Four Tips to Designing the Perfect Kitchen Island

Your kitchen may be more than a room where you cook meals, keep food, and store your dishes, pots, and pans. If you like to entertain guests, enjoy time with your family, and try your hand at preparing gourmet meals in your kitchen, you may want to maximize the space that you have available to you in this room of your home. When you add an island to your kitchen, you can add function, convenience, warmth, and beauty to your kitchen. As you contemplate how you would like to design your kitchen island, however, you may keep these suggestions in mind.

Purpose and Primary Use

When you decide that you want to add an island to your kitchen, you may be advised first to decide for what primary purpose this island will have in this room of your home. Deciding on its use and primary purpose can help you plan for every other detail that this kitchen fixture will have once it is finished. After you decide if your island will be used for food preparation, social gatherings, or extra seating at meals, you can then move onto other aspects of planning for this fixture.

Deciding to Include Seating

Even if your home has a beautiful dining room, you may really like the idea of using your kitchen island as an extra seating area. You could use the island as a breakfast table where your children can eat their meal before school or as a place where you can enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee while you read the morning paper or check your email. If you want to use this fixture as a seating area, you can pair it with matching barstools or chairs that will let your island serve this dual purpose.

Appliances, Sinks, and More

You might want an island in your kitchen so that you can enjoy additional food preparation space. If you plan on using this fixture as a place where you can clean and pare vegetables, roll pie dough, or otherwise prepare food, you may wonder what appliances and amenities you want to include with your island?s design. For example, vegetable paring and cleaning can be made easier if you include a vegetable sink, complete with a detachable faucet and drain, within your island. Likewise, you may also want to include a slide-out cutting board where you can cut cookie or pie dough or prepare other food for your family.

Extra Storage

Homeowners who include kitchen islands in this room of their house may do so because they need extra storage. If you want to store silverware, cutting boards, napkins, or other kitchen accessories within your island, you may include plenty of drawers and cabinets in your island?s design. Along with your kitchen?s cupboards, you can also enjoy storing items in the storage spaces found in your kitchen island.