Kitchen islands are one of the most important design elements in a kitchen. An island makes a space work to its full capacity and in recent times it’s become all about the multi-use, multi-functional island that does more than just look good.
At Emlyn Kitchens we get a lot of questions about how to choose the island that is right for your lifestyle, family situation and general daily needs, so we’ve put together a few tips in this blog post to help you out.
(All the images below are of recently completed Emlyn Kitchens projects in the local area.)
Try a two tone colour palette
An additional colour used for the island gives the space more dimension and definitely grabs the eye, looks really stylish and adds interest. Especially effective is a dark island in a lighter kitchen.
Make sure the island is in proportion with the rest of the kitchen
Depending on the size of the room and island, the space around the island wants to be a minimum of 900-1000mm walking space. It needs to be more if you have seating at the island and if you have appliances (ovens etc) try to increase the space to 1100-1200mm.
Always think about how you want to be using the island on a day-to-day basis.
Consider curves
Curves in kitchens are a popular design trend and using a curved kitchen island is a perfect way to add this to your kitchen design.
For open plan kitchen and living areas, a kitchen island can be a good way to create a barrier between different zonal areas. This can improve the flow of the open plan space while adding to the functionality of the kitchen. For this barrier a curved kitchen island is a stylish design choice. For family kitchen spaces, curved kitchen islands are a safer choice, with no sharp edges or points, the curved island is less likely to cause accident or injury to small children.
It is a common misconception that curved kitchen islands do not offer as much storage. In reality, the storage levels are often very similar, with curved islands designed to maximise the storage potential.
Open units and shelves
To break up the island block it can look stylish to use opening shelving units or wooden slatted shelves to create open spaces for baskets, cookery books etc.
Make it functional
When designing the island make sure you think about how you’d like to be using it on a day-to-day basis. Think about the worktop, the storage and whether you want to use it as your main workspace. If you have a smaller run of cabinetry you may want to move the hob or sink on to the island to allow for more surface area. If you are going to have a hob, sink, dishwasher or wine fridge in your island it is obviously important to consider plumbing power and extraction in that part of your kitchen
If you are thinking about a new kitchen, please do contact us for a free consultation.
We plan, design and install beautiful kitchens for all budgets.
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