Here is a recent thread where I gave measurements of walkways around my small island. Scroll thru the whole thread, I replied many times. Hope it helps!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures:Small kitchen island with seating at the end.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0302384328197.html?70

The pics of my kitchen are in the link above. My island is 33x43 and my isles range from 33 to 36" wide. We are a two cook kitchen and it works quite well, even with a small child running around the kitchen. My hints would be to pay close attention to the swing room on your appliance doors. Only one on ours opens fully requiring you to stand on the side verses the front and blocking the isle and that's the dishwasher, but you can get around the other way so we haven't noticed it as an issue at all. I got a french door fridge so that we had smaller doors to worry about so you can stand at the door with it open and not need to be on the side of it (which we were in our old 28 to 30" wide isle kitchen). The narrowest isle is the one with the opening to the dining room behind it so while it appears to be quite narrow, you can't see that in the pictures nor do you feel it because of the 36" wide door opening right behind you.

We are a two cook family but we set the kitchen up so the two work stations can operate. I make salad and bake...baking I do when dh is not cooking a meal. I prep desert and salads on one side of the island and he works on the stainless counter and the other side of the island. We both have access to the fridge easily and each have a sink. We've had it now a year and a half and it flows incredibly well...except the time we had 40 people over for dinner....that got a bit crowded. remind me to set up the bar in the basement next party LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen

Wow, I have admired all these kitchens on previously read threads and had no idea that the aisles were narrow!

Gibby3000, I have long been an admirer of the Susanka books and your stained wood trim echoes her style. Thank you!

Positano, LOVE how you extended your cabinetry into the wating area! So inviting!

Igloochic, I love those stainless countertops- your kitchen looks so shipshape and functional, everything is fitted so perfectly. 40 people! Yikes!

I'd also like to see if anyone has a long narrow island 6-8 feet long in a long narrow kitchen.

I dreamed of an island but it was not meant to be.
I do have pictures I can share that might help.
Hopefully they are not ones you have already seen.
Enjoy and I hope they can help you.
~boxer

Pacific Kitchen

Cotedetexas

This is not a small island but configured in
a way to be functional.

Bungalow Kitch

Yelp

Concrete Counters

Delagne

Delorenso Design NZ

Google images white kitchens

Charles Hudson

Here is a link that might be useful: Zinio Magazines inside Kitchens and Baths

I have an island about 28" x 75" with clearances of 36" (island to fridge) to 40" (island to sink/dw) and 48" to the range. We removed a peninsula and added the island. So far we are loving it. The 36" space is fine for one person working, but 40" is better so someone can pass by, so I am glad we have that larger aisle because that is where the main traffic seems to be (and was blocked by the peninsula in our previous kitchen). There are just 3 of us (plus a large dog - always underfoot) and although I am the only cook, DH and DS are often in the kitchen with me - especially hectic mornings. This layout works fine for breakfast, making lunches, doing dishes at the same time.

Here is a link that might be useful: narrow island kitchen

There are couple of aspects to putting in narrow island/aisle in the kitchen.

1. functionality. In 1 cook kitchen, this is actually more efficient than wider island. Restaurant kitchen do not want wide aisles if the chef wor
k from both sides of aisle. Even in multi cook kitchens, you can work around this if the kitchen is layed out well.

2. traffic flow: this is often the determing factor in home kitchens. I think you need to have at least 1 aisle that makes the traffic flow through the kitchen without getting bogged down.

3. Then there is the "architectural scale" of the room. This is something that is more difficult to define. Sometimes the room looks right and sometimes the room just looks off. I think you have to really evaluate the entire house to make this work. If you are in a grand house where everything is a bit overscaled AND you make the island 36 inches, then it just will look out of balance when someone walks in has that immediate emotional response to the architecture of the room. In a modest track home from 1960s where everthing was modest, ie ceiling height, room size etc, this will actually look better than a very wide island.

Boxerpups- as usual, you are da bomb! Thank you! I can't even think of how you can remember and retrive all your beautiful pictures!

jrueter- very interesting information as our sink aisle will be the narrower aisle.I'll have to rethink this now- another reason to put it on wheels? I thought it was more inportanc to keep the walk though aisle bigger. BTW Your kitchen is lovely and it's amazing how the granite in the 2nd picture adds definition.

kaismom- very good advice, expecially about the "architectural scale". We have a "tract" garrison colonial (with the 2nd floor overhang) so the scale of a narrow island may actually work well in this house.thank you!

We have very narrow aisles and while it's not ideal, it works great for us. Fridge is to the right of the door.

I would definitely make it moveable. If we have people over (and, of course, everyone gathers in the kitchen), we can move it either way as needed. Not to mention that it makes cleaning easier as well.

I have a narrow island (island top is 27x63). The aisle on the sink side is 36", aisle on fridge side 48" I love my setup, has never felt too tight.

Just one thought, if you put it on wheels you can't run electric to it. We are all wired to put outlets in the island, just haven't gotten to it yet... thank you for reminding me, gotta get DH on that!

{{!gwi}}

This is the kitchen from my old house. We remodeled it. The aisle on the sink side was something like 40" I believe. The stove side was about the same, and I think the aisle that serves as a walkway thru the kitchen was slightly bigger, like 42" or so. We used the island for prepping. And it was great to put food on when we had people over.

daisychain01, i LOVE your kitchen - with the light uppers and dark lowers, something i have been thinking of myself. also, i love your island. can you give dimensions of your kitchen, island, and how much room you have between the island and counters/walls? thanks!

Our Island is 24" wide x 54" wide. The aisle is 44". The island is very functional and the aisle feels sufficiently wide.

I love having our double trash pull out at the island. We use one can for composting, so when I'm prepping veggies at the island it makes it easy to dispose of the scraps.

The island is perfect for baking also.

If you were hoping to use it when serving buffet style, it may not work for that purpose unless you're serving a small buffet.

I had them put a 7" deep cabinet at one end (facing our range). It makes a perfect and handy spice cabinet!

I inherited an island that is 24" total. So inside is about 22-33" and it's accessible from both sides.

Storage is very difficult because it's so shallow. The doors are always sticking out slightly and things need to be constantly shifted around. Some things must be stored elsewhere (space is tight so that's a bore).

Had we replaced the island I would have gone to 39" depth.

My aisle is slightly more than 48" and that's a super space. Can't create space but you can get rid of stuff, which is what I did to make the kitchen function better.

Here is a link that might be useful: Narrow island

I have narrow aisles in a 13'6x13'6 kitchen. The island is 4x6. The aisles are less than 36 on the range side and less than 36 on the sink side. They are 39 on fridge side. Some may disagree but I'd say I pulled if off thanks to strategic appliance placement and traffic flow.
Only one door of the range opens toward the island. I'll be reaching in from the side as usual. I have a sink directly behind the range in the island. Everyone else can use the sink on the other side of the room which is where the dishwasher and trash pull out are. I shouldn't be in anyone's way, there are 2 other ways to get to the fridge, sink, dw and trash.
I didn't plan the aisles this way on purpose, I was working off a set of plans and not the real life cabinet layout when measuring. I also didn't factor in the extra inch the fabricator added to the countertops. No one has noticed my small kitchen crime and I didn't either until I pulled out the tape measure. I also went with a french door refrigerator. The dishwasher opens into clear space, it's lined up about 2 inches beyond the end of the island.
{{!gwi}}

{{gwi:1485506}}

My MIL has a similar layout with narrow aisles but when she's cooking, she's blocking the only sink, the trash pullout and the microwave. I'm always standing there with trash waiting for her to move. I lean over the opposite side of the island to get a glass of tap water. If I wasn't tall, I wouldn't even be able to pull that off.

There is a problem with a narrow movable island. They are not stable and can be top-heavy and fall over.

Could you make a pull-out, like a typist's pullout, for when you need extra counter space.

bump

I mostly lurk, but I really appreciate this particular post as I have a small kitchen area to work with, so knowing that the smaller aisles are still workable makes me feel much better about having more choices than what I thought I did.

I have 36" on each "long side". No problems for us. (Photo is from the day of THE photo shoot, so you can see humans in the aisle).

I have at least 50" between the range and the island, that was important to me, I needed to be able to open that door and not be squished. Don't have a great photo of that, but:

beekeeperswife, your kitchen is beautiful. What are the measurments of your center island?

My island is not narrow but my kitchen is--a galley. Pics are linked below. We are in process, so not the best pics. I think the island is around 15' long and it is 52' wide. Aisle is about 65' wide.

Here is a link that might be useful: galley with island

Thanks judith, my island is only 2 base cabinets wide, so, 24" x 48", plus the small overhang on the granite.

Having come out of a kitchen which is 8 feet wide, I know how hard it is to work in tight spots. I wish that we would see more photos of working wheeled carts--these are a good option but not as glamorous as the rock-topped piece of permanent cabinetry that so many covet. They really do offer a better option for adapting to situations.

Another option which we occasionally see is a work table, often a trestle table, which can be removed if occasion requires and which can be used for party service very nicely. Have even seen a central table put onto a custom-made but movable platform in some photos, which can also be removed and which allows seating at the table to be stool seating. This makes the table surface a work surface when cooking.

Beekeeperswife, thank you!

Sabjimata-this is (very) off task, but would you mind posting your tofu with wilted spinach recipe?

Scrappy25 our island will be 24x72. It's not in yet so I can't post a picture. We thought about making it movable, although not on wheels, vs fixed, and we would have been able to have power to it even if it were movable. We decided we would seldom move it, so it will be fixed.

Leela4, I'm intrigued. How would you have had power to your island if it were moveable?

I want to caution all of those who think narrow aisles are OK for a multi-cook kitchen. If you plan your kitchen very, very, very carefully you can probably pull it off. However, if you're not very careful you will end up with a kitchen like Rookie_2010's MIL's kitchen or my SIL's kitchen...very difficult for more than one person to work in...and/or your narrow island becoming a "barrier island" (both of which my SIL has b/c she just had to have an island in a kitchen that couldn't support it...she has grown to hate it over time...especially as her children have grown).

If you will have more than one person working in your kitchen at a time on a semi-regular basis, regardless of what they are doing, think long and hard b/f you deliberately plan for a narrow aisle and/or cram in a narrow island...

Our kitchen is 10'6" wide and while I have a "U" shape, the fact that the legs are rather short and the base wide, prevents people from becoming trapped in it. I had a choice of an island or what I have now, and I am very, very glad I was talked out of an island by the wise folks here!

If you do decide to plan for narrow aisles, etc., at least go in w/your eyes open and realize that you will have a less-than-optimum space and that you will most likely have to adjust your kitchen use to accommodate those aisles (or island).

Hmm, I was afraid someone would ask me that. We removed a peninsula that had power to it, so we already had power in the floor where we are having the island. Early on we talked about the power to the island and there were a couple of options our GC gave us to connect to the island from the floor. I'm assuming (with my old withered brain, it's hard to remember)we would have had an outlet in the floor but it's the way it was going to be connected that I can't completely remember. I can ask my GC if you would like more info.

Scrappy do you have a plan for us to see? It sounds like plenty of people have narrow islands and/or aisles that aren't the ideal width. And it seems like most people are happy with the set up . . . but then again there could be layouts that don't work as Buehl pointed out. A floor plan would help.

I would just like to add that I don't feel like my narrow island is "crammed in", even though I only have a 44" aisle on one side. And I also don't feel like my island (24" x 54") is small when using it for a multitude of projects. It was very useful last night when rolling out and making pizzas. It is highly functional when cutting veggies and making salad each night. It worked like a charm when making and decorating gingerbread cookies for Christmas, same for baking a pie, etc. It's nice because it's a contained mess. The perimeter counters are open for other cooking projects. My daughter and I quite often work at the island at the same time, one on one side and one on the other. I love my island even though it is only 24" wide! In this small space I have a double trash pull out (for trash and compost), 32" wide bank of drawers (for all my utensils and for my pots and pans), and an end spice cabinet. It's awesome!