Here's my island - it's bilevel, and it works wonderfully for us. The lower level is table height, and we eat all family meals there (we only use the dining room when we have guests). The chair in the picture is my daughter's highchair. The stools on the side are a remnant from my last kitchen that had a bar - I need to get rid of them.

I have to look it up for exact dims, but my kitchen is roughly 17.5' wide (range wall) by 17' deep - smaller than yours.

We don't have two dishwshers, but we do have a DW, icemaker, trash pullout, recycling pullout, as well as a bank of deep drawers on the island. The lower table has an 18" overhang for plenty of legroom (as well as metal braces and nice corbels for support).

I skimmed your other post and saw a reference to hiding dirty dishes - I accomplish that with a 10" deep sink, LOL :)

HTH!

{{!gwi}}

Thank you mom2reese! I actually looked through the kitchen island post and saved your picture to show my husband and the KD. I LOVE your light fixture!

Is your island open under the table portion? What is supporting it?

Your kitchen is really beautiful!

Melissa

Here's my island. It's one level and has worked very well for us. Like mom2reese, I hide dirty dishes in the deep sink.

Thanks Monkey! How deep is your sink?

Melissa

It's 10 inches deep. I thought I wanted deeper, but I've had no problems concealing lots of pots and pans in there.

Thanks, Melissa!

The table part of the island is supported primarily by two knee(?) walls, and there's an 18" overhang that extends on two sides past the walls. We were all worried about the wide overhang, so there are two metal L brackets, three decorative corbels, and the two leg posts supportting the overhang. My cabinet person originally suggested that I scale back the overhang to 15", but my KD insisted, thankfully, that I would want the 18" because I'd be sitting at it like a table and not a bar.

Why not get two Miele dishwashers instead of 1 Miele & 1 Viking? You'd have the advantage of them working & loading the same, which is easier for the whole family, and Miele is incredibly quiet. We have 2 Excellas & love them.

Hey Gizmo,

Here is the deal with our appliances....went to the big, fancy showroom with KD and chose all of our appliances. We needed the measurements for the cabinet maker. However, we have the big, fancy showroom's outlet right by our house.

Last week, DH couldn't help himself...he stopped in (for the 3rd time). He came home so excited and told me to go have a look.

We found s lot of our appliances for a total of $3,500 less. Still keeping an eye out for the others.

That being said, here is what I wanted in a diswasher.....quiet, quiet, quiet....and paneled. Since the kitchen is being designed for two dishwashers, I chose two at the fancy store. I really liked the ASKO that I chose. However, at the outlet, I was able to get TWO dishwashers (the Miele and the Viking) for the price of one at the regular store. I just couldn't fathom spending that much on an entertainment diswasher that will get used maybe 12 times a year.

Hope this makes sense....I know it is a little odd. But we need to cut costs where ever we can and dishwashers are just not that important to me. Unless they sound like a freight train. :)

Melissa

bobandmel,
What are the measurements between your island and the cabinets? The reason I ask is it looks like the distance to the oven wall/ fridge( I am assuming the double full height Cab is the fridge) is around 36". You might want to consider at least 42"

Grendal.....We do not have the measurements yet. This plan isn't the 'exact' copy with all the specs for the contract. However, the KD and I specifically talked about this and for some reason I have 42" in my head, but I may be off here.

Lulu, you are so funny!! Actually, that IS a collection box! JK......we asked the same thing. We were thinking that each room was marked with dollar signs based on how expensive it was going to be!! Actually, the KD just put that in there to show that there is a light switch there. Again, we do not have any of the lighting/electrical schematics yet.

I have to say that I made progress with DH today on the single-level island idea. What everyone is saying makes so much sense.

This forum is so addictive....I was combing the internet today while the kiddos were in school for gorgeous photos of kitchens.

Some things I just have to let go and not get too mired in the details....like my dishwashers being different brands. I really don't care about that and I don't want to care because I am going to have so many things to worry about, if I can let this go, it will help me with the stress level.

Donations anyone???? LOL
Melissa