I've never heard of anybody not buying a home because there wasn't an overhang on the island. That's where they start negotiating the price if they think they have to fix it. In ten years you'll have a 10 year old kitchen anyway! If you might sell sooner, and are really worried about it, you can have it made so that the shelving you want is made to fit snugly but isn't actually attached. Then you can move it while you're showing the place so that people can see that there really is an overhang. :)

In general, I wouldn't worry about features for resale unless you'll be selling within a year. The exceptions are things that are very expensive to "fix". Don't remove a second sink you don't use in a master bath, or else leave the space and cap the plumbing, so it's just about cutting the hole and hooking it up. If you don't use a dishwasher, it's worth putting a dishwasher sized cabinet by the sink, which is easy to remove and replace with a dishwasher. Things like that. Plumbing kinds of things.

As long as there's an eating area in the kitchen, or handy to it, you don't need an overhang at all. If you have a wide aisle you could also consider having a pullout overhang put under your countertop. Might come in handy! But if you get the island you prefer, buyers can convert it themselves. It's a little tricky, because supports for the top have to be considered, but it's carpentry, not a remodel.

I have a 3 x 4' island with an overhang. The romantic in me dreamed of lazy mornings reading the paper while sipping my coffee or serving lunch to my grandchildren while we chatted and laughed.

Reality? I'm more comfortable at the kitchen table and the grands like to sit at their little Winnie the Pooh set.

If you want more storage--do that. Don't plan for a life you don't have or for someone else's benefit.

Whatever you decide--post pictures!

Can you do both? You'll have to move the stools to get to cabs but you can store lesser used things there...

Ten years is a long time to live in a kitchen that's designed around the unknown desires of a future buyer. You should have the kitchen that works for you. We put storage on the back side of the island and a overhang on the end for the rare time that someone wants to sit and chat while I make dinner. A couple of those curved-seat stools from Pottery Barn tuck under neatly when not in use.

Ten years is a long time...by then who knows? Counter/island seating may be passé and it will be considered a negative to have that overhang....

You don't know what will be "in" in 10 years, so it's ridiculous to design around what might be in style or what some unknown buyer might or might not want. Besides, maybe your ideal buyer won't want seating or will be excited about the extra storage.

Do what works for you and your family!

I'm doing like idrive65. I have a 4YO and have put cabinets for his crafts and toys on the other side of the island and will do a 1' overhang with stool tucked under on one of the ends for when he wants to help with cooking.

I'm also planning my island (3 feet by 6 feet) right now and I'm trying to make a decision about seating vs. storage on the back. I have a breakfast nook right near the island. So I don't need it for seating. But almost everyone I've asked has urged me to carve out knee space for at least one stool at the island. Seems like not a bad compromise.

I had an island without overhang for over ten years. I always wanted to have island seats. So when I remodeled the kitchen and I made the island with overhang and I love it. I don't mind lost some storage space. I like to have island seatings to talk with kids or friends while I am cooking. You never have enough kitchen storage space anyway. So I get more organized and put things not use often to basement.

gsmama...your 4-year old will be a pre-teen & then teen b/f you know it...and that means a full-depth overhang will be needed. I recommend you increase your overhang to 15", at least. My DH & DS wish we had at least 18"...if I ever do this again, I will have an 18" overhang. Even my knees touch the back of the peninsula when seated...and I have a 15" overhang...I'm only 5'10".

If you're scrimping on overhang b/c you don't have enough aisle space behind the island/peninsula, then realize that it won't help when someone is sitting there...they will still stick out into the aisle the same as if there was a 15-inch overhang...they'll just have to lean farther to reach the counter. The human body can be "squeezed in" only so much and besides, most people won't squeeze their bodies just to accommodate your aisle...so you will still have to ask them to move to get by (or try to squeeze by yourself).

FYI...as we age, counter-height and especially bar-height seating becomes more uncomfortable. Neither my parents nor my in-laws like sitting at our counter-height peninsula...they always choose to sit at the DR table rather than the peninsula (our DR is open to the kitchen). My mother tried it once and really disliked it (she had to put a box down so her feet didn't dangle and her legs could be in the correct seating position/angle.) She's never sat there again... I've even noticed that I'm beginning to prefer the table as well lately...

You may be there up to 10 yrs, get what you want. I am another one that doesn't like sitting on bar/counter stools. I gave it a fair try in my last kit a jut out on the back of the island for 2 stools facing each other. I didn't even consider the possibility in this kit.

We didn't think we could fit seating at our peninsula, but when we put in new counters recently we included a 6.5" overhang, just because we could. That's all the space we had w/o impinging on the hallway. After 4 years of using the kitchen w/o any overhang, that little bit inspired me to bring an old stool up from the basement. Daughter ALWAYS chooses to sit there to have snacks and do art projects. Husband has totally changed his thinking about whether we can fit seating at that counter. UPS tracking says the new stools will be arriving today.

So my experience is that we didn't need counter seating. We didn't have room for counter seating. We didn't particularly want counter seating. But with only a tiny bit of space allowance, we are all for it now.

Your experience is totally different. Sounds like you already have counter seating, and you never use it. So there's no reason you should plan for or build it now. And the may sell in 10 years thing matters not in the least.

I did both. I have a 15" overhang and cabinets underneath. I use them to store infrequently used items. Works great for us.

I didn't put in overhang seating at our peninsula. It is immediately adjacent to our dining area--and people sit there.

I think that my husband *would* sit at the counter to keep me company while cooking occasionally, but I didn't want allocate the space to it--and I don't miss it.

--Beth

Thanks so much for all your input. I think I'm going to go with my initial instinct of just putting storage there. I may ask my cabinet maker to see how much more it is to have removable shelving under an overhang vs just having them built in.

I don't like compromising just for resale, but I know there are some things that may be too much. Nice to know the overhang probably wouldn't fall in the realm of over-personalization. Unlike the the stone veneer I'm hoping to put in my dining room :)