DH always says his favorite thing about our kitchen is that his prep counter is at 38" (he's 6'5"). If that is your preferred height for prepping I would say go for it. Definitely make sure you have tested out the height (i.e. setting up a prep space on a table at 34"). I don't see this being a problem for serving - I usually do this from table height anyway. And you can always make stools shorter if need be! I'm sure you have cooked at other places with 36" counters - if not best to try it out at a friends house to see if it makes a difference for you or not. If not seems easiest to go standard for that, which will also provide a taller prep space in case your kids grow tall, guests, etc.

I'm all for getting counters that are comfortable. I have the opposite issue: at 5'11" I'm the shortest in the family (DD is 6'1" and DS is 6'6" and maybe still growing!) We raised all our counters (kitchen and bathrooms) to 39" and I love them. The higher cabinets gave us more storage space, so you'll need to decide if losing an inch of storage, vertically, matters to you.

As far as comfort for guests, a 34" island would feel low to me (especially if I was wearing heels) but it may be great for others. You might want to mock up a 34" high island using a card table or saw horses and plywood. Try sitting, standing, and serving there to see how it feels, and ask some good friends to try it out with you.

I will say that though I love my high counters, doing things that require some leverage (rolling out dough, opening a wine bottle) would be easier with a slightly lower counter. So while I have no regrets, I totally get the need to have something at the right height.

You might also consider having a thick butcher block as part of your island counter top rather than sitting on top. I thought of this one right away, one of my favorites.

Thanks for your input, lharpie and chicagoans!

Lharpie, yeah the 36" does feel a little high for me when I prep at friends houses...but perhaps I don't need to go all the way down to 34".

Chicagoans -- that kitchen is gorgeous! And I do love butcher blocks but my dream is to have a huge marble slab island : ).

Do you all have any thoughts on whether it's helpful to have a lowered cooktop area? Chicagoans, did you also raise your cooking area or just your prep area?

Hi eliasgrace. All my counters, including the cooking area, are 39".

Have fun planning! You're at the right place - lots of smart people here. If you specifically want layout feedback, you might want to post your planned layout in a new thread.

As long as you're not doing this for resale, do what works for you (I have a short friend who had all her upper cabinets lowered). I will say that friends of ours bought a condo without realizing that all the kitchen counters were higher than the normal 36" and they (and we) hate it!

I'm not sure about the counter height problem.

However your setup with the prep sink on the side you have it would bother me because the island becomes a barrier still between prep sink and fridge/pantry.

Additionally, you have the ovens on the end next to the fridge with nowhere to land hot things you take out of the oven.

I know you didn't ask, but I redid the section that was bothering me in terms of getting the best working solution.

I made some suggestions below. I moved your fridge closer to the pantry which also moves it closer to the dining table and out of any of your working zones.

I switched the prep sink to the opposite side and moved the chairs opposite too. Additionally I also compensated with the aisle space. Here is the new island/fridge arrangement.

Here is your old arrangement showing the work flow of from Fridge to sink (#1), from sink to prep (#2), and from prep to stove (#3).

Thank you for your comments! You all are giving me the courage to do a 34" island....it definitely works for me!

And cpartist, so nice of you to comment on the layout and give such helpful suggestions. After A LOT of back and forth with the layout, we ended up with the one above (not exactly b/c it's an old drawing). Your suggestions are really great but there are other factors that come into play....like the main corridor in front of the fridge, which is a path from the garage to the living area, so I don't want to be prepping there. Also in front of the cleanup sink is a huge 10ft window se we prefer having the island seats facing the window (yes, I know I am sacrificing myself b/c I will be prepping with my back to the window : ). I know most people don't like having sinks back to back, but I really wanted my prep sink right across from the dishwashers...and we only have one place for trash (next to prep sink) so I needed that to be close to both sinks....anyway, it's way less than perfect layout but I think it will work for us...I know I have to sacrifice some things.

Thanks again wonderful people!!!

Oh by the way, anyone care to comment on whether it is worth paying an upcharge (I forget how much) to lower the perimeters from 36.5", which is standard for my cabinet maker, to 35.25"? This would be solely for a lowered cooktop/rangetop area.

That island with the Boos block is amazing! Thanks for posting it.

Mama...I would love to see a pic of your lowered island.

eliasgrace...I am thinking that lowering your island is a nice idea.

1/4"? No, it's not worth paying extra for!!!!!

sjhockeyfan -- it would be 1.25" : ). still not worth it??

I'm not quite 5', and I'd love cabinets to be a little shorter than usual. As for resale, I doubt a buyer would notice this small detail.

While you're it, consider lowering your uppers a little too.

We converted a carrara marble-topped dining table, found on craigslist, to an island. Here's a before shot in former kitchen, after the polished marble had been honed:

It is 1.25"! I don't personally think that would be worth it for the perimeter counters. (I'm 5-2 1/2" and my daughter is not quite 5' and we have no problem using the cooktop on regular height counters. I can definitely see lowering the "working" island but not the perimeters).

I betcha nobody will notice your counters aren't standard.

I'd totally notice! Drove us nuts that our counters were a little lower than standard height when we bought our house (knew it needed to be remodeled from the 1920s original though so it didn't matter). That being said I think it depends on how much it costs. I also really like having some standard height and some higher height in our kitchen so that there are work spaces for different people. DH doesn't mind the cooktop being lower - ergonomically it just doesn't matter as much as for prepping.

Mama goose -- what a lovely island! And I love that you can face the dining room while you are working.

Sjhockeyfan -- yeah, I am beginning to think it's not worth it either (to lower by 1.25"). Good to know that you and your daughter have no problems with a standard counter!

lharpie -- yes, having different height counters is useful! B/c not everyone is as short as us, hehe : ).