Dimensions of a 2-tiered island?
ssdarb
10 years ago
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lavender_lass
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Pros/cons of counter height vs 2 tier bar height island?
Comments (4)I have 2 tiered at our lake house and counter height at home. I love each of them in their respective spaces, and I think a lot depends on your layout & how you plan to use the island. Our home island seats four - not all lined up, but 2 stools on each of a short & long end. It is a single top slab -no prep sink/cooktop - and is essentially our everyday eating spot. It's open to a sunroom/seating area so I can chat with anyone sitting there without them being on top of me while I work. At the lake house the bar height helps denote the space between the kitchen & LR in the open floor plan. We entertain casually there and the higher tier works well as a place to put out appetizers and drinks while still allowing the counter height level to continue to be used for food prep. One thing to consider is whether small children will be sitting at the island regularly. Bar height stools can be hard to climb onto and rather high up for toddlers & pre schoolers. My Dad who is in his mid 80's finds my counter height seating easier to manage than bar height. Just some thoughts to consider....See More6 1/2 or 7 ft. long island. 2 or 3 pendants?
Comments (18)I had this exact same issue when I started designing my kitchen a few months back. My island will also be 6.5' long, and I ended up drawing the setup in autocad with the dimensions I was interested in. I ended up settling on the configuration in the image I attached. The island is 6.5 long, and the pendants are 14" in width. I think ultimately there's no right answer in a vacuum, depends on the other elements in your kitchen. Our island sits prominently in the middle of the kitchen and is the focal point when you first walk in. Our cabinets are also very simple, done purposefully so we could go a bit more extravagant on the finishing details including islanding lighting, hardware, and faucets. We played around with lights bigger than these and it didn't look right. We also played around with 2 light setups and it felt off to me. Good luck with what you choose!...See MoreIslands-Flat or Two Tiered???
Comments (17)I'll weigh in since I have a bi-level island, and it definitely seems to be a less popular choice to a lot of people. Lots of people on this forum seem to advocate having a single level island so that it doesn't break up the space and so that you can have one very large workspace for projects, etc. If you have either a sink or a cooktop in the island, the project space might somewhat be diminished unless your island is very big. We chose a bilevel for a variety of reasons: 1) our kitchen is part of a kitchen/great room and we really liked the idea of having the spaces visually separated; 2) our island is really big, so we have plenty of room for prep without using the raised portion; 3) we have a dining table very nearby which gives us the utility of a work/project space; 4) positioning outlets isn't a problem! That being said, I love love love the look of a flat island in a lot of kitchens, but just not for our space. We have our cooktop on our island, and I personally wouldn't want a flat space with a cooktop. It seems that, for me (totally personal decision here), I would not like having either a cooktop or sink in a flat island, as I think water or cooking splashes would ease their way over the flat space. If I did a flat island, it would have neither cooktop nor sink (well, maybe a small prep sink...) I really love our island and its utility. I love that it does offer some division between the cooking and living space. I also realize that it's certainly not for everyone. Here's a couple of pictures: our kitchen table is under the hanging quilt: view from living area:...See MorePls make suggestions on overall L-shaped/Island K layout 2nd Round
Comments (18)When my remodel is done, my DW will be at the end of a run, next to the wall. It will probably add a minute, maybe two, to the unload time as all but the daily dishes/cutlery/glassware will be a tad farther of a walk to put away. But I don't care as the advantages will totally outweigh the disadvantages. I disagree with your KD. Strongly. I currently have my DW between my sink and range and it is the most hated thing in my kitchen. Everybody hates it, not just me. And when I say everybody, I mean my parents (who owned this house before me), my sister and her entire family, and my entire family. Plus all our kid's spouses. That's 14 people who have all voiced hatred for the DW placement. When my niece's husband, who was a chef before he became an engineer, heard we were remodeling the kitchen actually called me up to remind me to move that damn DW. And he's only cooked in it a few times. I remember he commented that it's poor placement from both a chef's and engineer's perspective (for whatever that's worth, lol). That is the only time he's actually ever called me. At the time, I didn't know where else to put it but the good folks here guided me to the new location. In fact, if the DW placement was good to begin with, I would probably have just redecorated my kitchen instead of remodeling. Of course, I'm getting other good things out of the remodel (like a prep sink) but I'm pretty frugal and would have probably saved the expense of it all if the DW placement hadn't been so annoying. If you use the sink on the window wall for prepping most often because you're facing the fabulous view (and who wouldn't?), the DW will NOT be able to be left open for immediate loading. You will need to keep the door closed most of the time and pop it open to load. If you're prepping and someone is loading/unloading or even just popping it open quickly to pop something in, it often coincides with the moment I need to get some water for my prepping. If you had a much longer counter between sink and cooktop, it might make some sense. But you don't. It will be crowded. And note that I have 54" between sink and range so I have more space to move over when that DW door is open. You have only 39". 36" is the MINIMUM recommended by the NKBA. You really can't afford to lose work space there if you want to use it for prepping. Of course, you will have the option of moving over to the other sink to do that but then that also adds extra unnecessary steps. And if you are prepping and have to move over for someone to do stuff with the DW, you might as well move all your prep work there because it also cuts into the available counter space unless you don't mind leaning instead of standing in front of what you're prepping. I don't understand the view argument. If you use your DW properly, as DW manufacturer's recommend, you'll be spending little time at the sink as you should scrape, not rinse, before loading. Washing fruit and veg doesn't take long. I wish I could remember the statistics exactly but studies have shown that prep time is something like 70% of the time spent in the kitchen with the remainder divided between cooking (like when you're standing at the stove, not counting unattended oven time) and cleaning up. So the majority of your time will be in the prep area, not in front of the sink or at the DW. For that short period of time, you won't miss the view. Ha! Can you tell I feel strongly about this? It's your kitchen. I would never do it in my kitchen. I hope you won't regret your decision....See Moresjhockeyfan325
10 years agoUser
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