It's important to determine 'xactly why the kitchen feels this way.

Quite possibly, its that the ref is in a poor location and it might be easier+better to move it. If the ref is too far away and you have to walk around the island to reach it - that can make the island feel like the culprit and you might be moving everything around to suit the ref instead of just moving the ref.

Possibly, you're correct and the kitchen shouldn't have an island.

Removing an island leaves a big empty hole in the floor plan and you're thinking about filling an edge of it with a peninsula. That might be ok or it might begin to feel that the kitchen walls are too spread out.

If you post a floor plan or pictures, others will have more to say!

I agree with Bmore...A move of another element in your kitchen, or rearrangement of the seating may make your island far more useful and beloved than before, or maybe it's too large for the space... and it'd be easier to see the possible problems if you share a layout.

Islands, in my experience, offer unmatched prep and project space, and encourage a better flow of traffic, while peninsulas, also just in my opinion from my own experience, create a dead end that traffic seems to flow into, but not out of, and everyone crosses paths and wants to stand in the same spots. An island should help create work zones so that each person working in the kitchen... or visiting... should be able to without conflict. The zone concept is a variation/modification of the single work triangle. The single triangle doesn't work that well in larger kitchens, often with islands, or with more than 1 person in the kitchen.

Zones are also possible with peninsulas, though, and islands aren't best in all kitchens

Here is a link that might be useful: Short explanation of zones on Kitchens.com

Contrary me--I love my peninsula and don't care for islands. When working in a kitchen with an island, I feel as if I'm always walking around it. I don't feel trapped in my kitchen--I feel safe! We frequently have multiple people working in the kitchen--2 is common, and it's often 3 or 4 at parties.

There are pluses and minuses to both islands and peninsulas...but they all depend on your space, how you use it, and your layout.

We put in two peninsulas to form a "U" in our kitchen and it's the best thing we did! We originally considered an island, but our kitchen wasn't wide enough, at least not to have seating. Now, though, we realize that even if we had been able to fit an island, we think the "U" we created is better...no island in the way and no running around it. We've even commented to each other how we're so glad we did not put in an island. The "U" shape successfully directs traffic out of our Prep & Cooking Zones where the most time & work is spent in the kitchen. I hated in my old kitchen that traffic would get in the way while I was trying to work...now it doesn't...it's wonderful!

Several things, IMHO, make it work...

"Structurally"...

1. It's a wide "U". The overall width of the of the base of the "U" is 15'10". The inside space, counter-to-counter, is 121" (10'1")

2. Both legs are relatively short. One is 62" long; the other is 52.75" long. We only have seating on the 62" leg...two seats. If we had room, we would have had two seats on the other leg as well, but it's next to the hall to the front door and the (short) hall to the FR.

The combination of a wide "U" and short legs means there's plenty of room for several people to work inside the "U" and no one is trapped b/c it's not deep.

Layout...

1. The Prep and Cooking Zones are both contained in the "U", along with the Baking Center

2. There is a prep sink in one corner (the corner with seats) so all prepping & cooking are inside the "U"

3. The Cleanup Zone is across a 72" (6') aisle (no, it does not seem like a "big empty hole"...it's room for through-traffic and for others to use the Cleanup Zone side for washing hands, etc. while the rest of us are prepping & cooking)

   The location of the Cleanup Zone on the opposite side also means dish storage is on that side...so someone setting the table or getting dishes for a snack is out of the way of those prepping & cooking.

4. It provides a good separation of the Prep & Cooking Zones from the Cleanup Zone so all three tasks can go on at one time (and often do) without an open DW getting in the way.

Twice, I've hosted sixteen 12- & 13-year old Girl Scouts working on their Cooking Badge. They ALL fit in the kitchen at the same time with very little jostling around!

(The only mistake I made was putting the only trash & recycle pullout on the Cleanup Zone side...we generate far more trash & recyclables while we prep & cook than we do while cleaning up...and more often as well as for longer lengths of time!)

This is how it's laid out...

...

However, each kitchen is different. How your space is laid out (locations of windows & doors), how you use it, and how you place your work zones & appliances will all determine how well a peninsula ("U" or "L") or island will work.

I also suggest you post your layout here for us to look at!

Of course it depends on how big the room is, but so often it seems that peninsulas create such a wide aisle within the kitchen workspace while hemming in a smaller room overall, and I admit that the peninsula kitchens I've been in were quite small, so thus, the trapped feeling and criss-crossing traffic. I never feel like I'm circling my island, but rather that it forms efficient galley-shaped sections within my kitchen. I work from one side or another, or the end, and across to whatever counter is opposite. All depends on the overall layout...and personal preferences, of course.

It's funny that I never think of yours as a peninsula kitchen, Buehl. I guess because of the length and because you walk through to other rooms, I think of it as a modified galley with a slightly deeper, protected stove area.

My boyfriend's mother removed an island from her kitchen when she remodeled. I'm not certain the exact name of the layout but essentially a U with a straight counter run on the "top" of the U. There was an island in the center and she said it made the space feel cramped. Her new kitchen feels very large and is very functional for her. She put the fridge and pantry and wall ovens on the straight counter run on top of the U, the cooktop on one peninsula, and the sink at the bottom of the U. She has seating on one of the peninsulas. It seems very efficient and spacious: able to handle multiple cooks and frequent entertaining.

I agree this is just definitely something that depends on your space. But also on the sort of space you like to cook in and degree of enclosing you like. I'm with Beth -- I like to feel cozied, a peninsula is structured, and an island can be a little wide-open and exposed. But it depends entirely on everything else too, windows, appliances, seating, use, doors, etc, etc, etc. I think no one can generalize for you, but you can generalize for yourself in terms of the feel you want to have. I suppose that's what the Sweeby test is about (which I never quite understood, BTW, but this is starting to help me see the light).

I was almost talked into an island, but have never been a big fan of them in average-sized kitchens (but I'm also the rare freak who really loathes countertop seating/bar stools). An island just feels to me like an obstacle course when I'm hard at work, and gets in the way when there are more than 3 folks in there socializing. I'll also be brutally honest and confess that I've never seen an island that I found attractive and didn't remind me of the 1970's.

Instead, we did a wide short peninsula and really love it; it creates a private chef's corner where I stand between sink and stove doing most of the work. Traffic flows by behind and away from me, and comes to a stop on the other side of the peninsula where there are seats and a table. Love it, best kitchen decision I made.

It's really ALL about you and your comfort levels and work habits - we're all quite different!

Ditto what circuspeanut said.

We too were almost talked into an island because it is what we were "supposed" to do. But, I don;t like islands, don't see the point of them. To me they get in the way of free-flow walkways, easy back-and-forth to all areas of the kitchen and are, in many cases (not all) just a hulking mass of wood and counter stuck in the middle of the floor.

Many people try to shove them into a kitchen when they don't fit or don't belong. Only you can decide if they will genuinely and functionally work for you. If you are going to leave one in (If we were going to have one) try to give it some personality so that it looks like it belongs and that you actually love it as a part of your kitchen rather than looking like you were following a trend.

I imagine it's all been said but I feel like spouting anyway. Lots of peninsulas have been torn out because they functioned only as trash dumps--just like your island except not even good landing spots.

So, those who said it's a broader function issue than just peninsula versus island are right. If you choose to trade off for the benefits of a peninsula in the process of addressing this kitchen problem, great.

BTW, my island has no appliances or water and I use it all the time, even though there's great work space right behind me on each side of the stove--because of the way the whole kitchen functions, not because it's there. I learned a long time ago that my various kitchens would essentially choose for me where I was going to work; the nicest counters will go neglected in favor of unbelievably cramped if it's in the right position. Oh, bad memories awakened! :)

I've been posting on my dilemma off and on and will be posting again soon with the need to finalize layout and get specific as soon as my partner can give me very specific down-to-the-inch specs for how long the run will be once the wall comes down, but I'll chime in this, too.

My dilemma is whether to go U or L+Island in a very small house with a decent sized kitchen for the size (which makes it, well, rather small). Once the wall comes down, the kitchen will also be visible from the "LR" area, if you can call it that, and the front door.

The consensus to date is that a U functions better for my space, primarily because a) it allows a long expanse of unbroken countertop for a buffet/seating/work space b) 2 decent sized walk-throughs of 80-90 inches is not really reasonable in a 120+ inch space. I'll be posting soon with pictures/plans of both options, but can put up some rough drafts here if anyone is interested.

"forces us into one corner when we're prepping"..this is the focus of where your effort should be. Not the island but perhaps a re assignment of frig, or moving some elements on your walls around . The island, if you like the concept and are redoing could perhaps be shifted a few inches or made a different shape. People would beg for a "landing spot" buffet zone, gathering zone, that you bemoan.I say look at how the cabs and appliances are configured on the walls...islands are hot commodities-maybe you just need tweaks.

Hey, circuspeanut, count me as a freak along with you. I'm eliminating my island overhang when we remodel, replacing it with storage. In the 17+ years in this house, we've never put stools at the island. One reason is that the walkway between table and island isn't large enough to have seating on both sides. But the other is that I fail to see the allure of counter seating. I would much rather sit at a table any day. When I was a kid and we went to the diner at the local five and dime, I begged to sit at the lunch counter but that was then, this is now.

Back to the OP's question. Nellie, post your lay-out and you'll get feedback more relevant to your kitchen. As others have said, there are many factors that dictate whether an island is useful or a hindrance.

I love my island. It is totally dependent on the space. and layout.

"It interferes with the work triangle, doesn't have a sink or cooktop, puts seating right in front of the pantry and fridge and generally serves as a drop zone for junk. It forces all of us into one tiny corner when we're prepping. I hate it."

We don't have any of these issues.

Wow! So many responses! We've been blessed with beautiful weather this weekend and have been outside, away from the computer. I will come back to this in the next day or two. I will post pictures too. Thank you all so much!

I agree that it is totally dependent not only on size/proportions of space but also placement of appliances (ie, your work zones).
When I first posted our proposed layout, I actually got comments that bored on "nasty" having to do with my big island. Something like "your island layout is what happens when ignorant people have too much space". Yikes!
In our old layout, the smaller island could be somewhat annoying b/c I had to go all the way around it to get to the microwave. The new layout has a bigger island including a "table" right in the middle of the kitchen and I love it. Its a central prep space convenient to my microw, refrig, stovetop and sink all at the same time.

We got rid of our island because it was so close to the range and opposite counter space on long end and then sink and dishwasher on short end that we were always running into each other if more than one person was working in the kitchen. I think prior owner really had the island as the main focus of his remodel, and maybe it worked for him, but I think there just wasn't room for it. We did move about that same amount of counter and cabinet space from the island over to a wall and can now use that space as a second prep and storage area w/out getting in each others way.

We just finished a remodel. Used to have an L shape with an island and went with a U with peninsula (at an angle) and love it!!! Do not miss the island at all. We have a much better work triangle and ended up with more cabinet space and the optional seating (not sure we will do this though).

I'll have to check out the Sweeby Test. After reading the responses it seems I can tweak the island but play around with the fridge, micro and pantry.

I have a tendency to get sidetracked so I will post a new thread after I have some pictures and layout sketches. Thank you all for your insight. I have a lot to think about.