I’m with you husband - you don’t have enough space around your island. Keep in mind that the dime soon show are likely cabinet to cabinet, not counter to counter, so it’s really a few inches less. What you show will be right everywhere and VERY tight by the refrigerator and pantry. And are you planning seating on one side of the island? That will be close to impassable when someone is sitting.

If you haven’t ordered cabinets, one solution might be to switch from an island to a peninsula.

Yeah I'd shoot for closer to 48" clearance. What about putting the oven(s) under the range top, delete any cabinet where the ovens were, and pushing the pantry back into the wall?

3'6" is generally the minimum, 4'0" is my preference. Also think if you'll be sitting at the island, that's ~2' lost while someone is sitting there

We actually opted out of the double ovens. So that’s just normal cabinetry right there.

I would probably change the following:

1) Make the island 7'6" rather than 8" to give a 4' aisle in front of the range

2) Eliminate the walk-in pantry and make that whole wall shallow pantry cabinets. Making them 15-18" deep will provide a lot of storage while also opening up the aisle where the seating is quite a bit. This also frees up room in the utility room so that you can resolve the door conflict that's shown, as well as just having a little more room in the utility room.

3) Go with a built-in refrigerator so that it doesn't extend beyond the cabinets. This will be more expensive, but probably less expensive than major framing changes.

4) Finally, you could look at moving the wall between the laundry room and the kitchen, if you still need more room for aisles. I'd probably avoid this if I could, though, and I think you can make it significantly better with options 1-3.

I think you have enough room, but it depends on your family and habits -- not enough room if you've got kids running back and forth, or if you regularly have many people cooking in your kitchen; yes, you've got enough room if it's just the 2 of you. I've got 3.5' and it's just fine for 2 people moving around the kitchen. I know there are standard "rules", but I think that they're not really rules, but suggestions for routine families' situations; if you're home and family isn't "routine", then they might not be rules you need to worry about.

Does the 100 cfm on the plan mean that's what you're planning for ventilation over the range? If so, I up that quite a bit (how much would depend on whether you're looking at a gas, electric, or induction range).

Don't get me wrong, 3'6" works but 4' is much nicer.

Majority on here (myself included) aren't experts so it's all grains of salt. Sometimes you have to make compromises too or do what you want contrary to popular opinion.

Key word, opinion :)

I also might feel differently if you had started your post, "My husband and I both think our kitchen has plenty of clearance for how we live/work/cook, but our random neighbor is concerned...." The fact that your husband, who will actually be using the kitchen, is concerned that the aisles are too small says to me that for your lifestyle, wider would be better.

The problem isn't the working aisle although it won't be roomy but the seating side of the island. Eliminate the island seating and you should be ok.

I think it's going to be tight, something you'll regret later.

Some simple adjustments should fix it.

42" cabinet to cabinet clearance is not generous but its adequate; its what I use for renovations (and that is the situation the OP is in now) until I can increase it a few inches but I rarely use 48", however, I usually round the end of the island top in a U-shaped kitchen (using a circle segment approximately 36" x 12" so only a foot of cabinet is lost) No matter how roomy the space is, counter corners get in your way.

In a renovation I've been forced to use a 40" clearance with no problem but the range needs to not be semi-professional or directly across from the sink and the refrigerator needs to be beyond end of the island or counter depth.

So, the dimension I would be concerned about is at the island seating. The smallest dimension I have used between a wall and a seating counter edge was 38" for a renovation with no complaints from the owners (with 3 children and a dog) but the seating counter was gently curved to provide an additional 4" of clearance at each end so in this situation I would recommend a minimum of 42" and more would be better.

The pantry should have double doors or a pocket/pullman door. I like the pullman. I would push the pantry wall back 6" or more to expose the corner of the oven cabinet and provide a clearance of 44" or more. I don't think you need to move the existing wall behind the ovens.

The toughest space between a counter and an island I have seen was at my son's house where the cabinet to cabinet space was 41" with a sink across from a stove which is not what I would have designed but, when I mentioned it, no one understood what I was talking about, which is not an unusual occurrence.

Rounded island end in U-shaped kitchen:

A great place for a stool for the cook

I would slide the pantry over to the far right corner and either use a pocket door or matching cabinet doors. Shallower cabinets behind the seating area would provide more room to pass and could be used as a beverage or buffet area when entertaining, or you could put nothing there at all. That would give you more space for the island. Most of your prep will be done between the sink and range or on the island so I think that you would not miss the countertop next to the pantry as it is currently shown. As you enter the utility room from the hall, the countertop would then be on your right, providing more visual relief, and not look so crowded with a solid wall there. I would also use a pocket door for this room. Our aisles on the long sides of our island are 42" and we do not feel crowded at all, however we do not have seating there.

I agree with Wilson although I don't understand where the pantry goes.

ADA HC access rules don't apply to private homes and if the rules were to be used as a reference guide, the correct rule should be used. A U-shaped kitchen would not require a 60" turning circle (all isles would need to be 4'-3" if of equal width). What is currently designed is close enough to the ADA requirement for a private residence and if the island end was rounded, it would be better than the ADA requirement.

My thoughts on this is have the opening for entrance to laundry and pantry where the wall is now on the plan. Close off the wall where pantry is and place a desk and the wall oven therel. set up pantry in utility room.

RES, if you are looking at the back wall of the pantry from the utility room, it would slide to the left and trade places with the countertop there. This would give the OP a straight shot into the pantry from the sink and range.

I was trying to not redesign the OP's house. For that I would need the entire plan and sit down and discuss how they use the kitchen and make multiple sketches, then draw the favored scheme on the computer to be sure it works..

I'm an old architect and I don't like to design by phone, fax, text or email or make assumptions about what strangers like or how they live.

What is the size of island are you considering on having? Also you have a door in the utility room leading to where?

If two people cook in the kitchen at the same time, keep all sharp knives in another room.

Hi Abbi,

Overall I like your kitchen design. Regarding the island clearance I am not concerned about locations where you have 3'-6". Sure, 4' would be better, but 3'6" is adequate. However, what does concern me is the clearance on the refrigerator and pantry sides. This is where a few extra inches would make a huge difference. On the fridge side, would it be possible to select a counter depth refrigerator, or recess the refrigerator shown to gain a few additional inches? Also consider ramifications of french door versus freezer on bottom, passage while fridge door(s) are open, etc. On the pantry side could you make the pantry wall flush with the ovens to gain a bit more room?

Good luck with your build; we are building also! Fun times!

The problem here is that you're putting an island INSIDE a U-shaped kitchen. The U-shaped kitchen's greatest strength is that it allows a single cook to pivot from countertop to countertop; however, by inserting an island into the middle, you create a situation in which you have to walk around an obstacle to reach ... everything. You're creating a PacMan kitchen.

This kitchen would work better with a peninsula; that is, make it a G instead of a U.

Don’t have the cabinets turn the corner ( you don’t need extra counter in that location anyway) and make the pantry a reach-in. Problem solved and $$$ saved on extra cabinets and counters.

I had drawn Emily's idea but pushed the front of the pantry back in order to lower the cost of cabinets but both versions seem to work.

The refrigerator side clearance increases 3", the island gets 1" wider (need space to panel back of cabinets) and the stool side clearance increases 7".

RES drew my idea. Only difference is I'd make the island a bit shorter so I had a full 4' in front of the cooktop.

" The U-shaped kitchen's greatest strength is that it allows a single cook to pivot from countertop to countertop; however, by inserting an island into the middle, you create a situation in which you have to walk around an obstacle to reach ... everything. "

No, the island IS a countertop. It actually makes it easy to pivot from countertop to countertop, and provides a way-station between appliances. It isn't as if the island is an upholstered couch in the middle of the kitchen, it's a working part of the kitchen.

I agree with Toronto Veteran. The old triangle diagram with rules of thumb for distances is oversimplified and not very helpful for designing kitchens because it omits the fourth and most important element: workspace. It shouldn't just be the space left over between the appliances. There are few things you do in a kitchen that don't involve a stop at a work surface. And what is also omitted in the diagram is space for used items that will be cleaned up later since you are unlikely to have a separate workstation for that.

Here is a diagram I made yesterday; I had to pull it out of the trash. There would be another independent connection back and forth between the pantry cabinets and the island representing the setting out of pantry materials before using the appliances. My son was a chef and taught me that was the most important part of the cooking process. The second was having someone else cleaning up while you were working.

Rules of thumb are what you use when you are learning to design; they should be discarded as early as possible,