You can't fit a usably wide island in a kitchen that size and still have adequate aisle widths, at least with full depth cabinets on each side. I have a 12x13 kitchens and can tell you with confidence that it does not work. Especially not with seating. Your aisle to the left of the island is narrower than a doorway. Remember that the counter overhangs the cabinets by an inch, so you lose two inches (for the island and perimeter overhang). Twenty-eight inches is not enough. Even 36 inches is not enough. You want at least 42 inches.

You can have an island instead of having perimeter cabinets on both walls. Maybe you could even fit in very shallow shelf storage. But what you have drawn does not work.

I agree. 36" is about the bare minimum for a walkway and really, 42"-50" feels the best.

Thanks so much for the quick feedback! I'll definitely take it into consideration and adjust!

Are there existing windows? Even if you had space for an island in that plan (which I agree you don't), it's a huge barrier between the fridge and range. Before you invest more time in trying to adjust the layout, you might want to read the following kitchen planning resources:

NKBA guidelines

New to Kitchens? Read me first.

No space for island. Peninsula would work better, but you probably don't have space for seating with only 17' for dining AND living. Back to back seating needs at least 5' between counter and table. Ask me how I know.

Dining table needs to leave at least 4' space for walkway (preferably a bit more) and 3' min around for chairs. So, yes, that table is too big. You can have a 12.5-4-3 = 5.5' table (and that will still probably feel tight). Get a small table that you can extend with leaves as needed.

Welcome to the Kitchens Forum Diana!

My first comment is that if you don't have the measurements correct on your layout, then we cannot really comment intelligently.

Assuming they are correct....

Eliminate one side of the Kitchen if you want an island. This Kitchen cannot support an island as it's presented.

Minimum aisle widths:

• 42" for a one-person (and always a one-person) work aisle
• 48" for more than one person working on the aisle
• If there's seating + appliance and/or work aisle, then 54"

Aisles widths are measured to/from the items that stick out the farthest -- appliance handles (e.g., refrigerator, range), counter overhangs (counters overhang cabinet boxes by 1.5"), etc. They are not measured cabinet box-to-cabinet box.

The 24-inch depth you show only includes the cabinet boxes, it does not include doors/drawer fronts and counter overhangs. Don't feel too bad, unfortunately, most GCs/Contractors, cabinet salespeople, architects, and even some KDs also incorrectly represent cabinet runs and, consequently, incorrectly measure aisles as cabinet box-to-cabinet box.

You appear to have 27" wide aisles, at best on the left side; 33", at best, on the top; and, maybe, 36" on the right side.

A 12.5' wide Kitchen can only support an island if there are no cabinets/appliances/counters on one side - and even then, it will be very tight behind the seats.

25.5" deep run of cabinets (not counting appliances)

+ 45"W aisle (compromise b/w one & multi-person work aisle)

+ 41.5" island with seating & 24" deep cabinets

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112"

12'6" = 150"

150" - 112" = 38"

The minimum walkway behind seats with nothing behind the seats other than a blank wall, is 44" to walk by (36" to squeeze/inch by, but that is really not workable in real life).

FYI...skimping on seating overhang does not help, people will still take up the same amount of space, they'll just be very uncomfortable because they will have to lean farther forward to reach the counter while they're bodies (butts!) will still stick out the same as if there was a 15-inch overhang. Bodies can only squeeze so much into a space.

One way to accommodate seating would be to have 18"D cabinets on the island instead of 24". that would gain you 6" to give you the 44".

Based on the dimensions you gave, here are some ideas - 2 without islands, 2 with islands.

Edited to add:

Red arrows/labels are "red flags" -- i.e., they're too narrow.

In Layout 2, the sink counter & cabinets are 3" deeper than standard:

• Counters are 28.5"D
• Base cabinets are 27"D
• Upper cabinets are 15"D
• If you cannot get 27"D base cabinets, then pull the cabinets out from the wall 3" when they're installed. The extra deep workspace is nice. BTW...you can do the same with Layout 1, but not with Layouts 3 & 4 as your aisles are already too shallow around the island.
• 15"D upper cabinets are pretty common, so you shouldn't have any problems getting them.

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If it were me, I would go with Layout 1 + the deeper sink counter/cabinets. Layout 2 would be my second choice, but I really prefer a reach-in pantry as it's the best pantry solution overall when considering space, usability, and the amount of (useful) storage space. Step-in & walk-in are also good options, but they take up more space that you, with a small space, cannot afford.

Next would be pullout pantries no more than 18" wide (for usability).

The rock bottom (IMO), are deep and wide pantry cabinets, regardless of configuration. No matter what you do, anything above about waist high is going to be an issue. Things easily get lost in deep & wide pantry cabinets and you will be rooting around trying to find things in the depths. Deep -or- wide are not necessarily an issue, it's when you combine them that they become an issue.

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Island layouts. Note, however, that your Kitchen will be a tight one to work in with an island. Do you really need island seating if the DR table is so close? I think the layouts above are a much better use of the space overall, providing plenty of storage and workspace without sacrificing usability of the Kitchen.

I might consider making the island even shallower, with 15"D cabinets instead of 18" to gain some aisle width, maybe even as shallow as 12".

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(Layout 4 has the same work zones as Layout 3.)

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Living Room & Dining Room

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Full view:

IMo no soaspace for an island and definately not any seating. &72” long table is what fits in a 12’ space nicely you can have it expand to 84” in a pinch but 3’ walkways all around a table are great. As for the kitchen IMO the edge of the counter to the waal on the seating side should be 54” minand 60” is much betteyou don’t have that. You need aproper KD not a caniet salesperson to get the best from this space and IMO there is not way to use open shelves in such a small space awall with counter depth fridge rue pullout pantries on one side and the renge and all drawers on the opposite side with the fridge closest to the window wall and a sink and DW there will give you max storgage a good work triangle and lots of counter space . That nice big wall of apntries acan also eliminate uppers on the window wall to make the space feel bigger .

Skip the overhang...there isn’t enough space for people sitting on stools without blocking the walking areas. With the dining table right there, you don’t need counter dining space. I prefer
Aisles around the island to be four feet wide to allow two people to move freely.