:)

This was in an ad, so no other pics of the kitchen:

That's it. I googled both 'dish rack in kitchen' and 'dish rack on island'. I guess no one wants dishes to show in pics.

I had the raised bar and switched to one level. I needed it for prep, but aesthetically, it really opened up my kitchen and made it look bigger. Since you don't need the island for prep, you could use a larger sink to hide dirty dishes or a dish rack of dishes. The new sinks are also very deep because of the popularity of pull-down faucets. I have a great DW now so I have fewer items waiting around in the sink for hand washing. You also shouldn't need outlets if prep is done elsewhere. Of course you need one outlet for code.

I currently have a sink in a small island with seating opposite the sink and a small (30") landing/prep/service area to the right of the sink. I do not use a dish drying rack. However, the proximity of people and food to that sink is disgusting to me. It is my only place to prep, clean up and buffet serve so I am always embarrassed by the close proximity to sink splash over!!

My new island will be 2 level so that i have a wall (4"-6") barrier between people seated at the island and a surface higher than the sink for serving if need be. It will also hide the kitchen dishes and sink work counters from the den view side. My very large Shaws farmhouse sink will also hide dishes.I will also have a large prep serve area to the left of sink and level with sink below bar for prep serve or dish landing for clean up.

FWIW, My new island takes the place of a wall so serves as a divider from den/kitchen. If I had the space for a large island no sink Iand a flat surface I would have done that!

Sure, I could use the sink to hide the dishes, but I feel that's a functional compromise just to make things look nice. Not that I don't want the kitchen to look nice...I just don't want to do so at the cost of functionality. For example, hiding the dish rack in the sink reunited me to move it out every time I need to use the sink, then put it back in.

I guess a secondary question is: does the extra 6" make much of a difference in hiding a dish rack?

Only you can decide which compromise is more suited to you and your kitchen. To me, both the aesthetics of a one-level peninsula/island and the functionality of a wider countertop were worth doing away with the two levels (I had a second level on both peninsula and island, and I got rid of both, very happily). Yes, I do think the extra height will hide the dish rack.

How long does it take for your dishes to dry? We wash once a day, after dinner. We have a few knives and a few pots and pans. By morning they're dry. Or we could easily hand dry them.

I think designing an island around your housekeeping habits is less functional than putting the dishes and dish rack away soon after use. I keep my dish rack in the sink base during the day.

Yes, 6" will hide it. Add to that the counter top depth.

I'm sure the dish rack will be partly hidden, but if you don't mind it being on the counter, I'm curious why you care about seeing it? Another alternative, have you considered using a drying mat instead? I started using one and am surprised at how much I like it.

Would you consider the dish drying cabinet at all? We've had a few discussions lately about that feature. I'd have one now, if I had the extra space--instead of the door being solid as in the one sena posted, I'd have a screen insert, or holes drilled for ventilation.

GW--Discussions on dish drying cabinets.

I am going to try using a drying mat as well, my girlfriend uses hers in place of a dish rack, and loves it.

We have a drying matt, but usually there's enough dishes (pots/pans/knives) that stacking becomes an issue, so it doesn't really get used. I personally loathe hand drying dishes, so I don't see that happening. Perhaps it's an issue more in my head than reality. I guess that's why I'm trying to hunt down some pics so I can get a better idea.

How often will be have visitors over? I think that is important to consider when you make the decision. I have a one level island, if it is just my family sometimes I let the dishes dry on the island and other times I dry them and put them away. If a guest was coming I'd certainly put them away right immediately. Unless you just don't want to see the dishes drying.

My bigger concern with a single level island is seeing dirty dishes, this was a factor in my decision to buy a deep farm sink.

Use 2 mats? :)

Go with a large farm sink. It hides all the dishes and if it has a rack in the bottom you can even keep some of them in there to dry overnight. I use one drying mat and my rack and it works perfectly.

I have two drying mats, but rarely need them both at one time. I love them!

Why aren't you using a DW would be my question??? Handwashing uses a lot more energy and water. If you have dual DWs, you can use one as a drying rack for those few items that need handwashing. Or get rid of the hand washables and do everything in the DW. No counter clutter!

Sophie: we do use a DW, just not for our nice cookware, cast iron, and good knives (amongst a few other things). Definitely don't have the room for dual DW.

FYI for cast iron -- We have a full Griswold collection (except for an elusive 20 inch...sigh). We clean with warm water, wipe dry, wipe on some oil, and put them on the stove on low heat (or in the oven) to finish drying. So -- not on the counter or in the sink drying. Keeps them well seasoned and rust free.

ETA -- during canning season or busy cookie making times, we have piles drying on the counters -- strainers, sauce pans, ladles, knives, cutting boards, etc. No way we could wait the two hours between uses and most just need rinsing and a place to set before another use. We also hand wash our good knives and hand wash pans to save time. It would be silly to fill up a DW with huge pans and have to run it twice after entertaining instead of DW the plates and glasses and hand washing a few large pans.

I just use the dishwasher as a drying rack. We rarely do hand wash and dishwasher running at the same time.

There are also fold up drying rack that go over the sink.

I use a dish mat and a folding dish rack when needed. When not needed the dish rack is folded up under my sink

We use a kitchen towel as a drying mat. I can't imagine having a dedicated item of any kind for this purpose.

Have you considered a single sink with an optional rack to hide the dishes, like the Franke Orca orx110?

I used to have that sink - I loved it!

gaucho, I don't use it anymore because I found it hard to store, but the microfiber drying mat actually works much better than a kitchen towel - it soaks up more.

> microfiber drying mat actually works much better than a kitchen towel - it soaks up more.

We've been drying hand-washed dishes on a kitchen towel for years and over-saturation of the towel has never been an issue.

I'm not a huge fan of tiered islands, but that's just me. It's an aesthetics thing, but it's also uncomfortable to sit in bar-height stools.

golfergirl brought up a great suggestion, the Orca! We put one in our last kitchen (though not in an island) and I really miss it. Here is a pic of my old sink with coffee stuff drying:

We put a large apron sink in our island in the new house. I use a roll-up drying mat here that can handle a couple of cast iron pots and pans at the same time. It lives on my sink and works really well. I'd give anything to have my old Orca though!