Kitchen islands are great. They allow for easy maneuvering around the kitchen, seating, gathering, and serving, among other things. 

But if you don’t have enough room for it, you will be making a big mistake trying to wedge one in where it doesn’t work.

Let me show you an example.

The Frustrating Kitchen

Our client had a lovely and large home. At first glance, the kitchen looks great. However, if you’re actually working in it, you’ll soon discover some serious problems. The distance between the island and perimeter is way too tight!

Open the fridge or dishwasher door and you’ve blocked the walkway. Two people working in the kitchen at the same time? Forget it. You’re constantly bumping into the other person.

This is a frustrating kitchen layout.

2’-8” between the island and fridge on one side and dishwasher on the other is terrible. 3’-3” from the island to the range is not great but will suffice if there’s no other choice.

You can see that even a relatively small island like this one (3’ X 6’) doesn’t work. The original builder could have put in a 2’ x 6’ island and it would have worked a little better, especially with a cabinet depth fridge, but it still would have been cramped.

Bad Original Home Design

The real travesty is that the space allotted on the house plan for the kitchen was too small to begin with. This house was built on an acre lot so there was no reason not to size the kitchen appropriately when it was built. It would have been way better (and cheaper) to do it right the first time! This small addition was pretty structurally complex, it would have been really simple, and cost effective, to build it right the first time! 

Solution, Expand the Kitchen

So, the solution was to expand the kitchen in two directions. Due to a septic tank on the kitchen sink side we were limited to 3’-7”, but it was enough. On the range side, we pushed it out 5’2”. The total kitchen dimensions went from 8’-0” x 13’-1” to 13’-2” x 16’-6”. This allowed for 4’-0” between the island and fridge/dishwasher, and a healthy 5’-0” from island to range!

Now, as you can see, there’s plenty of space to gather, cook, entertain, and spend time with family and friends!

You don’t have to live with a bad kitchen layout

It’s such a shame when bad design limits your ability to fully enjoy your home. Whether you’re thinking about building a new home and want to avoid making design mistakes, or you currently have a kitchen that’s frustrating you, there’s hope. Our designers love helping clients make their home work for them!

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