I made our whole island at 33" for ease of kids working and even the adults in our house (5'4" and 5'10") find it comfortable for chopping, kneading, etc. We use 24" stools for the seating, and our youngest (age 3 when we moved in a year ago) does fine.

30" seems pretty low to me and whereas 32" is a nice depth, you lose the full 48" counter depth and, more important, the ability for people to work from both sides of the island. I think that's one of the best advantages of an island: working from all sides, as needed. It's fun for Mom and kid projects when they're older.

We have a 'staggered' L shaped island planned, the bottom of the L will be 34" high and 60" wide-prep area with sink, the long side of the L bumps in and will be 38" high and have seating on 2 sides with storage and an undercounter oven on the other side. With the 38" height we are still able to use counter height stools and we think the 34" height will feel fine for chopping and rolling dough etc. My favorite thing about having an island is having a large uninterrupted workspace where my friends and family can help or hang out while I work. We also use it as a place to lay out a buffet. We designed ours to accomplish that while preserving a dedicated workspace that was separated from the 'open area'. My kids are 4, 7 & 14 and they eat at the island, color, do play dough/crafts, do homework and large school projects. If they only had 16" of depth to work with I think they would end up at the dining room table.

I will second what rhome said about the 30" height and 32" depth. I now use our kitchen table for working in our small temporary kitchen, it is 30" high. If I am there working for any length of time it is hard on my back-but I am 5'9". For a one sided Island 32" would be fine, but our last Island was 42" deep and I would consider that a minimum for working from 2 sides.

In the house where I grew up we had an island similar to what you describe, my parents imagined us kids at the lowered bar...the counter was the main work area and we stood on the other side of the lowered bar and leaned over to help Mom-not very comfortable and it was only about 14" deep so it didn't feel like enough space to sit and work on homework or decorate cookies or whatever so we ended up at the kitchen table and the lowered bar became a catch all for 'stuff'.

I hope something in all that helps you with your decision! :)

Kids are young now, but pretty soon they'll be into crafts and cutting and glueing, and then homework projects... Having four feet in width with really good lighting right above will be great for spreading stuff out (and free up the kitchen table for eating! :>)

I do a fair amount of crafty stuff myself, and boy, do I ever love being able to spread out on a counter surface instead of the living room floor!

I agree, I like the look of the bilevel counter when I see it in pictures, (and it's usually the high level that's shallower), but I think the functionality of having it all at one level is something you need to think about.

Now you guys have convinced me not to do the lower height seating area. I am wondering if when anyone looks at this if they have an idea for a bilevel anywhere or just nix the idea... Maybe I should make a whole new thread for Island design!
My next thought would be to have an allover height as suggested and make one of the ends higher/lower?

Old copy of front/back view, but I wanted to give an idea. It is actually 98" now with trash area only around 13(don't know why it was so big before) with open shelving to the right of the trash around 12-13" for fruit/bread baskets or recipe books. Drawers are now to left of sink, not trays for all my dish cloths etc.

AERIAL VIEW newest copy but he couldn't/didn't draw it with all one connected counter surface on the backside corner (kitchen is bank 1, micro over appliance garage in bank 2...)The sink is going to be a farm sink, so it must be a software limitation because we have discussed this numerous times as it will be all the way to the front of the island.

If you bake, it might make sense to have a lowered section on the baking/work end of the island, but right now you have the sink too close to that end, especially if that area by the window might be the place you use your mixer. You won't be able to lower the counter over the dw, of course, and only over the trash if you're willing to give up the drawer above it.

A word of unsolicited advice, have the trash closest to where you will prep. I like being able to reach mine from my cooking area, so I can drop trimmings, packaging, etc. easily into the garbage, and cans I've emptied into the recycle bin.

14" deep is just too shallow to do much (esp. coloring, homework). We have 13" overhang but b/c it's the upper part of bilevel, it extends over half wall to 18.5", and full 42" at ends (U shaped). If you really want 36" height workspace and lower seating, what about taking one end of that 9ft island and making it into a "table"? Someone on FKB has a wonderful marble "farm table" island like that.

I vote for one level.

I just moved into my new kitchen 2 days ago, and already am in love with my giant 42" x 85" island, all one level and nothing else on it. It's a cherry butcherblock.

ME: My island is a little lower than standard countertops, at about 34.5", and that's PERFECT. I'm 5'1/2" and expect to do all my prep there, and it's at a perfect height for me. I think shorter users will notice, and appreciate, the slightly lower height more than taller users.

KIDS: We designed it to fit 3 barstools on the long side, and that's working great so far. As long as my 7yo separates the 5yo and 2yo they do fine. But no glue on MY space! But, that said, last night my 5yo sat and colored while I chopped up some cantaloupe, and I could easily chat with him across the short side of the island, without either of our activities interfering with the other. I have a hard time imagining how that'd have worked on a 2-level island.

LITTLE KIDS: My uber-clumsy 2-1/2-year-old, to my amazement, is doing GREAT on a regular 24" barstool. She can't climb up or down herself, but she can reach her food just fine. The high chair is going into the garage now. (She did push her brother off a barstool onto the floor, but he deserved it!)

Overhang: the ONLY complaint is that the long side has a 12" overhang, fine for me, but the kids kick the base underneath, and it's a little too close for my 5'10" husband. 14" would have been perfect.

IN SUM: FWIW, a friend with a 2-level island, partly necessary because her sink is on the island, regrets it and wishes she had one large space. One level, one clear open space, far and away the most flexible as the family grows and changes.

Good info on kids at island and I agree the sink end isn't very wide and I need the expanse next to the sink for prep etc. OK How about this... I think I will make my basket/recipe book end lower, (30ish tall 13in wide and 24" deep. So this actually gives more room for another chair and maybe a little visual interest?
So now I would feel good about 4 chairs at the Island 1 facing window next to lowered piece and 3 facing sink...

I love my bilevel island. The lower section, which is 32" high, is 2' deep and 39" wide. It's my baking center, set up directly across from the range, and it's also a comfortable height for me (I'm short) to do most kitchen prep chores. I would not want it to be any shallower than 24" deep though. My family has never used the kitchen (former incarnation had a peninsula) for crafts, HW, etc., but I bake a lot. I'm not sure if this helps your decision process.

Our layout is similar to yours, except my sink is below the window. I did two heights on the island: the end facing the sink is 30" since that is a good working height for me (I am 5 ft. tall). The larger part is 36", and will have a 12" overhang on the window side, and 15-18" on the end that faces the dining room. Our kitchen designer strongly advised against doing a lower island because of children, (they don't stay small long!) but was okay with the shorter section because I am short. The table is close enough to the kitchen that we can use that if we need a large, lower surface for the kids to work at.

Here is a layout of my kitchen:
{{!gwi}}

The rest of the cabinets are getting installed today, I might be able to get a picture of the island later. They are unfinished, so it will be awhile until they are done with all the details and trim are added.

I am putting an island in my kitchen. I will have 2 levels. At it's widest the island will be 42" deep. The length is 87". The raised section will have a slight curve to allow for seating (though I am going back and forth about not doing a curve and doing straight across for more space - though I like the idea of the softness of the curve....).

I will have a prep sink on one end and my mixer lift on the other. Next to the 15" cabinet for the mixer lift I will have 30" base drawers. Since I will be using this area for baking, I am having built into the toe-kick of the 30" cabinet a step I can pull out and stand on while I am rolling dough.

My DH insisted on the raised section to allow him to do prep work (he's taller than I am and the raised area is at the perfect height for him to work). I also like the idea of the kids and the water being on different levels.

Unfortunately I think this is one aspect of my kitchen I won't know if I like until it is installed, and then as they say, the horse will have left the barn and I will have to learn to live with what I decide..... I don't have to make a decision this minute but very soon.

"So now I would feel good about 4 chairs at the Island 1 facing window next to lowered piece and 3 facing sink..."

So 3 counter-height stools and one chair? I'm thinking that no one will want to sit lower at a 30" counter while the rest sit in higher stools at the 36" counter...Am I misunderstanding what you mean?

I was favoring something like Bluekitobsessed did...A lowered part that serves her kitchen function.

Rhome410 - the chairs would all be at 36". The only part that would be shorter would be the open-shelving section (14"ish wide) which I am considering only making 2ft deep. So that would allow the remaining 2ft to be counter height? If that makes sense and is possible...

Now I'm more confused...Sorry...An island that's all 36" except for one small corner, 14x24", that drops to 30" tall?

Yes you are correct. It would basically be it's own piece of furniture, different counter material and no cabinet door if this also makes sense.

We are happy with our bilevel, but I agree with most of the previous posts, in that although it looks great, in that it adds visual interest, it can be less functional.
Our prep area is 36" in height, 25" deep. The island is large, about 16-17 ft. long, so in our case we didn't need the opposite side of the island for prep work, as we had enough room on one side. Instead, we raised the opposite side the length of the island to 42" with stools running its length so it would be appropriate for dining only. I think the depth of the granite is 18" on this part. For this island I was afraid one level of granite would look too imposing, and the two levels allows the korbels to provide a nice accent, as well as allowing us to seat a large amount of people for pasta dinner every Sunday! JM

Thanks Debandmer and WOW! I totally agree yours is fantastic as a bilevel. I guess I have some kitchens in my head, maybe it was jbrodie(sp?) or someone recent that had a raised part of their Island. And maybe mom2reese has the lowered table. It just got me thinking of what might I do... it is still up in the air as my cabinet guy is awaiting my response on the most recent drawings.