My observation is that it becomes just a surface to collect “stuff”. The
corner isn’t easily accessible from the cooking side anyway.

It all depends on how a person uses their kitchen.

My peninsula is my main prep area. It is almost* 8 feet of clear space, because I keep it clear. *Except for the wall side where the microwave sits.

A breakfast bar is not needed in an eat-in kitchen because a table is right there, but I've known some kids who like the novelty of sitting up higher.

Think about function: where is the stuff going to collect if there's no peninsula? If the answer is on the new longer run of cabinets, then she's losing actual workspace. If she can redirect the stuff elsewhere to a newly designated spot, then try blocking off the space on the peninsula by piling some boxes or flowerpots on it to see how people can be retrained to put stuff elsewhere.

Our previous house had a small kitchen which was nevertheless very functional, largely because of the peninsula. It provided a decent prep area and much-needed storage (the corner opened to the dining room side, so no wasted space ). The only stuff on it was the telephone and a bowl of fruit. We did hace a couple of bar stools which got occasional use but the real value was in the working surface and storage.

Would need to see a layout of the kitchen to know if the peninsula made sense there or not.

My peninsula (74") top is one of two main prep areas. I use it often, all that is kept on it is note pad/pen, a phone base under the upper cabinet against the wall. Sometimes a vase of flowers there, or now....some small glass prep bowls holding seeds I gathered from the garden, drying (against the far wall and out of the way ;0)).

Under the penninsula top are pull out drawers with daily serving bowls, colanders/strainers, breakfast bowls. Another with all my larger bowls, mixing bowls and marble and wooden rolling pins.

No breakfast bar at my peninsula. There is a breakfast area for table and 4 chairs on the far side of it with a garden style window.

We use ours at least daily, more on the weekend. Of course it isn’t a necessity in an eat in kitchen, and it wasn’t even something I was searching for while house hunting, but I’ve come to love it. I find it far easier to oversee breakfast when it’s right in front of me while prepping lunches and we save the table for dinners the whole family sits down for.

Added bonus- as I’ve developed orthopedic issues with my hips and knees since moving in here, it’s far easier for me to get in and out of a bar-height chair than a kitchen chair.

Is the peninsula bi-level? Then it would be worth the cost to lower it to a single level for more work space. She can extend the overhang to 15" with proper support and perhaps make a more usable bar area for casual meals or for someone to sit using a laptop or doing homework. If the bar depth is less than 12" minimum, it would be no wonder it hasn't been used due to knees hitting the wall.

If eliminating a peninsula, this is usually done to try to replace it with an island. Concern must be taken as to whether the code-required electrical connections can be run through the floor to accommodate this or whether, as a previous poster commented, room is available for the island. When replacing a peninsula with an island, the straight run of cabinetry you mentioned is still possible, while the island preserves the preparation countertop space. If an island is a freestanding piece of furniture like a butcher block or rolling table, then no electricity is required, of course.

Sometimes a table and seating area can be moved into the space that was previously occupied by a peninsula, so if she wants to expand the table seating area, then removing the peninsula without a replacement is possible. It's hard to provide more specific advice without any photos.

We use ours all the time. I have breakfast/lunch, do paperwork/phone calls/banking, etc... It’s proved invaluable with instant pot cooking because I can steam release without worrying about damaging anything. Love my peninsula,especially since knocking out the second tier bar which was useless.

We have a 10' long one level peninsula with a single bowl sink in it that divides our eating area from the rest of the kitchen, which has a 3' x 4' island and and L with the cooktop, another double bowl sink, and the ovens. I almost always prep on the L counters. We use the single sink and counter to its left daily - my husband's coffee stuff is to the left of the peninsula sink. He's retired, but involved in a lot of projects, so he lays out various piles of papers along the end of the peninsula and the eating side of the counter up to the sink.

It took me a while to train him to keep the mail on the counter in the mudroom, and to take most things upstairs to his office, without having them come onto the kitchen peninsula end first. When we have family over once a month for dinner, he knows now to clear that half of the peninsula of everything, or dirty dishes will be put on them. We did not want chairs at this peninsula, although there is room for some.

We also have a 10' long one level peninsula in our lower level walkout galley kitchen. When my daughter and her 3 children were living with us for several years, she put stools at the counter when they were in middle school to use for breakfast, which was very convenient as she was helping them pack their lunches. They sat around the table for dinner.

I designed our house, and have always been glad we put the 2 peninsulas in the 2 different kitchens. If I had it to do over again, I don't know if I would have put a sink in the 1st floor kitchen peninsula, although I love having 2 sinks, since my husband is in the kitchen many times a day. I wouldn't have wanted a sink in an island, either, so don't know what I'd have done differently to have a 2nd sink! But I like having the sink in the peninsula in the lower level galley kitchen.

So your friend should mock up several layouts and try to walk through normal times she'd use the kitchen to see what feels best for her and what she has room for.

Anne

Help your friend by drawing the existing kitchen, add every possible path for traffic, windows all of it measured to the inch.

Enything else is guesswork!

It matters .... Size matters.

"Collecting stuff" has nothing to do with peninsulas, islands, or any other horizontal surface. All of them can become piled with junk if you let them. The trick is to clear junk from your home as soon as possible. Junk mail should go straight to the garbage or to the recycle bin. If there's a place for everything, all members of the household should be expected to put stuff in its place.

As for the layout of a kitchen, it all depends on the specific space, the size of the room, location of windows/doors, and the adjacent rooms. As Jan says, you need to draw it out to scale and then figure out the optimal layout within the space constraints.

We live at ours! Breakfast every day, and now that we are empty nesters, dinner there a couple times a week. It’s the biggest work space in the kitchen, great for parties, and gives good separation from the kitchen if we want to sit down to dinner in the dining area.

We need a floor plan to scale showing all the windows doorways etc. meausrements easy to read and the whole drawing able to be enlarged that is how you get actul help, As for the use of a peninsula it depends on the design of the kitchen

The real question is if your friend will use her peninsula -- and we cannot answer that for you (nor can you really answer it for her). We can tell you whether we use ours with our situations, but that doesn't mean your friend will have the same experience.

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Yes, I use my peninsulas (I have two) all the time!

My peninsulas create a shallow "U" that houses my Prep & Cooking Zones -- so they both get a lot of use. I will say that the longer peninsula has a corner prep sink, so it makes the peninsula more useful than if it had none -- in MY case.

As others have asked -- post a layout of the space and we can give you an educated guess as to how useful it will be or give you (and your friend) advice on how to make it more useful or if it even should be there at all.

We have a small kitchen where the peninsula separates the eat-in area, with no overhang for stools. We use the peninsula constantly while cooking, it's the favorite spot and the biggest in our small space. We sometimes even stand one person on either side. It never has crap on it, since we know it's a frequently-used work space.