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kitchen island design

Johanna Mcbride

10 days ago

I’m looking for a little feedback on our kitchen island in our new custom home. Our floor plan and CAD design shows a 8’x3’3” island. We never really anticipated though quit of the island because it lined up with the walls of the kitchen. I think I was under the assumption that it was 4 feet. We are using IKEA base cabinets for the island and they are 24 inches deep. With the 3’3” island, I think we can get by without having a second set of cabinets to support the quartz countertop. If we extend the island to 4 feet, we will have to get either a pony wall to support the extended countertop or 15” deep IKEA cabinets facing the living room under the overhang of the countertop. In the attached picture, the white lines on the island show 3‘3“. The green lines show the extended for foot. What would you do?!

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Comments (7)

PRO
Celadon
10 days ago
last modified: 10 days ago
Narrower, for a better walkway. But ALL of those variations need counter support engineered into the island design.

The overall could use redesign. The pinch point in the end with the stove, the weird outswing pantry doors that interferes with fridge access, the badly dimensioned storage of the pantry that should be just added to the kitchen, the fridge whose doors won’t really open, etc.
Johanna Mcbride
Original Author
10 days ago
Thank you for the feedback. The house is already framed in and we’re not really sure what we’re doing with the pantry door. It may be a barn door that slides. I don’t really know what a pinch point is by the stove? We have updated the pantry slightly in that the door frame is slid to the left a few inches (if looking at the pantry door straight on) so in the future if you want to add a cabinet inside the pantry we have to e correct dimension. Here is a better view of the actual floor plan.
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Need help with kitchen island design
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Comments (3)
Your kitchen is absolutely gorgeous! I agree, you do need an overhang. I have seen where a piece of wood is made that goes perpendicular to the island, hangs out just enough and you put stools on each side. Search on Houzz for something like "wood overhang on kitchen island". Or you could have built a wood strip about 30" wide that sticks out from the island and curves back down in a waterfall effect, but is attached. A carpenter would know how to do it I think.
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Comments (2)
Hard to tell witout actual measurements but a T might be the answer with the stove top turned the other way but that also puts it in the way of the fridge which is not ideal . Maybe post a detail measured floor plan and we can see what pops up for ideas. I will say that that floor should be changed to match the others if you really want to have any luck designing a new island.I would also like to see pendants above the new island. A total rework of this kitchen would allow for some good changes like all the diffeferent counter heights tha make no sense at all
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Kitchen Island Design Help
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Comments (15)
Based on the floor plan and the few pix you've shown, I would consider flipping the living and dining areas. The dining area is much more conducive to entertaining with all the light. Decked out like a sunroom, it will be a real draw to guests, and because of all the windows/sliders it will feel larger than the living space that is closed off. I also don't like the idea of walking through the living room to get to the pantry, but that would be acceptable for a dining room. Entering the house via the dining room is not unheard of, and I think you should consider it. Meanwhile, to help you decide between #1 or 2 on your illustrations, tape out those shapes on the floor. That will help see how much floor space you'll lose. But to understand how much volume they'll take up, get some appliance boxes (should be an easy thing to do this time of year) and cut them into the shapes of the cabinets you're considering. Since work surface is your issue, I think #2 is the best option of the two. I can envision a look like this in the new living space.
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Kitchen Island design help please!
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Comments (6)
Like Debbie said, you can fit a 24" DW + 36" Sink cabinet + 18" trash cabinet on the working side of the island. With the 4' depth, two people can sit along the short edge, and 96" (island length) - 15" (knee space for short-side seating) = 81" which means you also have space for three along the long side. At 48" wide, you have 6" left over between the sink and the long-side seating (assuming 18" depth for seating)... not sure that's deep enough to do storage (plus the pain of accessing under the counter...)
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PRO
Celadon
10 days ago
The pinch point between the range and island. You don’t calculate aisle distances from cabinet to cabinet. You calculate them from the furthest protuberance to the counter overhang.

The pantry really doesn’t add anything. It takes away from the kitchen. You’d get 80% of the same storag, but 150% better kitchen, with a bigger island, just by incorporating it into the kitchen.
anj_p
10 days ago
Agree with @Celadon. Also, consider putting your DW on the other side of your sink if you can, so it's not in the prep space between sink & range.
Johanna Mcbride
Original Author
10 days ago
That’s interesting. And something that I have not thought about. But if I do that with the kitchen then I lose my sink in my laundry room.
anj_p
10 days ago
Reach in pantries are expensive, but lovely (the cabinetry is $$$ while wire shelving is not). Walk-ins are less expensive, but also space hogs (as you can see).

There are ways for you to keep your laundry sink and get a reach in pantry. You just eliminate the corner cab and keep the walls as they are.
Johanna Mcbride
Original Author
10 days ago
I wish I had posted all of this sooner. I appreciate the feedback so much.

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