Question for those who have prep sink on the island

13 years ago

I will be putting the prep sink on the island over to the left hand side. How far from the edge of the island base do you have yours and how wide are the drawers or cabinet under it? I figure my sink will be about 18". Do you have a pull out garbage/ recycle bin handy to it and how wide a space does it need?

Just trying to fit all the bits into the island to see if I have enough room for fridge/freezer drawers.

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Comments (5)

holligator
13 years ago
Here's a drawing of how our island is laid out...

And here's how that looks in real life...

We really like having a bit of space to set things between the sink and the end of the island. I will often set things that need to be washed on that space. Still, the sink is close enough for someone standing on the end to reach (I often wash my hands from this position), and there is a large expanse of uninterrupted work area to the left of the sink.

Our garbage/recycle bin is on the other end of the island. This has worked well, because most of the prep work takes place between the sink and the garbage. We now have a large wooden cutting board that stays in that spot. All my prep tools are organized in the island: knives and other cutting utensils in the drawer to the left of the sink; other prep utensils (e.g., garlic press, graters) in the drawer to the right of the sink; cutting boards under that drawer; and colanders, strainers, and choppers under the sink.
plllog
13 years ago

Mine is a bit unusual, given the shape of the sink, and my dislike of garbage in the cabinets. I have a pail which can go under the clean-up sink, but if I have actual garbage it comes out, and I kick it over to the island if I want it there. The island is small however. About 5'x1m.

On the right hand side of the picture you can see a brown dot in the middle which is the pull for the prep sink cabinet. The cabinet is just wide enough to accommodate the sink, which is 16" in diameter. It's as far to the edge as possible to have it well supported and cut well out of the stone. The middle drawers are 24" fridge drawers. The drawers on the left are exactly as wide as my old wire cutlery tray, which holds gadgets in the lower drawer, knives in the upper. Colanders, graters, and bowls in the others, wraps and hardware in the two drawers on the far side. Small, but it works. The far side of the trough is actually a useful landing area, as is the space behind the bowl.
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thanks for your responses so far. It's doing a good job at easing my remaining hesitation of the main sink in the island. As far as terminology, for me, I think main might be only. I'm not sure if I even need a prep sink, but of course if it turns out to be that I do I'll try to include it. I'm planning on separating my prep and cleanup zones with this sink by putting the dishwasher next to the sink outside of the cook/prep zone. I do have the trash/recycle planned for the other side of the sink, inside the prep zone. Cleaning the surface, well, I have to go around to the other side to clean the floors anyways so I'll wipe down that side of the counter at that time. I can't avoid it, but I won't be able to avoid walking around to that side anyways. My kids are messy eaters and floors and stools need at least a quick wipe after each meal/snack. I'm starting to feel a little more confident about my choice, and when I get a CAD back from the KD I'll post it for more layout help. Please continue to provide input on this! Thank you!
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Another issue I see with your floor plan is that your access to the back yard through the sliding glass door is very round about from the kitchen. I would try to create an L shaped kitchen with a smaller island so that you have more direct access to the back yard if you will be using the back yard alot. I think if you swap the closet and walk in pantry, you can have an L shaped kitchen.... Another "traffic jam" as you have drawn floor plan is the size of the living room furniture. You have blocked the person into the sitting area. You need to lay it out with smaller pieces of furniture so that people can walk out of the sitting area around both pieces of furniture. Again, this is how you psychologically create spaciousness if you are not building a huge house. You need to use furniture that is scaled right for the room. I think smaller L shaped couch may be a better option for you. When smaller houses are not laid out well, they feel cramped. If you pay attention to how they work, then they can live large. In smaller houses, it is more important to feel that walkways are adequate and traffic flows are not dead ended. You have very generous hallways, ie 5 ft. You need to creat similar spaciousness elsewhere by paying attention to traffic flow. If you have already thought through, then never mind. Good luck.
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nursetammi
13 years ago
I had to go a bit smaller than I wanted because it was a late add on (it's my third sink) but it has worked out great. Because it was an add on the cabinetry was made without knowledge that we were putting it in, hence my limited space. I do have a garbage disposal in it so that really helps but we are also pretty close to pull out garbage which is to the left of the main sink. Its actually a great size to soak veggies in and a colander sits right on the counter to drain pasta ( the stove is right across from it).
malhgold
13 years ago
Mine is about 16" in from the right side. I have a 12" cabinet to the right of the sink cab and then 4" additional of counter top because of the 4" square legs that are at the end. My KD suggested this so that I could use that space to put things down. I actually wish the sink was closer to the end. I never use that area for anything.
cj47
13 years ago
Mine is on the corner of a 4.5ft by 7.5ft island. I considered moving it in a bit, because I did think a little space on the side would be nice. However, that would have meant giving up a nice, long swath of baking space, so I didn't. It's been in all of 3 days, and no regrets yet. :-)
It is across from and slightly off center to the cooktop.
Cj

Question for those who have prep sink on the island

Comments (5)

holligator

plllog

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