48” minimum, 60” is better.

Agreed. Whoever designed our kitchen shorted us. We can’t have anyone sit at the island and still use the refrigerator/pantry wall…. I have the new kitchen redesign in my head - it will have to wait until next year, though.

@HALLETT & Co. Thank you very much for your answer. How about the clearance behind the island to the family room? Since it is an open space behind the back of the island, can we do less than 44 inch? How about 37"?

@Adrienne Gottlieb Thank you very much for bringing that up. I almost forgot this scenario. I only thought about the clearance for walking.

Backed up to an oven? That’s really nuts unless you have 72” or bigger. All main traffic pathways, and all giant burn hazards need an absolute minimum of 60”.

@User I could switch oven and pantry cabinets. I initially though the previous arrangement is better because the island is closer to the oven cabinet considering no counter space on any side of the oven cabinet.

Yes to the comments above—that is a hazard. Also please check your overhang dimension. As shown, it is likely too small for comfort. You want 14” there. If that is a standard cabinet base at the island, it looks more like 10? Your dimensions should indicate clearances (counter edge to appliance face, for example.)

On the living room side, you should have the 4’-5’ mentioned above so that may dictate hiw you arrange your furniture in that space.

On your drawing, you have no counter landing zone right next to the fridge or oven, only the island thats going to be a few steps away. The counterspace right next to our fridge is one of the most used areas in our kitchen.

If you switch the oven and pantry, that landing zone will neneven farther away for the oven.

@scottie mom It is 18” overhang. The clearance dimentions are from couter edge to the cabinet.

@Indecisiveness Yes. We can’t have any counter by the refrigerator and wall oven. I planned to use island as landing space, so I didn’t want the island too far from the refrigerator wall. This is also the reason I placed the oven other than pantry there. Sadly we only have so much space to work with.

@plf12652 I wanted a 36” rangetop, but we don’t need a 36” oven since we don’t bake a lot. I thought I can save some space by having two seperate units.

You are better off having the 4 stools all in a row - yes not as conversational but then you can actually use the island as a landing spot for the refrigerator and ovens. As designed now it doesn’t work.

What size oven are you planning on then? And is the cost of the oven plus rangetop equal or less than the range with oven?

We only have 36” between island and counter and it has worked out fine. But the counter/drawers are not high-use. If you have more room for clearance that will be better.

If you want a smaller over than cooktop, could you build the oven into the island instead of wall by fridge?

@thinkdesignlive We normally share food with each other in our culture. If we sit all along one side of the island, it is hard for the person on two sides to reach the food. Another option might be eliminating the seating on the island. We have a dining room adjacent to the kitchen.

@Indecisiveness We do not use oven that often. I feel everything frequently

used are in the main kitchen area which is the right part of the kitchen. The refrigerator wall is kind of away from the kitchen.

If we move oven to the island, we have to find another place for microwave. It is like appliances everywhere. It is not as clean as we can group them.

@evestew150 Thank you very much for the photo. It is really helpful. Is that 36” clearance even with seating? It is similar situation woth my kitchen. On the right of the back wall, there is a patio door too in my kitchen. Do you eat at the island everyday?

Counter-to- counter the clearance is 36”. We do sit at the island regularly but usually for breakfast or lunch. In looking at your floor plan, I’m not sure you should put the wall oven behind the island seating area - I think it will be awkward when you are trying to get items from oven to table and people are seated or gathering there. Could you use traditional range/oven combo instead and eliminate wall oven? Also have you considered a drawer microwave? We used one in our island and it’s a great space saver and out of sight. Lastly I like your L-shaped seating; it’s much more conducive to conversation. That’s something I’d re-think if we were starting over!

Start over. With an actual kitchen designer. And eat dinner at a gosh darn table, where its comfortable to do so. Eating a meal at an island is uncomfortable and unfriendly, no matter the seating configuration. It’s the Gulp and Go and Get Out type of meal. Like a bowl of cereal.

Is this kitchen designed by a certified kitchen designer? This is too important and permanent a project to not invest in the service of a professional. Without even addressing your question of clearances, I strongly feel that the ovens need to be near the cooktop. Rethink your design. You can do a lot better.

@evestew150 Thank you for your reply. I probably gonna move two seats on the right to the back of the island in order to fix the conflict between oven and the seating.

@User I made the assumption that we would eat our meals including dinner on the island, and then came up the design based on this assumption. Now I reconsidered it. The whole assumption could be wrong since the island is not a very comfortable place to eat meals as you mentioned.

I would make that range top a full range and put in an under counter oven in place of where you have the wall oven now. And you’d have landing place

@Lisa Dipiro Thank you for your suggestion! I have decided to do a range, instead of wall oven.

Am I the only one in the world who doesn’t like islands? They’re in the way and they’re not comfortable to sit at.