It depends on the layout, but 42"-54" is sufficent depending on the number of people you have working in the kitchen. This should NOT be a traffic aisle with through traffic.

I agree with GreenDesigns - and think anything more than 54" is too much.

I've got 42.5 (counter to counter) between my cooktop and island, and although it's not been used yet (getting the gas and water faucets hooked up Tuesday! Woot!!), the cabinets and counter are all in, and walking around in there, that aisle width feels plenty spacious. I was nervous about that, and would have gone 45-48 if I was willing to spare island width (and another larger more critical traffic aisle), but I think the 42.5 will be absolutely plenty of space for multi-cooks. Now, we did make sure that the cooktop aisle is not a heavily trafficked one, so that makes a difference. If I thought there'd be people barging through routinely to get to a door or fridge, I'd make it much wider. Or, better yet, move it, lol.

thanks everyone! range not in heavily trafficked area so we should be ok with these suggestions.
szruns -must be exciting to get everything hooked up in a few days...right now I am just happy the cabinets are going up! LOL!

The standard walkway range between work surfaces is anywhere from 3 ft. to 5 ft. Three feet is not enough for two people to pass each other, so if you have more than one person using the kitchen at once, definitely don't do the minimum. If you are the sole cook and value efficiency in your kitchen above all else, you might find 3 ft. ideal. It means you can just turn around, rather than turning and then walking to use your island.

Five feet is very comfortable for people passing each other, so if you often have a crowded kitchen, that can be nice. However, I have often heard on here that various people feel that five feet puts the island just a step or two farther than feels natural to walk to get to the island.

The sweet spot for the majority of people seems closer to 4 ft., but the exact distance seems to be personal thing. Your best bet is definitely to mock up various distances in your existing kitchen and see what feels the most natural to you.

I had about 40" before my remodel, and now have 53" counter edge to counter edge. It felt huge at first, I really noticd the extra steps, but now it feels normal. Definitely an improvement as two people can get by each other easily. I do all my prep at that end of the island. I would not want it any wider.

This is so helpful, we have room to play with, but I want to keep it to some standard. We have never had a kitchen where we had room for two to get by each other. We will play with the distances of 4-5 ft and see what we can come up with.

The main kitchen is L shape, so I guess I will need to keep the distances 4-5 feet on both L sides, the window/sink side and the range side.

I was mostly concerned with the spacing between the range door being open and the island, but I also need to consider the spacing of the island between the sink/window side and the island cabinets.

All this info is great to know. thanks so much everyone.

It's kind of a confusing recommendation, but FWIW the 31 kitchen design rules recommends not more than 48" for landing zones across from fridge & oven "if the appliance does not open into a walkway".

For my part, I think anything more than 48" is sub-optimal from a pure functionality perspective, and that's coming from a guy with long legs inclined to err on the spacious side. That being said, I think it's also important to consider the scale of other walkways and open spaces in the house and endeavor to be as consistent as possible.

Here is a link that might be useful: 31 kitchen design rules