Be sure to post this on the Kitchens Forum. They are great with layout help there! And it will help them help you if you post your kitchen plan as you have above along with the whole first floor so they can see how the rooms relate.

The architecture of the home was not designed with a kitchen island in mind. The angled wall would need to go. Angles are an amateur designers fallback one trick pony to “add interest”, and all they do are add problems and problem spaces. This is a very good example of a space failing to meet the program, if you wanted a kitchen with an island. Whomever designed this failed.

You need to reassess the overall home design, not just this one square. If it’s as poor as this one sample, your architect very much needs to start over.

"...Is there such thing as too much space around a kitchen island?..."

Yes, of course there can be too much space. Your challenge here is that the diagonal wall creates very awkward and unusable space.

Either eliminate the diagonal wall, or...make the end of the island a parallel diagonal, or...start with a fresh ideas!

Good luck on your project!

Yes there is such thing as too much space around a kitchen island. I would make it thinner & push it more into the kitchen.

Following

what does the rest of the floor plan look like? With just this zoomed-in view it's hard to get a feeling for where the traffic comes & goes from to give advice about where the island should be

Thanks all! Attached the first floor plan. The island in this drawing is the "stock" island - not the shape we want.

The first thing I thought when I saw that design was "an island doesn't belong here". With that angled wall your options are limited. A skinner island pushed in further, a shorter island, or a peninsula would all work better than the design you posted.

"Is there such thing as too much space around a kitchen island?"
Yes

Is 9' too much space?
Yes

No matter though. Any and all problems in a house design fade in comparision to angled walls.

The original 'design' of the island was worse, if anything. More angles...
Also, why do you want to enter upon a staircase, a dark dining room, semi-dark kitchen, and an oddly located powder room?

These are only a few of the things to give careful thought to before the ground is opened.
Consider working with a good architect.

Posted house plan proving my point entirely. “Adding interest” with cheesy angles where they make zero sense whatsoever is ruining that home design. Just removing that silliness would improve things 100%. Rearranging all the spaces on the rear of the home and eliminating one of the 3 places to eat would be a 200% improvement.

I’m assuming this to be built on a very narrow city lot? Because nothing else about the design makes sense unless that is the case.

Yes, it's a smaller city lot. And the angle, the builder says, is needed to accommodate HVAC runs, you can see the empty space in the 1st floor plan. So it's not just a cute feature, it is necessary...

Ask Mr Builder why all homes don't have the necessary angles. Ask yourself too.

I can tell you that a room beneath the stairs will need a slope. But the stairs don't have to be there to start with...

So the HVAC location is driving your kitchen design? You need a KD more than ever. And an architect, not a builder's drafter.

ETA: This sounds like a builder that takes a lot of shortcuts at your expense....beware.

Yes because in this case the island will become unusable work space as it is too far from where the cooking is done.

What is the deal with the AC you're talking about. Can you just box that in by the corner and straighten that wall out. Something like this?

Mr Builder is NOT an architect and that's why he's taking the easiest way for the HVAC. I hope you have an actual architect. Has construction already started on this house?

Your drafter and builders are officially idiots if they cannot find a less intrusive way of getting a trunk line upstairs. :facepalm:

Thanks for the ideas. I will push to have the kitchen square, no angle, with the HVAC run in the corner, where the current powder room linen closet is. Here could be Plan B or C, if Plan A isn't possible. How do people feel about these two shape options, solid line or dotted line, so that we can close the gap between the range and the island?

Thanks!

Bad to worse.

Don't do angles.

Powder rooms don’t need linen closets. All you need for hand towel storage and a spare package of TP will fit under a vanity.

The last island option will always look like "something went wrong here"....you won't be happy. Getting anything from the fridge would be a complete nightmare.

The smaller the space you have to function, the more critical it is to get a professional KD and architect involved right away. Small spaces demand attention to detail and right now your kitchen is suffering from a builders standard plan and the phrase (probably): "We always do it this way..."

Please don't throw away this opportunity to get it right.

Angled walls, inside or to attach a garage, always seem, at least to me, to be an inconvenient waste of space.

If your kitchen is spread out too much, the person actually doing most of the cooking will find it inconvenient. Even more inconvenient would be to have the traditional kitchen triangle -- stove/oven and refrigerator and sink -- too far apart or blocked by an island. Sometimes a pantry -- or a larger one -- can help keep a planned kitchen a more manageable size. A hallway or mudroom wall near a kitchen with floor to ceiling cabinets can increase storage space, too.

Sometimes I not only disagree with what Sophie Wheeler posts, but find her blunt way of putting things a bit disconcerting. IF, emphasis on "if" the pros are designing your home, I cannot disagree with her this time: "facepalm", etc.

However ...

I'm wondering how much of this design -- especially any aspects that prove impractical -- result from your input as to what you want/need/demand w/o a candid discussion of the effects of any specific requirements you have made and/or additions or changes.

Rather than end up with angled walls, have a calm and candid talk with your pros and see if you cannot alter your plan somewhere in order to have a closet upstairs above a closet downstairs and use those closets for the primary purpose of getting duct and wiring and pipes from basement/cellar/underneath the house to within the house and from floor to floor and/or to ceiling and/or wall. I say closet rather than hollow wall because getting to shut off valves and breakers, etc., can be very useful and such closets can be a good place to store a flashlight and a clean wide mouthed plastic peanut butter jar recycled to hold spare batteries.

Do ask the pros if there is a better way to accommodate the many items on your new build wish list. A candid conversation could save a lot of time and save you a lot of stress ... and, too ... "time is money".

Unless this is a townhouse, with another house directly attached to it, you should add some windows on the sides. Even if you keep them covered with sheers, you will appreciate the natural light.

In answer to your original question, yes. You can have too much space around an island. You can have too much space in any part of a house, and too much is (almost) as bad as too little.

Is this a zero lot line home or semi-detached home?

Detached, houses close to it on both sides.

I should note too, this is not a custom home. We selected from 4 options in a development. We are customizing most of this house, but we really don't have the ability to design every aspect. Hopefully, we can square the kitchen!

It is unusual to have no windows on two sides of a home. It is normal if you have a TH or attached home or even a zero lot line (on one side only). Just questioning the lack of windows on both sides that chispa mentioned.

ETA based on last comment: I hope you can square it too. Then get a KD to work with you. The builder will be 'saved' from his own designs.

What is a KD?

Kitchen Designer :)

It's not "Know Diddly"?

Re "these two shape options, solid line or dotted line, so that we can close the gap between the range and the island?"

Heavens no. Bad to worse indeed.
Design gives an experience. This experience would be like listening to Hell's Angels belt out Mozart. Just no.

Don't try to close the gap. Start to rework the entire kitchen, if not restart the design from scratch.

There are always somewhat better ways, even with stock plans. How much are you willing to give, how much do you want to get?

That's a good fall back, thanks. I sent a note this morning explaining what we want, hopefully, they can accommodate.

Please - yes - LOSE THE ANGLE even if you "sacrifice" some additional space.

Folks, the request is with the builder and they're working on it. I provided this sketch below (close to scale) to show them what we want, and provided a corner they can use for the HVAC run if they really need to - I know this will pose issues with cabinets, but worth it to have the square kitchen.

I'm interested to see what people think about spacing between the island and counter. 42'' is what I have here, except for the space between the right end of the island and the range, I think 54'' sounds better for that dimension to have more space around the range.

Thoughts?

48" is a good distance for the sides with no seating to allow 2 people to be in the space at the same time and also not be too far away from things. Keep in mind that you need a few extra inches on the cabinets to account for cabinet overhang to have a 48" aisle.

On sides with seating you want at least 54" and more there is better.

Whoa! No comments? Everyone loves it?!

I think they're waiting to see what your builder actually says about the revision.

And I agree, the square kitchen is much, much, much better.

Lol. It's better, sure. But still verging on clumsy, and it will 'live' like a small space. How many people will live in the house, how many will work in the kitchen simultaneously? I think you'd be better off with a peninsula. Ask if that's a change you can make.

I redesigned a townhouse plan while a group of 6 were being built. The builder used my plan for the next two groups of 6 townhouses. Said they were cheaper to build and more marketable.

But this builder will need a better plan than the diagram you sent him. You need to sell this as easier for him or he will charge more or say no.

Said they were cheaper to build and more marketable.

I wonder why...

Another vote to square off the kitchen. Angles are just too hard to work around.

I have 48" from cabinet to cabinet, so probably about 46" clear around my island where it is opposite the sink and range and it's plenty of room. Also, my granite on the island measures exactly 48" wide x 90" long and it is big enough to seat 4 people. I wouldn't want it any wider as I can just reach across to clean it and I'm tall. That 90" length enabled me to put out a huge buffet a few weeks ago. I don't think you need the 107" long island. Also, I don't think you should have your island sticking out past the confines of the kitchen. Why don't you try measuring out the 36" x 90" you have in your drawing somewhere so you can get a feel as to how big it will be. I think you will be surprised. It has been my experience that some items look much smaller on a floor plan than they do in real life.

Don't like your latest design. Much better with "L" shape + island, even if you lose a small amount of cabinet space.