The kitchen is the beating heart of the home. It’s where the delicious smells come from, it’s where we often gossip over a cup of coffee. It is also there that the space should be planned as ergonomically as possible.
A kitchen island is one of the interesting options for increasing the usable space of a kitchen. An additional worktop – often with an installation (e.g. a sink or a cooktop) – allows a greater sense of freedom while cooking, plus you gain a few extra seats. Modern hockers are enough. But how to arrange a kitchen island?
Before you decide to insert a kitchen island, check whether the area of this room allows for its comfortable use. The island should be designed so as to enable work in the so-called work triangle. The work triangle, whose vertices are the table, the refrigerator and the sink, shows the usual distribution of work in every kitchen. Its sides define the routes that must remain clear and uncluttered for the kitchen to be ergonomic and for you to be able to move ingredients from the fridge to the table and dishes from the table to the sink. The distances between these workstations (and therefore the sides of the triangle) should be no less than 1.2 metres and no more than 2.8 metres.
According to the triangle principle and the ergonomic length of its sides, it has been calculated that for a kitchen island to make sense in a closed kitchen, the room must be at least 14 m². And it will still be an island with a small countertop
It’s worth remembering that although a kitchen island is a convenient workstation, it takes up a lot of space – and is therefore more suited to open kitchens. In a closed kitchen, the island needs to be positioned so that you can access it from all sides and the room should be large enough to allow you to move around it freely
In an open kitchen, however, do not forget to adapt the arrangement of the island to the decor of the living room or dining room, because it is a transitional element between the two rooms.
A kitchen island is an extremely versatile and convenient interior design solution. The biggest advantage of having a kitchen island is the increased space for storing kitchen accessories – pots, plates, household appliances, etc. It is, after all, nothing more than additional cabinets covered with a countertop. By the way, the worktop itself also serves a useful function – when cooking, it’s useful to have a large space on which you can calmly lay out all the ingredients.
A kitchen island is also a great solution for people who like to cook in company. Instead of squeezing into a small space between worktops and staring at the wall while you cook, you have easier movement between workstations and can carry on a conversation while chopping, mixing or peeling
For an open kitchen, a kitchen island is also a practical solution to the problem of space demarcation. It provides a cohesive barrier between the dining or living room and the rest of the kitchen.
A kitchen island is also a place where you can install a cooktop or a double sink. Many people hate a plethora of installations in one place – a kitchen island is the perfect way to avoid juxtaposing a fridge with an oven, hob, dishwasher and sink
It will allow you to discreetly divide the space to make it more usable. Additionally, having more space to use can make it easier for you to insert more appliances and white goods.
Don’t forget that a kitchen island is a consistent design element – both in the kitchen and in the living or dining room (in the case of an open kitchen). So it is worth taking a moment to think about its color scheme, the materials used and the overall arrangement.
In modern interiors, it is common to choose a wooden worktop combined with white cabinet fronts, all set with modern, white and silver hockers. If your kitchen is decorated in a completely different style from the living room or dining room, try to get the golden mean in the arrangement of the island. After all, it is the boundary
