The Pros and Cons of Kitchen Islands
Two designers make the case for when adding a kitchen island is a good idea — and when it’s not
Mitchell Parker
March 6, 2019
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More
These days it seems as though every kitchen you see has an island. But these built-in features aren’t for everyone, or every kitchen. Here, two designers — Joanne Cannell and John Nichols — weigh the pros and cons of adding an island and consider whether creating a kitchen without an island might be better for your space and lifestyle.
The Case for Kitchen Islands
Arguing for: Joanne Cannell
Expertise: “I am a certified kitchen and bath designer practicing residential kitchen and bath design since 1990,” Cannell says. “After taking a number of design classes, I worked for full-service remodeling firms until I started my own design firm in 2001.”
Why she’s for kitchen islands: “If a kitchen is wide enough for an island and can’t have an efficient work triangle or sufficient work stations and work triangles for multiple cooks, an island can be the best option,” Cannell says. “If there won’t be sufficient counter space but clearances or budget are a bit tight, a movable cart or island could be the best solution. A cart also keeps an island from making the kitchen look cramped.”
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Arguing for: Joanne Cannell
Expertise: “I am a certified kitchen and bath designer practicing residential kitchen and bath design since 1990,” Cannell says. “After taking a number of design classes, I worked for full-service remodeling firms until I started my own design firm in 2001.”
Why she’s for kitchen islands: “If a kitchen is wide enough for an island and can’t have an efficient work triangle or sufficient work stations and work triangles for multiple cooks, an island can be the best option,” Cannell says. “If there won’t be sufficient counter space but clearances or budget are a bit tight, a movable cart or island could be the best solution. A cart also keeps an island from making the kitchen look cramped.”
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On an extra work surface: The main benefit of a kitchen island is the additional countertop space that can be used for prepping and staging meals. Working on an island can sometimes be more pleasant than working on a perimeter countertop where you’re facing a wall. An island work area allows you to face guests or family members while you prep, or feel connected to people in adjacent rooms if you have an open floor plan, Cannell says.
The extra surface also can be used for eating or doing homework, depending on the clearances.
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The extra surface also can be used for eating or doing homework, depending on the clearances.
Find a kitchen designer near you on Houzz
On extra storage: An island creates an opportunity for hardworking storage depending on how large of a base you can create. Deep drawers, cabinets and even a spot for the microwave free up the need for perimeter cabinets, allowing you to instead have open shelves or a window.
On creating another location for a sink or a range: An island can offer a location for a main sink or prep sink if perimeter space isn’t available or ideal. For the same reason, an island can be good for a cooktop, although in general Cannell tries to avoid this situation because of the difficulties with providing adequate venting.
On focal points: By introducing a base color that’s different from the perimeter cabinets, or a countertop material different from the perimeter, you can use an island to create a dramatic focal point.
On creating another location for a sink or a range: An island can offer a location for a main sink or prep sink if perimeter space isn’t available or ideal. For the same reason, an island can be good for a cooktop, although in general Cannell tries to avoid this situation because of the difficulties with providing adequate venting.
On focal points: By introducing a base color that’s different from the perimeter cabinets, or a countertop material different from the perimeter, you can use an island to create a dramatic focal point.
On closing the gap between work areas: “A kitchen can be too small for an island, but in a medium to large kitchen, wasted space and longer distances between work centers are often solved by an island,” Cannell says.
How Much Room Do You Need for a Kitchen Island?
How Much Room Do You Need for a Kitchen Island?
On visual clutter: “An island can sometimes visually weigh a kitchen down or make it appear too cluttered, but color choices and having some openness, such as for seating or a selected display of cookbooks or serving pieces, can alleviate visual weight and appearance of clutter,” Cannell says.
On resale value: If you need another reason to like kitchen islands, consider their popularity. If you add an island, you can feel confident that, should you sell your home, other homeowners will see your kitchen as a selling point.
On resale value: If you need another reason to like kitchen islands, consider their popularity. If you add an island, you can feel confident that, should you sell your home, other homeowners will see your kitchen as a selling point.
The Case Against Kitchen Islands
Arguing against: John Nichols of KitchenLab
Expertise: “KitchenLab has been designing kitchens for 15 years, and our work has been featured in many national publications,” Nichols says.
Why he’s (sometimes) against kitchen islands: “We aren’t against kitchen islands per se. We use them in clients’ kitchens all the time,” Nichols says. “However, each kitchen space is unique in terms of what can be done and brings a different set of challenges and inputs from the client and home.
“Particularly when we work in older homes in the city, space can really be at a premium, and some kitchens are better served without islands. Some kitchens work better with a peninsula, for example. It just depends on how the space works best.”
Arguing against: John Nichols of KitchenLab
Expertise: “KitchenLab has been designing kitchens for 15 years, and our work has been featured in many national publications,” Nichols says.
Why he’s (sometimes) against kitchen islands: “We aren’t against kitchen islands per se. We use them in clients’ kitchens all the time,” Nichols says. “However, each kitchen space is unique in terms of what can be done and brings a different set of challenges and inputs from the client and home.
“Particularly when we work in older homes in the city, space can really be at a premium, and some kitchens are better served without islands. Some kitchens work better with a peninsula, for example. It just depends on how the space works best.”
Nichols and wife Rebekah Zaveloff, a designer at KitchenLab, says they don’t have an island in their Chicago kitchen. “Our space constraints meant using a kitchen table — admittedly at island height — was better,” Nichols says. “We are able to push it aside and use the kitchen as a workout room or yoga studio — we don’t have the space elsewhere! This becomes a de facto dining room table as well.”
On cost: “Islands, for all of the function and structure they bring to a kitchen, are immovable and provide limited flexibility,” Nichols says. “They must have electric and, potentially, plumbing added if there’s a sink. Islands add a layer of cost to a project, which, depending on the clients’ needs, isn’t always necessary.”
On taking up floor space: “Many clients feel they need an island,” Nichols says. “A smaller kitchen often makes this wish a non-starter. It’s better to have a kitchen that functions well with a table or peninsula, or neither, like a galley. All function perfectly well if designed carefully and thoughtfully with the clients’ needs in mind.”
On visual weight: “We feel that giant islands that dominate spaces and have huge expanses of stone are fairly pointless,” Nichols says. “The space in the center becomes useless. Using an island as a dumping ground for stuff is a battle in many families. Mudrooms, desk areas and designated ‘drop zones’ go some way to solving this issue. However, in our own home, it is a constant battle to keep the kitchen table clear. One solution to not visually weighing down the space is to do a freestanding, furniture-style island that doesn’t have fixed cabinetry.”
On traffic paths: “It comes down to proper space planning and programming the clients’ needs,” Nichols says. “You don’t want to feel like a hamster in a cage going around and around your island. If appliances and storage needs aren’t laid out properly, this could happen.”
On the temptation to go too big: “I think that, particularly in huge kitchens or kitchens that are in huge open-plan homes, the temptation to create a ‘landing strip’ of an island is hard to resist,” Nichols says. “There is no real point in this, however. There are great ways to design around having too much space.”
Your turn: Are you for kitchen islands or not? Tell us in the Comments.
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Your turn: Are you for kitchen islands or not? Tell us in the Comments.
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I was not a fan of islands but understand their appeal. But the kitchen in my first home had no counter space for cooking and prepping food. I was on a bit of budget and did not have many options to expand. I bought a free-standing Island with a butcher block top and it worked very well. My latest home has more counter space but I find that my aging back and the counters are a bit uncomfortable. Im tall so I tend to have to bend a little to get things done. Prepping food is just not good. I’d switched to prepping seated but that is no better. I’m glad I held on to this small island when I moved because it’s come in handy as the height is more comfortable. It’s also now on wheels so it’s only in place when I need it and shifts out of the way when there’s one person cooking and another cleaning. Would I love to have something more permanent, yes but I’m not sure I want to rip out my kitchen cabinets to get it. I am a fan of these cabinets as they were built in Nappanee Indiana and are very good quality. Not a fan of peninsulas but I have one. If I could remove that and figure the cabinet without getting ripping out the remaining cabinets I would be happy. Would I use a cabinet maker for that? Any ideas?
I'm in love with this island
My problem with islands is you have to walk around then to access cabinets on the other side (if you don’t have an open space). I’m remodeling my kitchen a load bearing wall would be on the other side of an island. I’m not going to remove that wall so I’m going to use a peninsula to increase my work space. This will also allow me to tighten up my work triangle.