Kitchen Island Sizes - Size Is Important

Kitchen island sizes are an especially important and difficult choice when purchasing kitchen islands.

In a kitchen island, size is very important.

Kitchen islands not only add work and storage space, they have a great bearing on the kitchen's design, the efficiency of the cooking and eating areas, whether the kitchen can be used as a multiple-use area, and a whole lot more considerations.

Your main consideration should be how you're going to use the island, of course, and, accordingly, what features you want in the design. But size should be what you look at first.

Large Or Small, Wheeled Or Not

Kitchen islands are used by design experts to bring focus to the kitchen's design but also to the family's activities--cooking and eating, for sure, but also multiple-use activities so commonly found in modern life.

Large islands are useful for separating the cooking area from the eating area or even for providing an eating area on drop-leaf or raised shelf serving areas or breakfast bars where the cook can more readily attend to the family or guests.

Open-space floor designs or large kitchens so commonly found in modern home design often incorporate large islands to divide the areas.

Small kitchen islands are even more versatile, particularly in small kitchens or open-space designs found in apartments, summer homes and cottages, and in condominiums.

Two small islands often fit better than a large island, and, if wheeled, can be moved as needed between meals.

Large or small, kitchen islands are available in a variety of designs and styles including Contemporary, Country or French Country, Hip or Avant Garde, European Chic, Traditional, and many more.

Islands incorporate materials like stainless or zinc-plated steel, wrought or hammered iron, and wood like Red Oak, Northern Maple, Birch, Poplar, Basswood, and Beech, or more exotic woods like Liptus, a plantation-grown South American wood, or Nyatoh, a plantation-grown wood from Malaysia sometimes called Asian Cherry.

The size of your kitchen island will dictate what features it will have, but large islands often feature bar-sinks, drop-leaf cutting boards, towel racks, wine racks, cooking surfaces, and many other features.

A smaller island or a kitchen cart will be more limited and specific in use.