My island was as big as I could get it while still using only one slab of Ceasarstone (no seams). In the end, it measures 119" X 38" or so (back to back cabinets - regular 24" deep cabinets facing the kitchen side of the island, and 12" deep cabinets facing the dining side). Left to right is a set of drawers, microwave drawer with deep drawer under it, 3" filler for power, set of drawers, set of drawers.The two things I would do differently are I would have made the cabinets facing the dining side 14 or 15" (so my place mats would fit lying flat, which they do not in the 12" deep cabinet), and I would have added a second outlet between the two large banks of drawers.

Thanks! Both designs have two outlets on the island. I plan to keep seldom-used pastry/cake/baking things in the 12" cabinets.

One design has two 30" drawers plus sink cab, trash pullout, and vertical storage for sheet pans. The other had two sets of cabinets with roll-outs, though I don't remember the widths, plus the trash/sink cabs. My husband is a bit anti-drawer...so it's been tough trying to go all-drawer.

I have a prep sink on my island and love it. I would just to make sure you have space on either side of it (like you show). Ours is close to our fridge. Makes it easy to pull veggies out, wash and chop. You might consider that. Mine is also a bit angled behind my stove. I love that for filling pots, but your kitchen is different b/c the main sink is so close to the stove, you will just use it for that purpose, I would assume. How are you going to use the prep sink for laundry?

For an island that length, I suggest considering and outlet on each end and an outlet towards the middle as well. We also made under the sink a 4 outlet for unknown, future needs. We have a 120" island, so the stone is about 122". We have an 18 inch butcher block on one end (between prep sink and clean up sink), so the stone is 104 inches and no need for a seam. We put one on each end, one on the surface towards the middle, and one on the sink side. So far (albeit 2 weeks or less) we have used the one on the top, center almost exclusively.

Just for washing hands if I get powder or liquid detergent on them, or giving something a quick rinse to test a spot treatment. Not for soaking or handwashing.

have you thought of lining up the right side of island with right side of cleanup sink-or even overlap that direction a bit more--making the 4-6 aisle by fridge a bit less, but such a line -up would be better. I wish you had more than 39 inch aisle between pantry and island...That is tight....not impossible.....but not as user friendly as you might like....it's a good area in your kitchen, for a variety of usage.....how about extend the counter or middle part of wall pantry section to 5 ft wide instead of 48 inches-but 12 inches deep..so it's wider but a bit shallower...each end pantry would be 24 in wide---10 inches deep-loaded with shelves-still extremely useful. .... few more inches for bodies doing things there...and I think someone can then pass behind another person...this will be needed. Do you anticipate people at counter at pantry wall area will pivot to access faucet....this might affect island sink placement. Your aisles are important in this plan.....just be sure you've got it right for how space is used, number of people in your household, the amount of socializing and mingling that will occur......you can cut back depths of some cabinetry to eek a few more inches in aisles if you need.

The 3'6" aisle between the prep sink and range - is that counter to counter? If so, that may be okay but is probably tight. If it is cab to cab, what is your countertop overhang? If your cabs are inset, 3/4 may be okay. If the cabs are not inset, you may need 1.5-2 inches overhang. So, your space may be much less than you think it will be.

I thought 42" was a good minimum? That's the measurement I got from the designers, so I assumed it took overhang into account, but maybe not?

I could see the value of doing away with 12 inch cabs on back of island , except for a cabinet or stack of drawers at fridge end....this will narrow out the island for the most part...but you can widen out where this is floorspace at fridge end.....either a curve of the counter, or stack of drawers, or cabinet there.... and move island a bit closer to fridge...this is the area where island can be deeper.....but with narrowing it on left side and pushing it back a couple inches from back wall you'll get a couple more inches in the aisle , as well, more like 42 inch aisle by pantry wall. You have a lot of storage on that pantry wall...... to jeopardize your aisles for 12 inch cabinets for "seldom used baking items" is a boo boo I think in the making....I think the storage for this stuff can be found elsewhere......you have a nice amount of storage. Keep tweaking and push back here and there to get the mass of island you want/need along with good aisles....do check with your planning team, but don't cut aisles too narrow..I would err on the side of more ample walkways and slightly less numbers or depths of cabinets.......go over all this closely.....but it will be a great space. I can see how you're eager to get going.

I recently submitted my kitchen design to this forum, and I struggled against the advice I was getting, especially in terms of aisle width. But eventually I changed things around to follow this advice, and I have no doubt that I have a better kitchen design because of it.

How deep is your island? I'm assuming 24" base cabinets with some amount of overhang for sitting at. Do you have 15" of additional overhang per this guideline:

Assuming multiple users in your kitchen, are your aisles 48" wide counter-to-counter per this guideline:

Conclusion: As much as you think you want or need the cabinets along the "bottom" wall, eliminating them gives you more aisle width, on both sides of the island, and more room for sitting at the island, and more room for navigating around people who are sitting there. I think it's important to really get this right.

The above recommendations, and many others, can be found: here

There won't be seating at the island. I'm really pushing for the 12" cabinets on the back of the island because we've always had to keep 1/3 of the kitchen in the basement, and in this new house, we still have half in boxes because we can't fit it with the current configuration. We both really want to be able to keep everything upstairs.

We're exploring using the reach- in pantry for much of the non- food stuff, including appliances. We just made that switch this weekend. ETA: the pantry wall makes this possible. We currently have 8' of cabinets/counter on that wall (no island).

Also, the pantry wall counter area would be for grabbing coffee or tea, not really for hanging out or prepping there. Not planning to pivot to the prep sink, but walking to the prep sink to drain the tea strainer or rinse the coffee pot would be fewer steps than to the cleanup sink.

Should I consider centering the sink on the island? So that my husband and I would each have a similar sized prep area? We are exclusive island-preppers, and use the perimeter only if room doesn't allow otherwise.

IMO centering the prep sink would work better in your layout: closer to frig, and still ample room on both sides for prep or anything else.

Widths from top of layout to bottom: 2' base cabs + 4' aisle + 2' island + 4' aisle + 1' 6" cabs = 13' 6" total space. Those widths are cabinet-to-cabinet and do not account for the inches you'll lose because counters overhang cabinets by an inch.

It looks like you've drawn the island wider than 2', and that's why the aisles on each side are less than 4'. That's the main trade-off that you'll have to decide on. I would keep the pantry cabinets on the bottom wall at 12" deep (a standard depth) to give me an extra 6" for my aisles.

Keywest gave you good info.

Usually, it's recommended to have a prep sink off-center in order to have a nice, long space to prep on. Since you both plan to prep together, I think your island is long enough to center the sink and still give you good prep space. However, I think you need a bigger prep sink. 18" is considered the minimum for a functional prep sink. But if both of you are prepping, it might be tight. I would consider a 24" for shared prep room. 110" - 24" prep sink = 86" / 2 = 43" prep sink for each of you.

It is recommended to have a minimum 42" aisle for a single worker and a minimum of 48" for multi-workers. Those are minimums because some people like more space. The best way to know what works for you and your DH is to mock up and do some practice prepping/cooking in the space. Make sure you pretend to open doors, cabinets, get things from fridge, move to range, etc., during your pretend sessions so you can identify bottle-necks and how much space you really need for comfort and safety.

With that nice size island I think centered would be great. And definitely go 24" not 18".

Have you considered recessing the pantry into the wall. If memory serves, is it the dining room behind there?

It might make the dining room too tight, but maybe think about which space you use the most and would be more annoyed with being cramped.

Thanks, all. There is a lot to consider here.

We can't move into that dining room because it's a load-bearing wall, and our DR furniture is already cramped in there. Our table + end chairs just fits.

All the designs so far were for a 24" cabinet for the prep sink, and one portion of our current double sink seemed like it would be roomy enough for our uses (our biggest colander fits, and it's around 18"). No garbage disposal, so we won't be doing prep directly into the sink. It will be for rinsing veggies, washing hands, and draining pots. I'll have to go see a 24" sink, though we had a 25" single bowl at the last house, which was small for our only sink, but seems like it would be too big as a "spare" sink. My husband still isn't completely convinced about the sink, so I haven't wanted to rock the boat on the sink size. He seems pretty set on ~18 inches.

I'm having a hard time really envisioning that pantry wall, even after seeing elevations on the (various, now 4) designers' computers. I've gotten feedback that it would look "best" with deeper flanking tall cabs and recessed inner/counter portion (15-12-15), or "best" with the opposite, with the center/counter part jutting out a bit (13-15-13). Also that it might look bad if it was all the same depth across (either 12" or 13").