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can you reach a sink on the other side of a 48" wide island?

11 years ago

Picture an island or peninsula 48" wide. Can you reach across and fill a coffee container from the other side? If you have this configuration, do you do this or would it be easier to walk around?

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Comments (9)

laughablemoments
11 years ago
I suggest mocking it up and reaching across to see if it's comfortable for you. It'd be a reach for me, but I'm not terribly tall or long-armed. Everyone's arm lengths and heights are different.
doc8404
11 years ago
Difficult to reach across comfortably.

As to walking around it to fill the pot, it would annoy the heck out of me.
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Annie Deighnaugh
11 years ago
Too far....
EngineerChic
11 years ago
I would walk around. Our island is 38" and I am 5'7". It's a lean-and-a-reach for me to get something from the opposite edge. Ours is something like 8' long, so it functions as a barrier island (but I kinda like that).
Madeline616
11 years ago
Hi Scrappy,

I'm not totally understanding the question. Is the sink in the island? Is the faucet one that swivels 180 degrees so you could swing it around to face you, or would you be trying to fill the container while looking at the back of the faucet?

My island is about 44" wide, and I could swivel the faucet of my island sink around to face me if I needed to fill something up in a pinch, but it would definitely be a stretch to reach across. I think your add'l 4" of width might turn it into a deal-breaker, unless you have super-long arms :)
scrappy25
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the answers. I am posting the layout evolution here so that you can see what I am thinking of.

The first layout is my initial proposal, has a cleanup and a prep sink. The prep sink is on the end of the peninsula to create a 2nd prep area and easy access for the coffee center.

This is the revised layout after input from some of the gurus here. This last was posted by lavenderlass. It creates a larger prep area, moves a larger sink to the peninsula, and increases the width of the passage to the breakfast room to 60" from 48". However, it is a longer walk around for filling the coffeepot. You can see though that the faucet would be slightly more than 24 " away from the coffee center side of the peninsula and certainly I would get a swivel faucet that could turn to fill the pot. I can currently reach over the 24" counter that I have now to open the window, so I know it is not hard, just wondering practically how annoying it would be. BTW the stools would be likely be backless.

The thread about the layout is here

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg092319347129.html
poohpup
11 years ago
If you really want to make that area by the microwave functional, put a small bar sink there. With a fridge and microwave there, I think you're really going to want one. Walking around the peninsula or reaching across stools and/or people to fill a pot, wash hands, etc will get old really fast.
Madeline616
11 years ago
Well, I just did a little test at my island. With the faucet swiveled around, you're practically at the same distance from the faucet as when you're just standing at the sink normally.

IRL, though, I have to agree with Poohpup. If it's possible to add another small sink near the small fridge and micro, it would really be ideal. If you're prepping coffee and the like, there are a hundred little things you'll probably want the whole sink for, not just the faucet (cleaning up spills, hand washing, and just simply being able to easily reach the sink surround so you can wipe it down if water splashes.)

That said, these things are really easy to overthink, which I did a million times during my remodel. If your sink is on the other side of the island, that will be your reality, and you'll easily adjust to that reality.

Looks like it's going to be amazing!! Looking fwd to pics :)
scrappy25
Original Author
11 years ago
thanks Poohpup and Madeline, that's very helpful.I'll ask how much that would cost to add a small sink to the other side.

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