Kitchen
Islands
By Jim Garland
One of the most
common design features requested when planning a new kitchen, or updating
an older one, is the kitchen island. As use of the kitchen space has
evolved, from a meal preparation and cleanup room to the hub of family
activity, dining, and entertaining, the overall square footage given
to the room has increased. Instead of being an isolated spot created
for the drudgery of cooking and cleaning, the modern kitchen is an
adjunct to dining spaces and living areas, an integral part of great
rooms in expansive open-design homes. The popularity of an added island
space has followed the trend towards a larger kitchen.
People put islands
into their kitchen plans for a myriad of reasons, the most popular
of which is to add an informal dining area into the space. There is
sometimes the need for increased storage (can anyone really have too
much storage space? Is there really room for everything you want to
stash in your kitchen?); and sometimes the extra countertop space
is mandatory. There are cooking islands and clean-up islands, and
both can be for the primary or second cook or clean-up helper. There
are recycling islands, meal planning islands, and baking islands.
Once I designed a kitchen for a musician who wanted her island shaped
like a grand piano, with a lowered baking area on one side, seating
on another, a prep space with a bar sink where the keys would be,
and in the center, a raised display area where she kept a huge blue
vase filled with white roses and a sculpture.
The most important
consideration when planning for an island is determining that there
is enough room for it. If walkways, working centers, or passage aisles
are cramped, the island will become more of a hindrance than an asset.
Your kitchen designer, architect, or remodeler will be able to help
you with specific recommendations, but a good rule of thumb is to
leave a minimum of 42” between countertops (48” is better
if one of the opposing spaces is a work area: i.e., sink, range, or
refrigerator location. 36” is okay for a passageway into the
kitchen space). The space used in the swing of appliance doors is
also important to consider. A built-in island will not be an effective
asset if it keeps the refrigerator door from opening all the way.
In kitchens too small to accept a fixed island, it is worth considering
a portable, movable island table. In preparing for an island in a
smaller kitchen, it’s a good idea to mark off the planned space
with masking tape, or an obstruction of a similar size, and live with
the new definition of space created.
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The addition of
a kitchen island offers an opportunity to add casual seating to the
space. Depending on the configuration of the island, the seating area
can be lowered to table height (30”) to accommodate standard
chairs. The counter overhang at the seating area should be increased
to 18” to provide adequate knee room. If the seating area is
left at standard kitchen countertop height (36”), an overhang
of 15” will provide comfortable seating for a person perched
on a 24” high stool. Sometimes a large island with an uninterrupted
countertop at standard kitchen height (again, this depends a lot on
the overall configuration of the kitchen space as well as the island)
will look like the deck of an aircraft carrier, but that much preparation
space can sometimes be exactly what the cook of the house is looking
for.
Another seating
configuration behind an island space is the use of a raised seating
area. Usually a 42” to 45” high 2x4 wall is built behind
the island cabinets. The wall can be covered with sheetrock, or wood
panels to match the cabinetry, or perhaps tied in with material used
for countertop or backsplash. A 12” overhang at the raised bar
is plenty. The use of counter brackets, or “corbels,” is
necessary to support the raised counter deck.
There are several
advantages to the raised eating area. In a room where the island acts
as a divider between the workspace and an adjoining living or dining
space, the raised bar acts as a visual shield against the occasional
clutter accumulated in meal preparation. The guests won’t readily
see the mess. In a cooking island, the raised bar separates diners
from being seated at the same level as the range top. And the 2x4
wall is a convenient place for the electrician to provide electrical
circuits to the island.
There’s a
lot to consider when properly planning and equipping a cooking island.
Is it the primary or secondary cooking space? Is it better to separate
the cooking apparatus and go with a cook top and separate oven, or
install a slide-in range (A slide-in is like a free-standing range,
but without the back splash. The controls are frequently on the front
of the unit.) Will there be enough room for countertop on both sides,
and behind, the cooking surface (for safety as well as convenience:
counter around the range prevents the possibility of someone brushing
against the handle of a hot pot or pan on the range top and the potential
resulting injury.) And how is the cooking area going to be vented?
Going with a separate
cook top and oven will increase the overall expense of the kitchen
remodel. Both the appliances and cabinetry will cost more. But there
is great flexibility in location with built-in appliances, and some
people like the idea of getting the oven off the floor and up to a
more ergonomically friendly height.
Venting the island
cooking area can also be a challenge. The basic choices are to use
downdraft ventilation or provide an overhead island hood. Downdraft,
or “proximity” ventilation can either come as a blower unit
integral in the cooking unit, or as a separate system mounted to the
side or rear of the cooking surface. The ducting of the downdraft
system is usually run underneath the floor through a basement or crawl
space. With either an overhead hood or a downdraft vent system, the
capability of running the ductwork to the exterior of the house has
to be taken into consideration.
As it has become
more common for two cooks to be using the kitchen, a second sink has
become more frequently designed into an island top. The amount of
space required at a secondary sink application is not the same as
at the primary sink; the secondary sink can be set with little counter
on one side (though there should be a minimum of 18” on the other).
A second dishwasher near the secondary sink is another option. And
consider how the secondary sink will be used, keeping in mind that
a small bar sink will be of little use in rinsing plates.
An advantage to
having an island is that it offers the opportunity to add interest
and versatility to the kitchen by the use of a variety of countertop
materials. There is no rule that says that the same countertop material
has to be used throughout the kitchen. Each counter material has a
benefit, each has a drawback. Laminate is inexpensive, durable, and
comes in a lot of colors. Laminate scratches, is damaged by heat,
and most damage is irreparable. Tile is impervious to heat. Tile is
hard to clean. Solid surface decks are repairable, nonporous, and
offer inconspicuous seams and seemingly endless design options. Solid
surface decks can be damaged by heat and will scratch. Granite is
impervious to heat and hard to scratch. Granite is porous and requires
resealing. It goes on and on.
Each surface has
advantages, and the kitchen island offers an opportunity to get creative
with counters. Do the sink area in one surface and the island in another.
A granite cooking island, a solid surface cleaning island, a butcher
block baking island…the island top stands independent of the
counters used in the rest of the kitchen.
It is not uncommon
for the cabinetry at the island to be finished differently than the
rest of the kitchen.
Another way to
add a focal point at the island is by lighting. The island space will
need to be illuminated: an electrical contractor will work carefully
with your plans to set overhead lighting correctly at the island space.
But as with the countertop, the island presents a chance to add creativity
and a focal point to the kitchen by using lighting over the island,
such as an interesting pendant lamp in a kitchen lit by recessed lighting.
For more information
on kitchen islands, talk to a kitchen designer, architect, or remodeling
contractor. Or information can be obtained through the National Kitchen
and Bath Association, www.nkba.com
and through magazines or cabinet brochures.
Jim Garland
is a kitchen designer for Parr Lumber Company’s Design Center.
Jim can be contacted at the Aloha location in Beaverton. Call 503-614-3807
or email him at jimg@parr.com. |
