HOW TO PLAN THE PERFECT KITCHEN ISLAND

hi i'm michael from kitchen cider and welcome to the channel in this video i'm going to talk about how to plan the perfect kitchen island as a kitchen designer one of the most popular requests i get from clients is that they want a kitchen island designed into their space it makes sense it's not only the islands add a definite wow factor to any kitchen they can also be practical when it comes to extra worktop space and extra storage however there are a few important factors to consider when planning a kitchen island i've broken it down into nine questions and considerations to ask yourself when planning a kitchen island so by working through these questions and answering them it'll help to create the perfect kitchen island for you and your space so let's get into it question number one do you have enough space for a kitchen island the first big question and the most crucial one is do you have enough space in your kitchen for an island if the answer is no stop right here do not pass go do not collect your kitchen island but how much space do you need for a kitchen island well this will vary depending on the size of the kitchen island that you want but let's take a look so let's work off an average kitchen island depth of 900 millimeters now this is made up of a 600 millimeter deep cabinet that's a standard cabinet and a 300 millimeter overhang for a seating area or a 300 millimeter shallow depth cabinet giving you that overall 900 millimeter deep kitchen island so using this average kitchen island depth ideally the room should be three and a half meters deep overall and that's if you're having one run of cabinets against the wall and then an island and then nothing has space here if you want a run of cabinets an island in the middle and then another run of cabinets you really need a room that's over four meters somewhere around 4.2 meters what we want to achieve here is at least a one meter gap between the cabinets and the island or the cabinets and the wall so any walkway we want at least one meter a one meter gap is comfortable for doors and drawers to open and for people to walk past each other a little bit more than one meter is great anything less than one meter it becomes quite tight and difficult to always strive for at least a one meter gap in these walkways so if we look at this plan i've broken down the measurements for you to see now this is based off two runs with an island in the middle so we're looking over four meters for the overall room depth however the overall room size will alter slightly depending on the depth of the cabinets that you're having and the size of the island that you want you know and the layouts if you only want a single one and an island then the room depth will alter accordingly so you can alter these measurements to suit your particular circumstances but the main advice here is to always aim to have at least that one meter gap between surfaces or between the surface and the wall question number two what is the purpose of your kitchen island there are several reasons why you might want to include a kitchen island in your design you know there's no right or wrong answer here every kitchen is different and everybody's tasted different and their needs are different so it could be any of the following but have a think about why you actually want the kitchen island in your design so it could be for an aesthetic reason you know simply you just like the look of kitchen island you know you like that wow factor it might be for social reasons you want a couple of bastards at the kitchen island you know have some people over and have a few drinks or the kids can do their homework those kind of reasons it could be that you just want more countertop and prep space so having a nice clean island gives you lots of space to work you know you might use all your pots and pans as you're cooking or you might do a lot of baking and want to spread out or it could be for extra cabinet storage you know let's be honest we can never have enough storage in the kitchen so by having an island that introduces more cabinets and more storage you may want to put some appliances on the kitchen island such as your hob or the sink you know this could be because you don't have enough room on the run of cabinets against the wall to have both appliances or it could just be for a feature you know having a hob on the island creates quite a central feature so by thinking about the purpose of the kitchen island this can help design the island itself for example if you know it's all about the look then you might consider a free-standing island if you don't need the extra storage for instance or if it's for practical and cooking reasons you might want to forego the sink in the hob so you can have a nice clean surface to work on so have a think about why you want the kitchen island you know what is the purpose of your kitchen island question number three how big should your kitchen island be now this is linked to question number one as the overall room size will dictate the size and shape of your kitchen island again you want to keep an eye on any walkways and foot traffic around the kitchen island and remember to give yourself at least that one meter around the island that one meter for any walkways between the countertops or the countertops and the walls and don't forget to consider any doors opening into the kitchen or patio doors at the back of the kitchen you may want to give yourself more than a meter in these areas for better access you don't want to get stuck not being able to open those patio doors on a hot summer day question number four what type of countertop do you want on your kitchen island the type of countertop you pick for your kitchen island may influence the size and shape that you can achieve so for instance most stone worktops such as quartz or granite come in slabs that are approximately 3 meters by 1.4 meters some slabs are available bigger these are jumbo slabs but not much bigger these are approximately you know 3.2 meters by 1.5 meters so the slab size can limit the size of your kitchen island so be safe and don't plant a kitchen island any bigger than three meters unless you're definitely sure that the worktop is big enough to accommodate that the last thing you want is a join in your kitchen island it just ruins the look you want a nice smooth clean single slab on the other hand if you pick an acrylic countertop material such as corian it's the brand name you can create whatever size you like that's the benefit of corian any joints will be buffed out so they're invisible so if you create any size or shaped kitchen island you may also consider mixing materials on your kitchen island for instance you could have a timber breakfast bar section this is a nice way to add some contrast and texture to your kitchen island and it's a softer material for when you're dining at the breakfast bar having a drink question number five do you want your hob on the kitchen island having the hob on the kitchen island is definitely increasing in popularity and seeing this more and more this layer creates more social environment where you're stood facing the room or facing your guests in front of you if they're sat at the kitchen island it means you've not got your back to them or you're back to the room while you're cooking a possible downside to this is having your hob too close to where people are sitting on your kitchen island so this could mean that splashes from cooking might get a little too close to people especially if you've got children sat at the island so make sure you add some extra depth to your kitchen island to give a greater distance between the hob and anybody sat there if you are going to have your hop on the kitchen island something else you need to consider is power or gas depending on the type of hob you're having you'll need to get these to the island now this normally means digging up the floor so you'll have to weigh this up if it's a full renovation and you're changing the floor now is the time to do it if it's a smaller or budget renovation you may have to take this into consideration and lastly if you want to hob on the island you'll have to take extraction into consideration how are you going to do this and this leads me onto question number six question number six what type of crooked hood would you prefer so if the answer to question number five is yes you want to hop on the kitchen island you're now going to have to consider what type of cooker food you're going to have or what type of extraction when it comes to cooker hoods for kitchen islands there are four main types you've got island chimney hoods got ceiling cooker hoods extractors and hobs with built-in extractors which are sometimes called venting hops an island chimney hood is typically that big stainless steel box that hangs down from the ceiling directly above your hob anybody tall like me tends to just bang their heads on it a ceiling cooker hood is less in your face it's typically fitted flush up into the ceiling or if you can't fit it flush in the ceiling above the hob sometimes you have to build a box that drops down for it to fit into the downdraft extractor lives in the countertop behind your hob and comes up out of the countertop when you need it and then just push a button and a glow back down again and a hob with integrated extractor or a venting hob does just that it's a hob with the extractor in it so it will pull the air and the grease down into the center of the hop now i'm not going to go into detail about each type and the pros and cons that's a whole other video and let me know if you'd like me to talk about that but for today it's just showing you that these are the main four options for you to consider so have a think about which type of cooker food you would prefer if you're having your hob on the island question number seven do you want your sink on the kitchen island so we've talked about having the hob on the kitchen island now we're talking about having the sink on the kitchen island if you can't fit both your hob and the sink on a run of cabinets then a lot of the time it will mean that one of them has to go on the island if you don't like the idea of the hog on the kitchen island for any reason or you don't like any of the cooker hood options i've just talked about and having the sink on the island might be the right choice for you however be aware that the sink can become a bit of a dumping ground for plates and bowls and cups i call it a mess magnet so if you'd rather a nice clean island and don't want to have to look at the washing up there may be a sink on the island isn't the right choice for you keep in mind if you like having a hob on the kitchen island where you need the power if you have a sink on a kitchen island you'll need a water feed and a waste so again if it's a big renovation and you're taking the floor up now is the time to do it otherwise you're going to have to consider this again you don't want to be chopping up the floor if you don't have to be question number eight do you want seating at your kitchen island having seating at a kitchen island can be a great way to create a social hub whether that's just having a drink after work or if you've got the kids sat there doing their homework if you want seating this can influence the shape and size of your kitchen island a good general rule that i use is to allow for 60 centimetres per person for a seating space sat at a kitchen island this allows for enough elbow room to sit comfortably and feel like you're not sat on top of one another if you don't have enough space for the number of seats you want along the back of the kitchen island consider some l-shaped seating where you can sit people around the corner and on the other side this could mean that where you wanted four seeds and didn't have enough space on the length of the kitchen island you now can get those four seats because you're using the corner i also find the l-shaped seating can be a little bit more social as you can face the person slightly and talk to them rather than all being in a line and not being able to talk to the person at the end question number nine do you want power points on your kitchen island yes in my opinion the answer should always be yes now i know it's really a question if i'm telling you the answer i just want you to remember to add power sockets to your kitchen island aside from needing power for any large appliances such as your hob or dishwasher or wine cooler having sockets on the kitchen island for small appliances or to charge your phone or your laptop is an absolute must you might also want it for the kettle the toaster espresso machine any of these smaller appliances that make its way onto the kitchen island so you can get power onto the kitchen island a number of ways this could be pop-up sockets that pull up through the worktop it could be sockets that you cut into the end panels on the ends of the islands or it could even be sockets tucked underneath the seating area under the overhang if you haven't got any cabinets there and it's just an end panel however you do it and wherever you place them you won't regret putting sockets on your kitchen island trust me planning the perfect kitchen island can feel a little overwhelming at first but if you work through each of these nine questions your kitchen island will practically design itself and you'll be left with the ideal island to suit your room and your needs if you'd like to learn more about everything and anything kitchen design related then head over to my website kitchensider.com i'll put the link in the description thank you so much for watching and i'll see you in the next one

Channel: Kitchinsider

Views: 64,817

Keywords: kitchen island, diy kitchen island spacing, kitchen island size, kitchen island designs, kitchen island ideas, kitchen island installation, kitchen island decorating ideas, kitchen island ideas with stove, kitchen layout ideas, kitchen island ideas with seating, kitchen design, interior design ideas, kitchen design inspiration, diy kitchen renovation, kitchen remodeling, how to design a kitchen, plan a kitchen

Id: IEYzdQMeDcw

Length: 11min 56sec (716 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 21 2021