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Building a Home Appliances Design Dilemma

Appropriate aisle width between stove and sink?

2 years ago

Hello, I see a lot of recommendations for aisle width of about 42”-46” between kitchen counter and island counter.

Our sink is in the island and almost direct across from the stove.

Would there be different recommendation for width between sink and stove opposite each other in this case? Feels like maybe there should be a bit more distance?

We positioned the island 61” from the cabinets, which feels a little too wide for the space. You have to turn and take 2-3 steps from counter to counter..

It‘s not a huge room, we’re not big cookers, or big people… Was thinking maybe more like 52” from counter to counter might feel better?? You could stand at sink and someone could check in stove or you could open stove door and someone could still scoot around to walk to sink?

Thoughts? My husband says I can’t keep moving it 6” and staring at it for a day! : )

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Comments (9)

PRO
HALLETT & Co.
2 years ago
I have 5’ between my range and island and we love it- had the same in our last house. Allows me to be at the sink and hubby to open the stove with no one having to move. Same with dishwasher.
M Riz
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
I also have 5 feet. theres a sink, cooktop, double ovens and a dishwasher in that isle and plenty of room to manuver if there are other people helping you in the kitchen. Ive seen a kitchen with wider areas and it looked like a dance floor. Just looked like too much space.
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That is very similar to what we have. Our island is roughly 7.5' by 3.5' and our aisles are about 44" and 48" with the narrower side by our stove. The other aisle has pantry cabinets on it. I would have preferred the stove aisle to be even narrower still--I think 39" would have been perfect--but it has worked out fine like it is.
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Jillius- I had replied to you earlier but it must not have posted! In the new plan, there will no longer be a hallway. The hallway will be part of a walk in pantry, accessed only through the mud room. The banquette is designed for kids, but it will have 3 adult chairs on the other side. The table will be smaller than the banquette for easy entry. Figured it was the best way to cram as many little ones in as possible ;) Chispa- I agree and think that when we entertain with that many people (which we do, though mostly over the summer because we have a pool) we won't use the stools. I'm thinking more of the 20 people get together where a few are on the deck, a few in the family room, the kids in the basement/at the banquette and the rest hanging by the island. Thanks so much to everyone who is taking the time to respond- really appreciate it!
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Hi Jo Jo - I did this quickly with lots of interruptions, so I apologize in advance if it doesn't work or doesn't make sense. Since you're turning your living room into a kitchen I'm a bit concerned about the view from the front door making it look like that door to the kitchen is still the primary way into the living space. My thought is that you don't need a doorway directly from the foyer to the kitchen and it's probably best that you don't. I thought that if you only had one doorway from the mudroom, you could put your appliances on the interior wall so you could take advantage of your view with bigger windows and a prime position from the island prep space. (Please don't take all those french doors literally, you could put picture windows and doors anywhere along that wall.) I think the powder room is redundant and not the best location for privacy. If you just located the full bath entrance off the side hall you wouldn't need it. Barring any structural requirements, you could widen the doorway to the living room and encourage traffic from the front door there instead of a choice between the entry past the powder or the entry through the kitchen. Quick kitchen layout... If the side hall has storage closets lining the side opposite the wall with the bathroom and study, it should be a nice, private "away space." And you won't need the powder in the center of your public space.
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Yes, I have seen it. But those are guidelines, not codes, and sometimes compromises have to be made. My question is : Should I compromise and go with a narrower passing aisle on one side to get a wider work aisle?
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PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
2 years ago
It depends on the layout of the kitchen and the number of cooks in the kitchen at one time. I have seen it as little as 30", but they had a very strong marriage.
res2architect
2 years ago
One of the most common pitfalls on the forum is trying to design using rules of thumb and no dimensioned drawings.
qam999
2 years ago
I would work very hard to avoid having two heavily used work stations be back to back or nearly so. If they could be offset - say by 4-5 feet laterally - then 42" might be enough.

I do agree this question requires a scaled dimensioned drawing to be answered well.
anj_p
2 years ago
I agree with Mark. It all depends on how you use your kitchen. Our sink & rangetop are directly across from each other. Our aisles will be 48". I don't see this as being an issue as we don't plan on having 2 people use the kitchen simultaneously (DH will not be at the sink while I'm at the cooktop or vice versa). The bigger issue IMO would be having the DW and the range across the aisle from one another, which would have been the case if I hadn't moved the sink over. (I like filling the DW as I go, so I like to have it open while I cook).

If you're "not big cookers" as you say, this really shouldn't be a big deal, whatever you do. But most designers (&NKBA) will recommend 48" as a minimum, and only 42" when there are no other options. You can go larger than 48" to an extent as mentioned below, but if there's no reason to go smaller, don't.
chisue
2 years ago
The place I want the most space is at the refrigerator. Can you change the location of either the stove or the sink? Rotating between the two seems odd to me. I'd want non-conflicting space to open the oven and open the dishwasher -- and to open a pull-out for trash on the other side of the sink.
chispa
2 years ago
I have 47", 47" and 45" in a u-shaped kitchen, from counter to counter. The KD actually had the isles a bit narrower and a bigger island, but I asked for a bit more isle space. My parents visit often and they loiter in the kitchen 😄. It drives my DH crazy, so I had to make sure he had room to get around them!
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
2 years ago
Design the entire kitchen so you do not have to bump butts, unless you want to.

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