My kitchen renovation is similar to yours in the fact that the island is the only thing separating my kitchen from the dining area. I put my main sink in the island so that I am able to face the diners while still working on the meal. I also raised up the island seating area in front of sink to block the diners' view from the preparation (I tend to clean up after a meal is over). Once you figure out the sink's position, the refrigerator should be placed so that a work triangle is created.

Yes, that plan is a good one! For now I am trying to keep the island a big blank flat space for cooking, baking, prep, arts & crafts & projects with the my kids. They help me cook often and we are always bunched up on our current 3x3 foot space in our current island. But I may crumble & at least put the sink in the island. That is what most kitchen designs seem to have done...

Sink need to be across the range and its right on!!!!

Hi Sstarr93 - for the island I am going for a big open space for multiuse, cooking, baking, kids projects & a buffet/serving area for entertaining. The island is placed there because I do most of my prep work at my current island & wanted to face out to the back yard (the big glass wall on the back of the house & the dining table so I can talk to everyone. We typically throw the pots & pans in the sink & wash up afterwards so cleaning & talking is not as big a concern to me as prepping & chatting with the kids &/or guests. Do you have any other thoughts for that space? Thanks!

Hi Ruebl - thanks for your response! Do you think sink directly across from range would make us bump into each other with 2 cooks (myself & my husband)?

Sink should be across the range, bump the island into the room another foot to allow for more walking space between it and the stove.

Your fridge and sink may be too far apart for a smooth work triangle but having the prep sink in the island would help. Think of the large sink and dishwasher as the clean up area and the prep sink is where you would wash fruits and veggies or get water for the range..(Unless you are fortunate to have a pot filler on the range wall!) The prep sink will not have a pan soaking in it or the scrubbing things for dishes.Your food comes straight from the fridge to the prep sink to wash and cut up. From there it goes back in the fridge as a finished dish or it is put on the stove.
You would now have 2 triangles and that is fine and even good when there is more than one cook!

Be sure to have mostly drawers in the island for pots and pans and even dishes. Plan for a garbage can and maybe a place where a mop or broom could go unless it is close by elsewhere. Do you have a pet that eats in the kitchen?
The range placement gives a great opportunity to do a focal point for that wall - so many options with that!

Well, kkw6, I agree with your island based on how you see using it. I would just like to see it take on more importance in the room.

My crystal ball:
I believe that the future direction of kitchen design will be away from the current upper/lower cabinets + island idea. It will be in the direction of separating storage walls from cohesive preparation and entertaining areas. By that I mean, in twenty years we will be seeing kitchens with perhaps one wall of floor-to-ceiling pull-outs and built-in appliances, with a separate, single large block containing everything that needs to be horizontal: sink, prep areas, cooktop, eating area, pot storage. Kind of like an island, only larger and more important to the functioning of the kitchen.

I would recommend placing the ref. on the garage wall. The reason being that when you walk in from the garage it is best to have the ref. and landing area right as you walk in.
I would strongly recommend rethinking your opinion about having the sink on the island. it is a great central place to have a sink in any kitchen. This also solves the problem of have too large of a work triangle in your kitchen. You should never have more than 9' between the sink, ref., and cook top. Also, think about your sink faucet as a piece of art that will be featured on the central island. After placing the sink on the island, I would place the range on the central wall, offset from the sink. Leave the wall against the family room for serving.


Good luck!

This post is from 2013, hopefully a solution has been found.

Are you on a slab or do you have access to under the house? I have a few suggestions however they require moving some plumbing.

I would say the plumbing is set in stone since this is from over 2 years ago.