Kitchen islands are the dream of many homeowners. Who are hungry for more cooking, washing and preparing, as well as more storage and cabinets for cooking utensils. If you have enough space in your space, adding an island is rarely a bad idea.
But many homeowners get so overwhelmed by the enthusiasm for a kitchen island that they end up with a space problem. The kitchen island may be larger, which impedes traffic in the kitchen. And also detracts from the look of the space. Stoves may be in the wrong place, hoods and range hoods may be forgotten, sinks may be lost, and electrical outlets may not be in the right place. Learn how to build your kitchen island and the room with all its ancillary services.
Kitchen Island Sizing
As a general rule, your kitchen island should take up no more than 10% of the total kitchen space. If it is larger, the island will dominate the kitchen and make it difficult to move around.
For example, if the overall size of the kitchen is 10 feet by 13 feet (130 square feet) and the kitchen island is 4 feet by 7 feet (28 square feet), the island is very large. The island takes up more than 20% of the kitchen’s floor space.
To properly size the kitchen island for this space, the island should be no more than 13 square feet. We can reduce thirteen square feet to 12 square feet to easily determine the length and width of the island. 4 feet by 3 feet.
Experiment with the size of your kitchen island by placing a small table in the space for a few days. Glue cardboard to the table surface to visually increase the size of the table and mimic the size of the island. Elevate the table by placing books under each of the four pedestals to increase the table surface to 36 inches for standard kitchen islands and 42 inches for eat-in/sit-down kitchen islands.
Adding A Cooktop or Stove To Your Kitchen Island
Chef’s like to have a stove on their kitchen island because it provides more work space. Plus, a central stove creates more space for socializing, especially if the island is equipped with stools.
However, consider if you are willing to separate your cooking area from the surrounding area. This front and back aisle may disappoint some cooks who are used to having a classic work area, kitchen triangle, integrated sink and stove.
For such cooks, the stove on the kitchen island can be a secondary mode and overflow. The primary stove is still located on the peripheral countertop.
For ranges or island ovens, the power or gas lines must be raised off the floor by a crawlspace. If your home is built on a concrete slab, the concrete will need to be broken up and the plumbing installed under the slab.
Provide A Hood and Exhaust Fan for the Island Cooktop
If you have ever burned food while cooking, you know how important an exhaust hood and exhaust fan are. Smoke detectors significantly reduce the amount of food you carefully prepare.
With a kitchen island, you do not have the usual option of installing a range hood on the wall. Where odors and smoke escape directly from the vent into the wall and are safely exhausted. Instead, you have to pull the air either up or down.
Vent Kitchen Island Upwards
When stoves are installed higher up in kitchen islands, a range hood is often placed on top of the stove, and smoke is pulled directly out of the vent and out of the house. As smoke and fumes rise, air conditioning is the best option in terms of performance. The downside is that you will have a range hood and a vent in the middle of the room.
Kitchen Island Downward Venting
On some ranges, a grille in the stove next to the burners pulls smoke directly down and then exits the house through a vent via a crawlspace.
Create Maximum Storage Space At the Kitchen Island
Kitchen islands are often ultimately less about cooking and more about storing things. Cooks sometimes return to the peripheral cooking area, leaving the island only for special events, emergencies and storage.
It’s said that kitchen islands are great storage spaces. Make the most of it by creating clever storage in the form of drawers and shelves, rather than huge, empty caverns where you have to put pans on top of pans. In general, the more space a cave has, the less value it has for storage. If you do not have handyman skills, it may be time to hire a skilled carpenter to build shelves, sliders and drawers.
