's too much room there are a couple of problems: things would be less at-hand, and people might think it's a "walk-thru" area since it's so wide. That would not end well.

Having said all that it's not a 1-butt kitchen. The island is plenty big so that people can be prepping, getting to dish drawers to set the table, etc. But I set the cooktop-sink-DW flow in a way that one person can move fast while getting dinner on the table. But when things are calm, 2 people can be in there cleaning up.

Long story short is that I like 42" on the working-side of the island, but more on the seating/walking side of the island. We only have 45" on that seating/walking side and that is less than the kitchen standards dictate, but was all we could do.

BBtrix, LOVE your island! What kind of wood is it? What did you do to make it work with a sink nearby?

I have 39 inches and it seems plenty big enough for me. I really never thought about it until I started to read GW. Then I measured it and found I am inadequate. Who knew?

Mine measured 26 miles, that's the distance to Catalina Island, The only kind of Island that I care for.

Gary

Golfergirl, it's black walnut. I finished it with Waterlox. No problems with water, it beads up on it.

43" for us. Mine is a walk thru area but it is just DH & I. I know it will be tight on the holidays when we have a house full.
Bbtrix - I'll say it again. That is the most beautiful piece of walnut I've ever seen. We have a Grothouse Walnut top - very boring compared to yours. You & DH should give each other a big pat on the back.

Thank you romy! It was worth all the work!

I too have 43" and it's also just DH and I. I think it will be quite cozy during the holidays. Hopefully I have enough helpers to test it!

Lol SaraKat! I ended up doing 41" cab to cab. I didn't want to take more space from the walkway areas & I'm pretty sure I had less in my old kitchen.

Ours is 40"; I would have liked a little more but I didn't have the space. The island-range walkway in our layout is the exclusive domain of the cook/me - DH can get at the fridge and the dishwasher without going through that walkway, and there's a second sink elsewhere - so it should be enough.

BBtrix, thanks so much. I'm drooling. Never considered wood for the island!

I also drooled over that wood when we did our last kitchen but I couldn't convince DH. I'll just have to drool over yours bbtrix.

As for aisle width and holidays, if someone gets in your way, soho them away! It won't kill you or them :-). Our largest gathering so far has been 17, and it was no problem even with people on the kitchen side of the island (admittedly, I was just serving at that point, not cooking, but still...