Planning a kitchen for a new construction and want to see what all you creative people came up with.

Lets see those islands!! The more pics, the better!!

looking forward to seeing all of them

Mine is el cheapo Ikea Groland that I've de-Ikea'ed by removing the utensil racks and painting the base cream. I left the top and the grid on the bottom natural.

dbfirewife, I love your island, too! I LOVE Hobby Lobby and just bought a corner hutch from them in a distressed black finish for my dining room! I almost did the same thing lightlystarched did with an Ikea island but then found an incredible deal on my butcher block and had to snap it up.

that is great news that you are coming in on the home stretch. the end drags on for sure.

Notice that one of the legs is upside down. The contractor said it could be fixed. I hope so.

Best of luck with your kitchen.

It is 68" long and 42" at its widest point.

Anita

It is 4 feet wide at the far end by the sink, growing to not quite 5 feet at the near end, and 13 feet long. Yes, it's large. We call it the continent :-)

We don't have an overhang for seating because the kitchen is too narrow.

The island is 4 feet wide at the widest part, and 7 feet long.

We have a Sharp microwave drawer on one side.

We also have a second sink.

And a triple light fixture over it.

Good luck with your island!

The inside of the panel end:

There's a sink on top:

And you can just see that the empty cupboard is now book shelves (which hold DS's chalk and toys)

igloochic - love yours, too. What is your backsplash?

All of the islands are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing, Kris

Anyhoo, they're amber/honey colored crackle tile, which I had mounted with a thick grout line (ala 1980's) just to be different :oP Oh and the chickens are surrounded by nordic black antique granite tile. (WHat kind of freak has 3 different answers to a simple...what's your BS question? heh heh)

If my range did not cut off the 90 degree corner of my quarter circle, the radius would be 72".

I had multiple purposes intended for my 8'x3.5' island: dish/pot/pan storage, wine fridge enclosure, seating and baking. I didn't feel the need for a prep sink and honestly have never once wished I'd had one. My main sink is so readily accessible, and I love the great uninterrupted expanse of my marble top. It was particularly wonderful during all the entertaining we did over the holidays, allowing plenty of room for serving plates and bowls without impinging on my food prep space.

What is the purpose of that stainless thing in the middle that you have the plates on? I thought it might be a hood but you already have one.

The variation on the quarter circle island I've seen in a magazine that was also intriguing was where they put a lower circular banquette seating area attached to the island.

sweet100s - I like the quarter circle because functionally it's like a corner galley, but it doesn't feel closed in. That stainless thing in the middle - its primary function is to insure that family/guests are not spattered by anything I'm cooking. Secondly, it's also a ledge to put up/serve food I've just finished cooking for my guests or as a second tier if I'm using the island for a buffet. It's also a great place to put a pot before or after it goes on the stove or as a nearby cooling rack for a couple of half sheet pans.

I love your range hood. Can you tell me what kind it is? Or anyone else...do you guys know what it is?
Thanks. :)

I love the tiles and used them in our closet as well (for a desk backsplash). But I'd be sure I had my granite IN HAND before I ever order custom color tiles again!

What is your counter material? Looks gorgeous....

Thanks!

The cabinets are also Ikea btw.

Thanks so much for inspiring me!
Alicia

I wasn't sure about that cabinet, but have come to love the fact that I can get to it from either set of doors and it has allowed me to make better use of the storage. From one side you can pull our my rice cooker and crock pot, from the other all of my baking supplies.

rjvt,

Thanks my wife got tired of kicking the dog dish all the time so I promised her a place to keep it out of the way.

annekendo - thanks for link, I've been looking for marble tile. All HD has is 12x12 floor tile ($4/sf) and 5" single bevel thresholds (I would do only a 5" backsplash, but they only come in 30" lengths for $18.50 ea!).

I'll post pictures of my odd-shaped island after I get the trim pieces stained and up. Not quite as fancy as grendal_fly's but I think it's similar.

The upper counters are granite (Kodiak) and the bottom eat-in table is Silestone in Tigris Sand (the regular finish, NOT the Leather finish).

That's my daughter's high-chair in the picture; we also have adult chairs that we use, but I moved them to take the picture. The table is set at 30" (standard table height), and there's an 18" over hang for comfortable leg room. We had some concerns about the weight of the counter with the 18" overhang, so in addition to the table legs, there metal brackets as well as four corbels holding up the counter. Probably overkill, but I didn't want to risk a break.

sewwhatsnew - that's a really pretty island. I'm not sure it would comfortably sit six as is though. Would you have more of a overhang so you could sit people on three sides?

Cabinets are IKEA Askome, and granite is Black galaxy. The island is a little over 6' wide by 4' deep.

I'll post pics of my island as soon as I get the trim finished and stuff off the top and into my brand-new custom drawers. I finally decided not to wait to finish trim when I finish crown molding - it could be months to get that cut, finished, and installed. Island trim is stained and ready to finish - decided semi-gloss water-based poly matches cabinets' factory finish best, though I prefer satin. Should be done this w/e!

Eliz

Blakey - I think that you forgot to mention the gorgeous details about the fabulous countertop for your island! I just noticed that the table part of your island is on a pedestal - how much of a gap between the island cabinets and the pedestal leg?

Theresab - what on earth is that incredible and fabulous countertop??

Ajsmama - I need to find a solution for the light switch plates still - looking forward to reading about your progress!

Eliz

Eliz

chloe- our countertop is azul macaubas granite- I love it- but had I known the economy was going to tank into the Greater Depression, not sure we would have splurged on it.

I adore your kitchen and am green with "island envy!" (ha, ha). How did your cabinet maker achieve such an authentic look with the butcher block - is it reclaimed wood? Also, what is the other material of your countertops?

Thanks!!
btw - I also sent you an email, but not sure you would receive it!

Holligator... I LOVE your cabinets.. are they quarter sawn oak? Can you tell me more about them? The color looks excellent.

I love your range hood too!

Thanks.

Tina

We're not 100% sure what's going to happen to it. We'll be replacing the cooktop and downdraft, and putting on new counters, either Corian or granite. We'll probably lower the raised section a bit. Still, it's a nice island, and I think somewhat unusual.

Tina

Eliz

The island countertop was finally installed yesterday. DH came home and said, "Wow, it looks so huge. What will we ever do with all this room??" My daughter promptly demonstrated today how useful all that surface area is when she started working on her science project! Excuse the mess. =)

Cabinets are russet stained, framed inset. Countertop is honed carrara. This side has two shallow banks of "junk drawers on each end and room for 4 stools (only have 2 so far).

This side has a MW drawer and drawer below, 2 banks of drawers, 36" fridge drawer and prep sink base. There's an overhang on this short end for a 5th counter stool.

I love your light fixtures! Where are they from?

The whole kitchen is just amazing erikanh. Words fail me.

Before (no pic of the real "before" when we didn't have countertop last year - been working on this nearly 2 years, along with the rest of the house):

After

The center of the 9 ft x 4ft (to point of angled cabinets on ends) island is a 60" bathroom vanity, so it started out 3" lower and 3" recessed from the ends which are 143-degree angled kitchen base cabinets. After adding the countertop on the lower area (dropped edge to try to keep as low as possible, but still 3/4" thick laminate), we had slightly over 2" of sides showing, and 3" in front that met an angled edge. So my cousin beveled an edge on one piece of oak, notched it out, used pocket screws to join it to the 2" piece running under the upper countertop and butting into the plugmold. I stained and poly'd (waterbased) it, he used 18 gauge brads and a nail gun to tack it on - shouldn't be too hard to pry off if we ever have to refinish the side pieces. The 3/4" x 1/2" piece under the plugmold is another story - we'd have to take the countertop off to get that out (and might have to take the upper counter and plugmold off too). It's silicone caulked underneath, all sides of the oak are poly'd, so shouldn't have to worry about spills, and I think I got it on thick enough so I don't have to worry about splashes (didn't want plastic look, so brished on 1 coat, sanded, brushed on 2nd coat and then wiped excess off).

The same day (last Friday) he put up the oak shoe I had finished to hide the gap b/t the counter and the wall, and got the window casing up - yeah, no more blue tape!).

Now the cabinets at least are done (except for toekick/baseboard and crown molding), so I don't have to worry about spills!

The back of the island (meaning the family room side) has two one foot deep and two foot wide cabinets under the bar. The ends at the back have one foot wide cabinets facing the sides of the island. The one on the right has tray dividers in the bottom to hold baking sheets and wire racks and a pull out shelf above that holds some cake pans. That and the cabinets across the aisle from it form my baking area. The one on the other side has two pull-outs, one for cutting boards and one with some miscellaneous stuff. There are also two electrical outlets mounted on the sides of those cabinets - one under each end of the bar.

The front side from right to left has a 24" sink base with prep sink and prep tools kept underneath like salad spinner, mini food processor, mortar and pestle, etc. There is an electrical outlet on the panel in front of the sink - the island outlet that gets the most use. The next cabinet holds the microwave with a spice drawer above and pot holder drawer below. Then a 36" cabinet for the range top with two pot drawers underneath. Finally, a 12" cabinet with pull-out shelves for oils, vinegars and other bottled supplies.

The pull-out faucet on the prep sink reaches to the right hand burners of the stove - useful for filling a stock or pasta pot.

Here's a pic showing my pull-out trash/recycling, my warming drawer (much prefer it here rather than under my wall oven!) and other storage drawers. Note the tall, narrow door which I had made deeper than it looks so it can store all my cutting boards, including the one we use to carve a turkey! It's next to the garbage pull-out. There is a small shelf on top for small cutting boards, and the larger ones fit on the bottom. The bottom section is about 5 inches deeper than it appears to be. You can sort of see what I'm talking about in the next picture showing the inside of the cabinets where the stools go.

Here's a pic showing storage space for rarely used items in cabinets behind stool area.

The marble is Danby VT marble (claims to be denser than most granites and is sold as being suitable for use in kitchens) and it is 1.25" thick.

It is slightly polished, not a full mirror polish. I asked the fabricator to try to match the sheen of my perimeter counters which are Caesarstone Raven "polished". (You may or may not know that polished Caesarstone, silestone, zodiac, etc does not have nearly as high a reflective sheen as polished marble and granite).

How is the marble holding up? Well, as you can see in the pictures, it is beautiful looking when not looked at too closely. However, there is etching all over the place, which basically looks like "water stains" or glass rings or splotches that need wiping up, but can't be wiped up, etc. We're planning to have it honed in the near future so that future, unavoidable etching won't show as much. Meanwhile, it didn't take long to learn to stop noticing every new etch mark since there was no way to prevent it except by not using the counters!

Christine

dining/entertaining island with seating on one side and beverage fridge and warming drawer on other

From kitchen pics of new house

I love the marble,too. We stayed in an old villa in Italy last summer that had 50-60 year old marble counters and farm sink. They were etched and stained to heck and back and still looked gorgeous.

I love this thread, so it's nice to see it pop up again. So many different and beautiful islands/kitchens!

There are many ideas here.