Limited space around kitchen island

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

We are just starting a kitchen renovation and I'm wondering if anybody has lived first hand with the minimum space requirements around a kitchen island and if so how you have found the feel in your daily use? I know the bare minimum recommended is 42" by most, and some say 48". I love to bake and a table in the middle is just not working well for that task. So as it stands now we will have 41" on the dishwasher and double wall oven side(the double ovens won't really open into the island space though). 40" on the range top side, 41" on the island seating side and only 36" on a side that faces a peninsula to the dining room.

The overhang on the island is 15". If I go to a 12" overhang I could pick up 3" for the range top side, but then would the overhang be too tight for sitting comfortably? Or I could push the space behind the island overhang area to say 39" and people will just have to walk the other way around if somebody is seated at the island. Honestly where the seating is won't be a main pathway for most people as it's not now. I've measured it out on the floor and walk around it all day, not stepping within where the island will be and it seems to work, but realize that when it's actually built up in the air it will feel much different. Any thoughts?

Featured Answer

mama goose_gw zn6OH

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

I have about the same aisle widths on three sides, with the fourth
side (short side) open to the dining area. My island is more of a work
table, just over 34" high, and I use it for baking prep. Mine works very
well, in part because the DW opens into a long aisle, not against the
island, and the island overlaps the fridge and range by only half, so
there is adequate step back space for both of those appliances. The
seating aisle is actually the narrowest of the three, but there are no
appliances on that side, just base cabinets and shallow uppers (10"
deep) for storage of baking supplies. My KA mixer is in the corner of
that run, but there is an opening to another room directly to the left,
so again, it feels more open than if it was in the corner of an L, or
against a wall.

I usually cite the NKBA minimums when giving
advice, but I really like my island, and feel having narrow aisles is an
acceptable trade-off. The kids love eating there--they seem to prefer
it to the dining table, where we ate every meal when they were young. We
have a bench on one long side, a swing out seat on each short end, and a
shallow cabinet on the side facing the fridge and range. I can easily
walk by anyone sitting on the bench, and can pass by any of my tall,
thin kids standing in an aisle. Of course, if the fridge, oven, or DW
doors are open, someone needs to detour around, or wait a few seconds.

I've
posted before that we host the dinners for my large extended family, so
the kitchen is set up for easy serving and clean-up (yesterday was
family dinner Sunday--I had my mom's cherry pie for breakfast this
morning :). Also, I've had a friend staying here on several recent
week-ends, and even though she is twice my weight, I had no problem
sliding by her if she was working at one of the counters.

My
house is older, and the marble table was purchased on Craigslist--I
didn't have a choice of sizes, although we altered it from dining table
height to work table height. If I were designing a new house and new
island, I would follow the NKBA recs, but my kitchen works very well for
me and my family. If you post your layout, we can help you make the most of the space you have available.

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Comments (6)

Buehl
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
How many people will be working on the kitchen at the same time?

Regarding testing it out, measuring it out and just avoiding the spot isn't sufficient. You need to have the actual mass...so, get a table and/or boxes and create the island. Try to anchor it. Then test it out with your whole family walking around & working on and around the "island".

Could you post a measured layout of the space?
Kat thanked Buehl
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I should mention that the measurements I gave for my island area is from the edge of the granite countertop, not the edge of the cabinets. There would be just enough room for two people to work back to back in a 42" area, but it would be very tight. However, we have quite a large island and never work back to back. Usually one of us is at the stove on one side and the other is prepping on the other side (so we are facing each other). Our island is 52" wide x 8 ft. long so we never have to be in such close proximity. There is plenty of room to pass in front of the dishwasher with the door open in the area that is 38". Our refrigerator is not across from our island but is 44" from the nearest cabinet, which is plenty of room. There is also plenty of room in front of the oven to get large items in and out. This is just my opinion, but I am with cynandjon in that I wouldn't want there to be too much distance between the working island and the appliances on the other side. When you are lifting a heavy, hot turkey out of the oven you don't want to have to walk several steps to set it down. A kitchen is efficient if you aren't wasting lots of time walking to everything you need, but you want two or more people to be able to work comfortably around the island. Here are two pics of my kitchen from different angles. You can judge for yourself whether you think there is enough room.
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I agree that the half-bath makes a pinch-point in the foyer. Besides, every time you come down the stairs you are looking at a bathroom lol! Can you move it to the nook at the front of the house, between garage and foyer? Then the door to the garage can move a little further back, which is good. As it currently is, you enter the garage right into the side of a car. That's a traffic jam right there. Also, the kitchen-dining room view. If you are at the dining room table, especially at the front of the house, and look towards the hostess, you have a straight view of the range. I think that you a planning on a sideboard or something on the walk behind the stairs, but if you move the door over there, it's harder to see into the kitchen; what you do see is further away; and from more areas of the kitchen you will be able to see the dining room and out the gorgeous bay window. Kind of like this: oops, I notice that moving the powder room puts it in full view of the breakfast nook. So in the second picture I moved the door to the right, so at least it opens to the sink, not the commode. And, if you put the bench/drop zone across from the stairs, that will block the view, too.
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smm5525
7 years ago
I'm just wrapping up a remodel where I went from very tight aisles to 48", 48" and 43" with island in a u shaped kitchen. It makes a big difference. I haven't fully used my kitchen yet but I've noticed the few things I have prepared so far, I've used the perimeter more than the island. Before, my island was my workhorse.
Kat thanked smm5525
Kat
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
@smm5525 That's interesting about using the perimeter more now. I have to use the perimeter of course now in our current layout, except when I use the table, but find it much too tight. I have definitely missed my old home where I could spread out on the 8 foot island. This island will be 5', so not quite as big, but hopefully large enough when baking or rolling out. We also have a large family, so I've missed having the island to spread out plates for serving our food.
Kat
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks @mama goose. I think that's what I've concluded for myself. That it's a trade off. You just can't have everything when you are dealing with a smaller space. It won't be perfect, but hopefully will be close enough.
Kat
Original Author
7 years ago
@buehl it is usually only one cook at a time, although occasionally we'll have a helper. Definitely only one on the range cooking at a time though, so the other person can stand on the dishwasher end if need be and move around the other way if they need to get to the fridge etc.

Limited space around kitchen island

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Limited space around kitchen island

mama goose_gw zn6OH

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