Our island is at the same height as the counters, 36 inches. We eat most of our meals there and are quite happy with the height.

A curved island or one with a raised eating area will be more expensive than one that doesn't have those features.

During the Virginia Highlands Festival Kitchen Tour we visited one house that had a "t" shaped island. It was massive with a sink. If you have the room it was great!

Our island has a raised portion to hide some of the of the kitchen clutter. If you plan more of a 'great big kitchen' for the whole area flat would be fine. If you plan to feed small children at the island, counter height is safer, provided you aren't cooking near them.

If you plan to eat at the island, try to arrange seating that is not all in a row; hard to converse that way. You will probably want some sort of dropped lighting fixtures over the counter; ceiling cans are usually too distant.

...angle or round the island corners to save bruises.

Have to agree with chisue. My island has four seats in a row and it makes it hard to converse. The two littles are always fighting over which one gets the end seat as it has the best view of the TV.

In hindsight two seats on one side and two on the other would have been nice. Next time.

I do have a one level island and definitely would not change that.

An island shaped somewhat like a grand piano (yes I am serious) might be just right.

I like having the eating area higher to separate eating from cooking. Also, in most situations, having the higher bar area hides the kitchen mess.
But the main(e) reason I like the higher counter is that my Maine Coon can be with me in the kitchen that way!

The most recent trend in Islands is to have a round seating area similar to a dining table attached to the end of the island. I don't have a way to draw and example for you but it can be a very attractive addition to an open floor plan. The problem with open floor plans is managing clutter and keeping the views of the mess from spreading to the entertaining areas. Also consider the smell transfer from the kitchen to the living areas. It can be a very embarrassing thing when something goes wrong in your food prep....I have over 20 years of experience working with home owners on design and have not used an open floor plan yet. (I think the home improvement shows have tainted the thinking of Americans with this love affair with open floor plans!) The houses we build are very high end so they have the budget to develop a floor plan that will work for the long run. If you keep the open floor plan make sure to shield the kitchen from the living area with a decorative bar height island.

I went to a house that had the eating area at the end of the island and had rounded it slightly to avoid corners.. I actually considered doing it for our own house, but didn't (not enough space). I don't know about others, but the joke in her house is how phallic it looks. She and her husband both joked about it, and they were right. Be careful with this design.

lol, bellamay is so right about the smells! A couple of friends have more or less 'open' kitchens, and as soon as one steps in the house, it is obvious that bacon, sausage, steak, hamburger, fish, etc have been cooked. Even if one runs the vent fan constantly while cooking, the smell spreads out and clings to drapes, carpeting and upholstery.

But my main reason to be anti-open kitchens -- other than a dislike of seeing dirty pots while eating -- is the memory of the time DH got distracted by a phone call and burned the fish. Believe me, the more open the kitchen, the more places the smoke will go, and there are few things stinkier than burned fish. It required a total top-to-bottom cleaning of the whole house... and all the contents. Cleaning is good, but even with strong deodorants, months later a damp day would release a faint smell of burned fish.

Another vote for rounding off the corners. I almost always prefer single height islands. They are safer and more comfortable for small children to use and the added width comes in really handy. However, if you have an open floorplan I think that you need a raised height bar to provide some much needed definintion between the rooms.

Several years ago I thought that our family would enjoy an open floorplan, but after staying in a GORGEOUS house with that layout for 10 days while on vacation we knew it wasn't for us. There is nowhere to "hide". :o) That's also the house that our youngest bonked his elbow on the tile floor after a nasty fall while dismounting a barstool. Swelling, bruising, and crying. It always happens on vacations with the kids, doesn't it? We learned alot while staying in that house. LOL

We have an L shaped island in a large kitchen/great room (open floorplan) I had a very hard time getting the cabinet person to buy into this island. You would think they'd never heard of such a thing! It was supposed to seat six (three on each side) but due to an error in the countertop, we don't have the over hang on the end - it still seats six but not as roomy. Bottom line, I don't like it as well as I had hoped. It's perfect for everyday meals but when we have people over, it's crowded. We don't have a formal dining room so the island is our only "table." right now. If I were to do it again, I would strongly consider keeping the small island with the sink and dishwasher (the bottom of the L - this was how our plans were drawn) and buying a large counterheight table to serve as a sort of second, non-permenant island. We don't have lots of gatherings but when we do, it would be nicer to have more table.

If your situation is similar (big space, no formal dining area) You might go furniture shopping just to get a "feel" for these large countertop tables. It might help you decide the scale of what you'd like.