Stick a table in there for a while and see how you like it. I did that once (not planning on an island; just wanted the extra work space). I thought it was fine but the spouse disagreed. :(

Assuming those squares are 1 foot each, you'd be hard-pressed to get in an island that isn't incredibly narrow and still have space to get around it. I think putting a round table in the bay will help the space feel less open.

I like Foris suggestion of placing a temp table to get a feel for what an island would do. One thing I notice is that an island could possible block the flow I to kitchen as you enter from the side where stove/mw are.

Ikea makes a small, portable island that you could try to see how it feels. It comes in both 4.5' and 6' lengths. It's not cheap, but we found the larger one on Craigslist for only $100 (and it was assembled!). Plus, ours had drawers; the new one doesn't. I'd look around for something second hand to test.

Pics of kitchens with narrow islands

Will the island block the path from the fridge to the sink?

I cannot see the entire Kitchen as a whole, but I suspect any island (or table) you put in would be a "barrier island". It will block access to the refrigerator from the sink - where your primary Prep Zone will be.

In addition, an island only 31" deep is usually not very useful for workspace b/c it's too shallow to work at and not keep knocking things off the back (since there's no wall to stop things from falling like on the perimeter.)

Are you the only person in the home? I'm asking b/c 42" is the bare minimum for a one-person aisle - and with a DW on the aisle, 45" is better. 48" is the minimum for two or more people working on the aisle (prepping, cooking, cleaning up, getting a snack, unloading the DW, etc.) If you are the only person, then a 42-inch aisle may be OK.

That also leaves you with a 42" aisle b/w the island and refrigerator, which means there is no room for seats - but I'm assuming you did not plan for seating b/c the island would not be deep enough for seating (it would need to be at least 41.5" deep).

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Another concern I have is your flooring. If you plan to put flooring down that's thicker than what you have now, you run the risk of trapping appliances - especially the DW and refrigerator. Flooring should never be higher than the bottom of the cabinets, otherwise, you trap appliances that are in alcoves. If/when you have to remove them for replacement, cleaning behind, or repair, you run the risk of damaging your counters and/or cabinets as you try to lift the appliance up and onto the higher flooring.

Even when people do not put their flooring under their cabinets, they install sub-flooring under the cabinets up to the thickness of the finished floor. I can almost guarantee you that tile will be too thick and, most likely, wood. If you're on a really tight budget, I suggest sticking with a vinyl - and removing the existing vinyl first.

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I strongly suggest you

(1) Live in the home for a while to see what works/doesn't work (especially an island!)

(2) Save up enough money to do it right (e.g., get that DW out of the Prep Zone!) Yes, it may take a few years (it took us over 10 years b/c we also had daycare to pay for at the same time, but when we did it, we were able to do it right and were able to pay in "cash".) Do you really want to spend money on expensive flooring now that will probably have to be ripped out (or patched somehow) later when you have the funds to do a full remodel?

I'll second Buehl's opinion that you live in the space for awhile before making any decisions.

I will, respectfully disagree though, about the usefulness of a 30" island. While not ideal, I've been working on an Ikea island for two years with very tight aisles and I can do and store everything I need to cook dinner for a crowd. In fact, I think it's only 24" deep. It's the primary workspace in my current large but poorly designed beach kitchen and was an inexpensive, temporary fix to a big problem (8 feet of empty space, my back to guests while prepping); it has served me very well despite breaking every rule in the book. It does not, however, block my path to the refrigerator. That would probably drive me a little crazy.

Is the current floor vinyl or ceramic?

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

The current floor is ceramic and doesn't appear to go under the cabinets. The contractor says it's no problem to remove them leaving the cabinets in place.

I've marked out the space for an island with tape. I can have the refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher doors open and easily walk around them. It's just my husband and myself here and I'm usually the only one in the kitchen. But if we have company, that may become an issue.

If I decide to add an island, I'm considering moving the refrigerator to the left so that it's at the end of the cabinet row.

I appreciate hearing about your experience with the 24" deep island. I've had 2 contractors and 1 kitchen/bath designer tell me that I have room for an island. But, something in my gut is telling me it may not be the best solution.

I'm going take your suggestion to live here for a while before making a decision. I'll also try putting a table in the space to see how it feels.

Thanks again for your help.

Tmorrogh:

"The current floor is ceramic and doesn't appear to go under the cabinets. The contractor says it's no problem to remove them leaving the cabinets in place."

Sorry, the floor looks like vinyl on my monitor. So, if it's tile and you're replacing it with tile, you should be OK, just verify the total thickness of the final floor - be sure no additional sub-flooring or repairs are needed that will raise it higher than what you have right now.

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Cheri:

"... I've been working on an Ikea island for two years with very tight aisles and I can do and store everything I need to cook dinner for a crowd. In fact, I think it's only 24" deep..."

"...It's the primary workspace in my current large but poorly designed beach kitchen ..."

[Emphasis mine - to emphasize that it is a poorly designed Kitchen, not something you would plan.]

So, does that mean it's not used year-round for full meals and holidays? I'm asking b/c there's a big difference b/w a house you only live & work in occasionally (e.g., summers or weekends) and one you live and work in full time.

That island doesn't have water, does it? How does it work as a primary Prep Zone? Do you have to go from the refrigerator, across the Kitchen to the sink, then across the aisle to the island, and then back yet again across the aisle to the range/cooktop? I'm sorry, but to me, that would be very annoying! [I don't recall seeing your beach house's "as is" layout, just the proposed new layouts.]

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Tmorrogh:

"I've marked out the space for an island with tape. "

Tape doesn't work - tape doesn't give you the real feel of having a mass of island nor does it force you to move around it with your whole body. You need to get either a table of the same size or build an appropriate size island with boxes at full size - length, width, height - to really know.

We tried the tape in our Kitchen and then tried a table. The tape seemed just fine, but the table showed us reality - and in no way would it work! I'm very, very glad we went with two rather short peninsulas instead of an island.

Without sufficient aisle space, an island becomes an obstacle, not a help.

[Note that if you did move the refrigerator to try to minimize the "barrier island" effect, you need to move it toward the range.]

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I repeat my suggestion to live with it for awhile until you see how the current layout works/doesn't work for you and see how an actual island - not tape - would work.

Anglophilia's cart would be a great addition and would solve your aisle issue b/c you could move it around. It would also be more functional b/c it could be used for transporting things as well as extra storage or extra workspace.

In addition, I'm sure it would be far less expensive than building an island!

Other IKEA islands:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/ikea_kitchens/10471/

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Buehl, trust me, you don't want to see the beach house kitchen I have now. It was designed by someone who doesn't cook, for sure!!! The refrigerator is 18' from the sink and there is no prep sink. It's G-shaped and as inefficient as you can imagine. If we had more outdoor space, we would have remodeled the kitchen. We decided to build instead.

I couldn't agree more with the notion of not squeezing an island into a space where it doesn't fit, especially for everyday. My situation is dire but I see it as the lesser of two evils and it's a vacation house. My point was that a 24"-30" island is deep enough to be quite useful. :)

That's what I was trying to say - for a vacation house, the narrow aisles, etc., might be OK; but I would not recommend them for a main/primary house.

Thank you buehl for your advice. Do you have any photos that show your two short peninsulas?

Or you can build a cart out of wire chrome shelving (like you see in restaurants). A wood top (Ikea butcher block or high-end with John Boos) can be attached using these:

https://www.shelving.com/Counter-Top-Mounting-Plate-for-Wire-Shelving-p/si-awtj-p.htm

I did this in my tiny kitchen and it is a godsend at times.

I, too, have 115" open space between edges of opposing counters and am still going back and forth between peninsula or island. Discussion below with feedback from other GW members who have similar dimensions and island.

Discussion thread with pictures

Here's my Kitchen - both the "after" shots as well as the 2D layouts

The keys to the peninsulas working are:

• Neither peninsula is so wide that someone is trapped inside (62" & 54" total widths)
  and
• The "U" is wide enough (10' / 121") that more than one person can work in the "U" and, again, it's so wide no one is trapped

From the Family Room looking toward the Dining Room

No seats at the Family Room side peninsula. This peninsula does have a cabinet turned 90 degrees and serves as our Pet Center - it holds a 6-gallon can for dog food (2 standard poodles) and treats in a 3-gallon can on the bottom roll out tray shelf (ROTS). The top ROTS holds leashes, extra collars, pet meds, etc.

The top drawer has batteries & flashlights.

From the Dining Room looking into the Family Room:

Two seats at the DR side peninsula.

This corner has a corner sink - my prep sink.

Cooktop side - both peninsulas

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Pet Center:

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2D Layout:

Work Zones:

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All measurements (and very busy!)

Thanks very much for all the info. Very helpful.

hard for me to tell without a drawing, but my cousin just did her kitchen and has two smaller islands in her skinny yet wide kitchen. works really well in her space, so may be an option for you. provides an amazing amount of counter space without creating a barricade.

Love your kitchen, Buehl! However, do you think the situation is slightly different with a range on the short wall and sink and fridge on opposing long walls? Unlike in your kitchen, in my case (and OPs), all prepping is taking place on that short space between range and sink. I have a peninsula, but nobody uses it for prepping. Of course, I don't know if an island would be better.

I have a similarly sized kitchen, OP, and I am planning on putting in an island. It WILL be between my sink and fridge, but I see many many kitchens where people have done this and it's not an issue at all. I have had a small long table in my kitchen now for over THREE months, while I have been painting, and now I have realized that it is not in my way at all - no a bit, so an island makes sense for me now. I have no need for island seating as I have a peninsula with bar seating already, at the end. Also I don't care about a sink in it - I already have a sink. The island for me would not be for "prep" where I need water. I do lots of things in the kitchen that don't require water - rolling dough, cutting cookies, slicing veggies, etc. So for me, an island will definitely be an improvement.

Without a water source, prepping on an island or peninsula usually doesn't happen much - no matter what you "plan". In my old Kitchen, I had a 36" piece of counter that was not near the sink that I never used and, instead, used the 24" b/w the sink and range. I needed water to prep and it was much easier to stick to the 24" of counter than to keep moving things back & forth.

We have heard similar stories over and over here.

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Regarding barrier islands not being in the way - yes, they are.

*** Warning - what I am about to say may offend some people. I don't mean to offend, but I want to be sure others reading this understand. ***

Some people won't admit it's an issue running around an island or maybe they don't realize how much they're running around the island until they take the island out.

My SIL always told me that she was OK with a barrier island - UNTIL she remodeled. She took out the island (with no sink) and intended to put another one in later - but she finally admitted to me that she would much rather have a lot of open floor space than put an island back in. She didn't want to admit originally that she had made a mistake (so typical of us humans!), but now is willing to admit it and says there is no way an island is going back! She is so happy that she doesn't have to run around that island over and over - and it really wasn't all that big an island - only 42"W x 35"D.

BTW...she doesn't have much prep space b/w the range & sink, but always used it anyway b/c, like me, it was easier than moving things back & forth. I think she has about 18" b/w the sink & corner and another 18" b/w the range and corner - that's it. Even when she had the island it was much easier to use the counter b/w the sink and range. I couldn't talk her out of having the sink under the window - that's why she as so little prep space in the remodeled Kitchen. :-(

Regarding my Kitchen vs Tmorrogh's -- yes, there is a difference. I only posted it b/c I was asked, not b/c I thought my design was "the answer".

Tmorrogh is not changing her overall layout, just considering adding an island or peninsula. Without full measurements, I cannot really say which is better. We only have approximate measurements.

Tmorrogh, could you give us a fully measured layout? I know you're not remodeling everything, but if we could "see" how everything fits in the Kitchen, we might be able to give you better advice. Either the model # of your refrigerator or its dimensions would help as well.

One thing to keep in mind -- appliances do fail and need to be replaced. So be sure you can accommodate new appliances, if possible. Refrigerators, for example, are standardizing on 36" wide x 70" tall, so be sure you can accommodate one that size. Counter-dept are usually around 30" deep (counting doors & handles) while standard-depth are usually 33" to 36" deep.

Here's a diagram. Not exactly to scale but should give you an idea. Sorry about the image. Wasn't able to scan it. Had to take a photo. Hopefully you can enlarge. I think my best option right now is to find a table of some sort, place it in the space and see if/how I use it. If it's just in my way, I have my answer. If it's useless without electricity or water I'll know a work table won't work. Thank you all for taking the time to give me your great suggestions. I love this site.

"If it's useless without electricity or water I'll know a work table won't work."

It won't work as your primary Prep Zone w/o water or electricity, but if it's a rolling cart, it might help you transport items across the wide aisle b/w the sink and refrigerator as well as work in a pinch for, perhaps, placing and/or using small appliances (briefly using an extension cord) or extra workspace for someone else. I wouldn't give up on it yet! I really like the one Anglophilia posted.

Is this the correct "existing" layout? (It helps to have accurate measurements to see what can be done with the available space.)

• The black measurements (arrows) are what you provided.

• The red are overall measurements.

• The blue are cabinet run total lengths - including filler & counter overhangs. I assumed the counters were the standard 25.5" deep ---
  Standard depth = 24" deep cabinets + 1.5" counter overhang = 25.5"

I guessed based on what I think I see of cabinet sizes, so it might be off by a few inches if I guessed any incorrectly.

@Buehl, didn't mean to criticize but rather am still trying to figure out my perfect kitchen layout. Would you mind having a look?

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4321998/taking-the-plunge-please-help-with-new-kitchen-design

Thank you for taking the time to put together the diagram. It's very close to what I have. The 48" cabinet run to the right of the refrigerator should be 64" putting the refrigerator almost directly across from the sink. The area you have marked as "Unknown 23x45 is a pantry with bifold doors.

I will consider a rolling cart.

nosoccermom...Sorry, I didn't mean to sound defensive. I will look at your thread. Is all the information on that thread?

I posted a "dimension check" picture on your thread.