As kitchen islands go, Kim Shambrook’s is pretty simple. The 3-by-4-foot island has a black granite top and deep cherrywood cabinets underneath, but no sink, built-in cooktop or other frills. Still, Shambrook, owner of Bespoke Cuisine, a catering and cooking-party service in Chicago, wouldn’t have bought her South Loop condo if the island hadn’t existed.
“It’s important if you like to cook,” she said.
When she’s preparing a meal, Shambrook covers the countertop with a huge wooden cutting board and uses it as a prep station. When she has guests, the island, which is open to her living room, allows Shambrook to cook and mingle at the same time. And when the party food is ready, she uses the granite top as a buffet table.
As Shambrook knows, kitchen islands can function as the heart of the kitchen. With a little planning, islands can add drawer and cabinet storage, serve as an informal eating area and double as buffets during parties. They can define the workspace in a kitchen, acting as a barrier that literally and figuratively keeps kids and spouses out of the cook’s way. They can create another workstation, handy if the household has two cooks. And finally, when done in complementary (but not matching) finishes, they add extra design flair to kitchen.
In fact, they are so versatile that designers consider them almost a must for an efficient kitchen. According to the National Kitchen and Bath Association, more than 50 percent of kitchens created include islands, or freestanding workstations. “If there’s room, we put one in,” said David Karlson, a certified kitchen designer and president of Karlson Kitchens in Evanston. “Islands are terrific, especially in a social, entertaining atmosphere.”
Terrific, yes, but an ill-planned island can create as many problems as a well-planned one solves. Homeowners considering an island must think about how they’ll use it before they design and install one.
And no island is an island: The entire kitchen, including placement of major appliances, counter space and dining areas, must be taken into account when planning an island.
“Everything should relate to point of use,” said Donald E. Silvers, a certified kitchen designer and author of “Kitchen Design with Cooking in Mind” (NMI Publishers, $29.95). “Point of use means that if you need something, it’s there.”
Island options
When adding an island, homeowners should consider several issues, including the size and shape of the island, the countertop and cabinet layout and what appliances and amenities the island will contain.
An extra sink or a cooktop make an island even more practical but require planning, time and money. For instance, because they’re not near a wall, plumbing stacks on islands must be loop vented, said Gail Drury, a certified kitchen designer and owner of Drury Design Kitchen and Bath Studio in Glen Ellyn. The loop vent requires more space than a traditional vent and can sometimes fit into a cabinet, Drury said.
An unfinished basement is most conducive to extra plumbing. Installing plumbing will require the ceiling of a finished basement to be torn out. And if the house is on a slab, extra plumbing is possible but usually cost-prohibitive. “You need a pretty big budget to do that kind of plumbing,” Drury said. “You have to core a channel through the concrete to get to a drain.”
If plumbing is possible, Drury suggested installing a sink at least 18 inches wide, big enough for a disposal. Most of her customers use their island sink for vegetable preparation, so the disposal just makes sense, she said. The latest disposals have an air switch embedded in the surface of the island. Such switches replace inconvenient inside-cabinet switches, she added.
As for sinks, deeper models, about 11 inches, are convenient, as are riser-type faucets for filling pasta pots and other containers. Higher faucets “tend to splash, so people put faucets with a higher arc on the island, not the main kitchen sink,” Drury explained.
Island cooktops make kitchens especially friendly for two-cook households, but cooktops demand venting. Overhead hoods obstruct the view of an island, “but they’re easier if you can fit one in,” Drury said. The alternative is running ducts through joist spaces and out a basement window well, but typically, the ductwork must turn and twist, and the opening, at ground level, isn’t ideal. “It’s not the preferred way of doing it,” Drury said of such vents.
Cooktops also require more space: According to most city codes, the tops need at least 15 inches (preferably 18 inches) of countertop on either side and 12 inches along the back.
Even without a cooktop or vent, islands can add specialized workspace. For instance, islands designed for baking have a dense, smooth, cold counter top, such as granite, and deep cabinets for bowls and baking pans underneath. Karlson has created baking islands with 33-inch counters; lower than a bar but higher than a table, they’re easier on the back. “You get more leverage for rolling or kneading,” he said.
Drury also has installed pop-up mixers on islands: The pop-up cabinet has its own electrical outlet, so the mixer is perennially plugged in, and when it’s not in use, the mixer is out of sight.
In addition to adding workspace, islands create an informal eating area. For seating, the countertop overhang (which will serve as the table) should be at least a foot deep; 15 inches is easier on knees. There also should be at least 5 feet of space between the island and whatever’s behind it to provide ample room to move chairs or stools out, Silver advised.
As for seating height, 30 inches is the height of a regular table, 36 inches is the height of a counter, and 42 inches is the height of a bar. “A lot of people like that,” said Alicia Warren, kitchen designer at Atria Studio in Chicago. But a family with kids might find a table-height top more convenient, she added.
Countertop layout also is important. Many islands are being designed with multiple heights to accommodate different uses. In a recent remodel of a Bucktown kitchen, Warren added a 5-foot island that now houses the kitchen sink and the dishwasher. A rounded, table-height piece of granite at one end of the island serves as a dining table that seats four, including the couple’s two small children.
“Before, there was no place for the kids to play,” Warren said. “They can now color or do whatever when mom’s getting dinner ready.”
Finally, island bells-and-whistles can turn a workaday kitchen into a dream come true. Popular add-ons include cookbook shelves, warming drawers and refrigerated drawers for storing vegetables. Refrigerated drawers are especially popular in combination with a prep sink and disposal; a pull-out wastebasket completes the vegetable-prep scenario, Drury said.
Roll-out shelves for bulky cooking implements, built-in cutting boards that can be used in place or lifted out, and drawer-type dishwashers for light loads of dishes also are popular island requests, she added. Dishwashers, of course, require plumbing and also a 3-inch void space behind a cabinet for pipes, conduits and other mechanicals, Drury added.
Mobile islands
Moveable islands, available custom-made and at home stores , offer the same efficiency and extra storage space for small kitchens. Karlson has designed single-cabinet islands with butcher-block tops as small as 2-by-2-feet. On wheels, the islands roll into the kitchen when they’re needed, and roll back to storage.
A moveable island has been a lifesaver for Christine Busby, owner of Busby Bakes Cookies in Chicago. Busby’s Ukrainian Village kitchen is “teeny-tiny,” and the 3-by-4-foot butcher-block island, a hand-me-down from her parents, is essential in helping her bake 25 to 40 pounds of cookies a week.
“You can cut on it, put hot pans on it and move it to a protected area” when goodies are cooling, Busby said. And when she’s not baking? “We turn it into a bar,” Busby said.
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The island way
Here are some issues to consider when planning a kitchen island:
– Ample aisles. You need at least 36 inches of aisle space between the island and other areas of the kitchen. An island in a toosmall kitchen will disrupt work flow: “You’ll be running into it,” said Alicia Warren of Atria.
– The correct size. An island can waste time if it’s too big to walk around. “The biggest mistake is putting an 11-pound island in a 10-pound space,” said David Karlson.
– Smart configuration. If you want a sink, have it off to the side, not in the center of the island.
“You want as much continuous counter space as possible,” said Donald Silvers.
– Good lighting. An island is a work space, so good lighting, such as recessed can lights or small halogen pendants, are necessary.
– Visual clearance. Because visibility is the whole key to an island, designers recommend not hanging hoods, pot racks or elaborate light fixtures above an island.
“Anything that interferes with you seeing someone, I’m not a fan of,” Silvers said.
— Lisa Bertagnoli
