I hate islands (love peninsulas) and this would be a plus in my case -- while house hunting, I saw some ghastly remodels with tiny islands shoehorned into the wrong spaces. Much better to have a functional attractive workspace! I wouldn't worry about it at all.

An island is a way to get additional counter space.

If you do not need the space it has no real purpose.

As far as resale goes, despite the impression that some house hunting shows perpetuate, there is a pool of buyers that are reasonable, and do not expect a home to be "perfect". Also as circuspeanut proves, "perfection" is in the eye of the beholder.

I'd rather see no island than see one crammed into a space where it didn't belong. That said, one of the reasons people love islands, beyond the added counter space, is the open workspace. Having a peninsula with no cabinets above it would accomplish the same thing. There's a lot to be said for being able to be across a counter from another person and to not have cabinets lurking in your face as you work. If you have something that accomplishes this, I think you have nothing to worry about. If you don't, I don't think it will be a deal breaker for most, but there will be some potential buyers who will be turned off.

Yes. We purchased a home a year ago with a U-shaped kitchen and no island. However, we have purchased an antique work table that fits into the U nicely, and even added wheels so we can move it about as we like. I prefer this to a permanent island!

Absolutely. I think the function of the layout will still be what most buyers are looking for and if the island seems shoehorned in, that could be a potential turnoff. I think design shows tend to overstate what trends are important for sales. They promote anticipating the taste of an unknown buyer rather than the current homeowner's own.

What circuspeanut said. I see that for many people here they are a useful solution, but in real life I've also seen way too many houses with kitchens that just take up a lot of needless floorspace and someone sticks an island in to give the impression that you aren't walking miles to get from fridge to stove to sink.

We made our island bigger for our remodel, and it works perfectly for us. To answer your question, we would more likely buy a house with a good kitchen design (and no island) than one with a poor kitchen design with an island wedged in. Also, have seen some designs with giant islands, really full-scaled kitchen continents, where the primary goal seemed to be "using as much granite as possible".

To the OP - I am curious why you'd think putting an island in a kitchen would influence a potential buyer's decision. Did a realtor tell you that?

As others have said, I'd rather buy a house with a well-designed kitchen, regardless of whether that includes an island or not. My last home had an island in the kitchen. It mostly served as a traffic impediment, though it did have nice storage underneath. I liked to say it helped with weight loss cause of all the walking-around it I had to do.

If a house is otherwise fine, has nice layout, in the neighborhood you want, is mechanically sound and other features you are looking for, whether it has an island in the kitchen or not will not make or break the sale at all.

As a buyer, I would be more concerned with the kitchen's narrowness that you mentioned, since that is something very difficult to improve without major home renovation.

I'll chime in with the others...If it doesn't fit and fouls up a good work flow, an island is no plus. I like islands for the workspace and flow, but it won't be of benefit if the kitchen is too tight and the island blocks the path between important elements. I've bought houses with very much less than perfect kitchens with no islands...There is a LOT to consider in choosing a house beyond that.

That's all I've ever bought. I added a peninsula to my current kitchen, I have no room for an island, and the layout would make no sense. I had a peninsula in a kitchen several houses ago, but have no real interest in having an island just for the sake of having an island. An island only works if you can move easily around the island, otherwise it wastes precious storage and counter space that you can get from a peninsula.

If the Island was a non-wheeled type I would prefer not to have it. My kitchen does not really have the room for my little 30x30 BooÂs meat block island because it does interrupt the flow a bit. However, since itÂs on wheels it works for us. ItÂs the most used work space and comes in handy when my back is working up. I just unload the clean dishwasher contents onto the BooÂs block and wheel everything over to the put away locations. Hopefully no one will want it crowding up the little kitchen when I sell someday so I can take my baby BooÂs with me.

Certainly.

We have purchased 3 houses--all without islands. The main thing I look at when buying a house is for a well laid out kitchen--which we had our first time around. It was a U. Otherwise, I look for a house with a disaster kitchen to remodel.

Cleanliness and functionality are most important to me.

I agree with previous posters. In my small kitchen I use a vintage drop-leaf table, mostly with the leaves down. If I'm making noodles, cookies, etc., I can extend the leaves as needed.

Sure I would -- like the others here, I want a kitchen that functions well and has an overall appeal to me, be it a galley kitchen, an island kitchen, a U, an L, or whatever. Realtors say kitchens are one of the rooms that will sell a house, but I bet that for 90% or more of the buyers, it will be more on looks than most layout issues.

Having an island doesn't make a kitchen better. My last 3 kitchens have all had islands, but each one has had issues. One could have been improved by addition of a prep sink (which we talked about but an out of state move stepped in before we did), one was a mess and the third was redone in our current house to improve work flow.

In this area and this age home, the builders put in a lot of islands with cooktops, many of them without sufficient space to put a plate on one or both sides without fear of knocking it off. I wouldn't buy one of those unless it was priced for a kitchen tear out and I loved the rest of the house enough to do it.

Galley kitchens are the most convenient to cook in, actually. If buyers say they want an island what they may really be saying is that they want a kitchen that's open to the family room or dining room, or that they want counter seating for feeding small children, kibbitzing, etc., or that they want a work area with no upper cupboards and wall making them feel closed in. These are more about lifestyle than cooking. A cook (something many buyers aren't) wants a kitchen that makes cooking easy and fun.

As many have said, islands aren't always functional. Some of the functions of islands can be had elsewhere, some can't, in some kitchens they shouldn't. If your kitchen doesn't have a particular function you may (may, not will) loose a particular buyer because it doesn't meet her requirements, but you will gain the buyer who hates kitchens that have obstacles or are wide open to other rooms.

I'll tell you a story that has stuck with me for many many years. A real estate agent in a very nice neighborhood (where new construction is very rare) had a couple who were very particular about exactly what they wanted. They didn't compromise on their list and saw dozens of houses that weren't quite right. Then she took them by another house--I think without intending to seriously show it but perhaps while dropping a sign off or something--there was a wonderful tree in the front. They fell in love. The house was too small, very inconvenient, and didn't have a lot of things on the list. But they bought it for the tree.

You can't predict what buyers will want other than location (mostly), clean and well maintained (unless they're looking for a bargain), quality finishes (e.g., no gaps in moldings), and neutral or stylish decor (unless they're looking for a bargain).

Any great features that you put into your kitchen can become selling points.

Did I mention? I tried really hard not to have an island in my kitchen. The shape of the room demanded it, but I tried... :)

I think it depends on the floorplan. In my house we always enters through the mudroom, which means then coming through the kitchen. If I had a galley kitchen that would mean people walking through would always be in my space as I was cooking, but with an island the kitchen is sort of divided into the working and nonworking side. The working side includes most of the appliances and the nonworking side includes the walkway and the island seating.

While I agree with most of the above posts, I wanted to add that these comments are coming from a select group of the general public - people who really care about good kitchen design.

I think the answer to your question depends on the target buyer. My BIL is in the construction business and has a lovely, new small home for sale. It has a well-designed kitchen with a peninsula and would be perfect for a professional couple or young family.

The first thing he hears back from the realtors after a showing is "they really wanted an island." I think that the design shows & magazines have brainwashed a large segment of young home buyers that it is a must-have ammenity.

YES! I've never had a kitchen with an island. For years I felt sorry for myself. When we remodeled the kitchen in our 50s California ranch a couple years ago I had to deal with the reality that an island just wouldn't fit in that long narrow footprint. But at some point I made my peace with that.

Now I've come to appreciate that a galley kitchen is a tremendously efficient workspace. Even if you have an island, working in a triangle is what it all comes down to. Even if you set up zones -- I made a baking zone in a large pantry at the end of my kitchen in what was once the laundry/utility area -- you're still working in a very limited spot in your zone. So an island gives you 1) more storage space, 2) more counter and 3) something to have to navigate around. If you plan your cabs to maximize the storage and your workspace to maximize the counter use you don't have anything in your way to have to walk around.

I'm all about my galley kitchen now that I've updated and customized it.

Besides, we opened a wall and made part of the counter a peninsula so we got the open feeling and social space across the peninsula anyway.

Talk to the real estate people in your community. If you're in a subdivision with lots of unsold houses of the most popular kitchen island houseplan of the last decade, what's better--looking like the others or not?

If you're in a community with a lot of 1950s minihouses and you have worked out a good floorplan that maximizes the space and efficiency without an island, is that a virtue in that market?

I have no idea what the answers are. AMCK's comment rings true, sad to say. I heard the same when I tried to sell a house with a good kitchen when the market was roaring.

But I also know that the prognostications for house sales are crummy no matter what you're selling right now. I know that a real cook would look at the whole kitchen before looking for an island. And I know that we live in a surreal world in which marketing and media and social change have made glamor and ease and fashion a priority; things like nutrition and from-scratch cooking and personal effort and function are mere secondary matters. Who knows when common sense design will become so commonplace that it is not necessary for a person to seek out a forum like this one?

Thank you everyone for your feedback. I am going to revisit my design plan to incorporate your ideas. How true about being brainwashed by what is being marketed as "ideal". I had to cook in my mother-in-law's kitchen recently. It had a tight island, right in the way of the refrigerator, and it drove me absolutely crazy! But, hey...I have to admit that it was a good looking kitchen - too bad you couldn't cook in it!

ThereÂs some good advice here and a lot to think about for resale purposes. I have to say though that what others have said about paying attention to what people are buying in this market and in your neighborhood is something to think aboutÂbut due to the current situation will it ultimately force people to think out of the box or think differently? Of course if you have a family home in a good school district thatÂs #1 with people with children but will it become even more difficult for those families to get mortgages? This is my 5th home and in the past I always remodeled for resale and kept building supplies neutral. As my husband and I get older we are thinking of a five or six year longevity in this home and then going with a smaller yard/upkeep ect. ItÂs too hard to predict the future at this economy stage so IÂm doing my little kitchen with things and colors I like for a change. Heck, my floor plan is odd too but IÂm doing the best with it in this narrowed room home designed to look grand on a small footprint. If You want an island get one, if you donÂt Âdo what You want. This is a good time in history to allow some creativity and decorate/design/build how you want.

I should have added, I would rather have no island than a kitchen with an island but aisles that are too small. I know some people find 36" adequate, but that just doesn't work for me. How big is the footprint (dimensions) of the kitchen?

For me, an island is irrelevant...it's the overall layout and workflow that are the top considerations. If the island works to make the kitchen more functional, great! If it does the opposite, then it would be big negative and a deal-breaker if I couldn't afford to redo the kitchen (and the price of the home would have to reflect the fact that I have to redo the kitchen).

That being said, I think Amck has a good point...how many times do people come here begging for us to find a way to fit an island (usually w/seating) in their kitchen, whether or not it will fit? I'll answer my own question...all the time! Yes, the media has brainwashed people into thinking an island is a "must"...even when there's no room and/or it creates a barrier to a good layout and workflow.

The problem is, people don't look closely at those magazine (or HGTV & DIY Network) kitchens and notice that while so many of them may look nice, in reality they're dysfunctional!

Huh-whuh? How exactly does this "great island brainwash conspiracy" work, and who is behind it? And cui bono? Do They use the money to buy shinier black helicopters with nicer upholstery?

"The media" certainly couldn't convince this many people they needed anything. If "the media" or "the industry" wanted to make money off all this, they'd work on planned obsolescence, like the auto industry, and tell people one year that islands were in, the next year that islands were OUT and dangerous. Next year, come back with a new "safety shape" island.

Fact is, people just love their islands. I don't understand it. I wish they'd just use a table.

I have even talked to a couple of very good kitchen designers who don't understand it, wince when clients use "the I word" and try to talk them out of it. They're just not the solution to every problem. Not every kitchen needs one, the way they need a sink. They are a solution to CERTAIN kitchen layout problems.

In the end, it all should come down to personal preference, and what's best for the kitchen.

The best solution, I think? A movable, furniture-style island, if you must have one.

When we built our house 3 years ago, I didn't want an island--I wanted a peninsula. And I got one :-). And I love it.

Before we decided to build, we looked at a lot of houses. There were big houses (5 bedrooms) that didn't have enough kitchen counter space to bake chocolate chip cookies--they were tiny. One 5 bedroom house had a kitchen so small that the microwave was on a cart in the breakfast nook.

We also saw a beautiful kitchen that I would not have been usable to cook in--it must have been 14 feet from the refrigerator to the sink. It had a huge island that looked great--but all I could think of was how much I'd be walking around it. It had gorgous cabinetry and countertop, but the stove/hood was nothing special. (Builder spec house)

For me, the lack of a decent kitchen is enough to steer me away from a house--and now that I have my "designed-just-the-way-I wanted-it" kitchen, I never want to live anywhere else again.

Here is a link that might be useful: Beth's kitchen

I feel claustrophobic in peninsula kitchens and would be completely irritated by a movable island...I just think it's impossible to prepare to please every buyer, and you only need one. I am one of those here who really likes a galley kitchen, but many of those are situated so that they are hallways from one area of the house to another, and that's not great. To me, I think, an island can take a wider kitchen and give it the efficiency of a galley...with room for traffic around, instead of through, the work area, if necessary. This 'double galley' configuration also allows multiple workers without the length a single galley would require to fit the same. But that's all about islands and not necessary relevant to the original question, I know.

An astute observation that many people come here wanting islands no matter how small the kitchen. I knew it, but didn't really think about it in the context of the OP's situation...Interesting. But still, if it can't fit, it can't fit. A crowded room doesn't show well to buyers, either.

" people just love their islands. I don't understand it.
I wish they'd just use a table. "

that's what I plan to do - use my table. there's room for a fair sized island, but i don't cook much and think It'd just be in my way. the table I can sit down at and have lunch - or chop veggies if I want to.

I've never bought a house with an island kitchen, and don't plan a permanent island in my kitchen remodel. Islands look nice but they can be clutter magnets if your family is not tidy, and guest magnets when you really need the space for something other than their elbows. I've seen too many kitchens where the island forces everyone to do laps, like a racing greyhound panting after the mechanical rabbit. Worst of all, to me, are the islands that also hold cooktops, and never have enough ventilation.

I bought a house with no island. Our original remodeling plan called for an island--mostly as a way to compensate for the fact that the kitchen was too wide to be a functional galley, even if the two doors on one of the walls hadn't made it impractical to put a cabinet run there. As it is, we've scaled back our plan and won't be annexing some adjoining space, so and L-shaped kitchen will make the most sense. An island really would be in the way in the smaller space, and would add nothing to the function.

I've bought and sold 9 personal (not investment) homes in the last 30 years, and only 1 home had an island. Of far greater importance to my decision-making is amount of counter space, functional lay-out of kitchen, natural light and cheerfulness of kitchen. Everything else kitchen-related is way down the list. If I'm happy with those 4 kitchen attributes, then I move on to the rest of the house and address the qualities that are important to me.

I think this obsession about islands is generated by the people or businesses that make money from remodeling homes or selling the concept. Perhaps a few would-be "lemming" buyers have bought into this as a "must" have...but I've never had trouble selling my homes that had no kitchen island, provided the house was well maintained, clean, had great "bones", and some imagination in decorating. And, I've always sold my homes for more than I paid for them....so no island has not hurt my return on the initial investment.

LOL Umm yes....here's my kitchen (in the new house)
{{!gwi}}

Ok you do see the cabinet on an angle...it's sort of an island (it's a rolling cabinet) but do you notice anything missing that most would find necessary in a kitchen? Ie a stove, refridgerator, oven, dish storage, ummm everything but the kitchen sink? Our kitchen had an island and a sink...NOTHING ELSE IN THE KITCHEN.

So if the house was right, the lack of an island wouldn't deter me at all LOL

(The balance of the kitchen is on the back porch).

For those of you who question why I would be so concerned about a lack of an island in a kitchen remodel, what else would YOU think is you read the following in a magazine..." islands are now almost universal in new construction and rennovations of kitchens." ?

For those of you who question why I would be so concerned about a lack of an island in a kitchen remodel, what else would YOU think is you read the following in a magazine..." islands are now almost universal in new construction and rennovations of kitchens." ?

I agree with the statement, because there is no arguing that islands are the trend and are popular. But if you don't have the room in your space, you don't...And I stick to my opinion that overcrowding the kitchen with an island that doesn't fit and ruins the work flow will work against you rather than for you in resale. I understand your concern, but also, why worry about not having something you can't fit? Make the best of what you have and do what you can. There are enough headaches in selling a house than to worry about things you can't reasonably change. I feel for you, because I hate having a house to sell, but give yourself a break on this one.

About some of the other statements...I would die using a table as work space. Too low for my back and I'm under 5'4, so not sure how that would work for everyone...and I don't want chairs in my way either.

We just purchased a house w/o an island kitchen even though we thought that was a must. When it came down to it, we factored in school district, then homes in our area (mainly old Tudors with small kitchens; ours is 85yo), then the actual house. We gave up a big open kitchen with island for a house with Tudor charm. But not before I wrangled an agreement from DH to remodel the countertop and floors. ;-) We also bought a John Boos rolling cucina cart to serve as extra prep space.

I wouldn't (and a peninsula wouldn't cut it either). Five years ago we did a kitchen addition and added a long island with seating for two. My two kids practically live in those seats eating two meals a day there and doing homework and crafts there.

I will tell you I wouldn't buy a house with a cooktop in the island. I see absolutely no purpose to this and the venting is just a nightmare.

As my real estate investment teacher said "it's about location, location, location." He never said it was about the kitchen island - unless it was on an island. . .

I too, have lived in 9 different homes in the last 20
years. And only one of the 9 kitchens had an island.
So I guess 8 out of 9 times I bought a house without an
island. I loved each one of those NON island kitchens.

I can honestly say I never bought the home based on the
kitchen. I wanted good schools, safe neighborhood,
short commute, good stewards of the town and the tax
money coming in and over all a great place to make a home.
A bad kitchen means I get to change it. : )

Do I want an Island?

You bet I do. I love those giant marble topped ones.

But I also long for a 3rd home on St. John, a big monster
sailboat, a husband with a body like a World Cup soccer
star and all my kids off making their own money instead
of needing cash for gas.

Dare to dream
~boxer

Ps. thanks for the topic, I had fun dreaming about the soccer star.

{{!gwi}}