Kitchen island: pros and cons

Kitchen island

Kitchen island is a luxury that has its pros and cons in real life. We decided to take a detailed look at the possibility of installing an island in the kitchen and calculate what it would cost us.

Stylish modern look

One of the main reasons many housewives dream of an island is its stylish look and even cinematic feel. Think back to how often in American movies you can see luxury kitchens with an island in the middle.

Space zoning

With large areas of studio apartments, a kitchen island can serve as a space divider (just like a bar counter, for example). We wrote about the advantages and disadvantages of studio apartments here.

Multifunctionality

Kitchen island can have a very different filling and functions. It can serve simply as a countertop to prepare food for subsequent processing, can accommodate a stove, sink, oven (this is a rare option). The island can be a good place to store cooking utensils, or it can replace the kitchen table and be your dining area. 

Kitchen island

Extra space for cooking and storage

Usually, a kitchen island comes with a kitchen set. That is, you have the area along the walls plus more countertop area of the island. For those who love to cook, the extra space will always come in handy. Needless to say, the inner space of the island can be used as a place to store dishes and some products. 

Requires a lot of space.

In order to place the island comfortably in the kitchen, the area of the room should be at least 15 m2, and preferably it should be even larger. Rare Russian apartment and even a country house can boast of such dimensions. Also note that the island is often put in the kitchen, combined with the living room, which implies a certain layout and inconvenience (smell of food in the living room with a bad hood, actually the sound of this extractor in parallel with the TV, if someone is watching it, and so on). Perhaps the lack of space is the main reason many people don’t even consider a kitchen island, but by no means the only reason.

Difficult to connect the utilities.

The island should be planned even at the stage of rough repair, as all communications should be thought out and conducted in advance. The greatest difficulty is the presence of the sink on the island. The fact is that due to the fact that the water in the sink must come under pressure, it is necessary to provide sewage pipes with a certain slope (at least 15 degrees). This can be done with a special podium (raise the floor with a concrete screed). Moreover, the further the island from the riser, the higher will have to do the podium, and this, of course, assumes that you have high enough ceilings. Also have to take care of a good waterproofing of the floor, so as not to flood the neighbors, and coordinate the transfer of communications. Do not forget about a good exhaust hood, which will have to lead up to the middle of the ceiling in case you do take the stove to the island. If you think about the island after the repair, it can become just a table for additional cutting, which is also not bad, but does not suit everyone.

Price

There is a perception that an island is very expensive. Of course, this may be true, but it may not be. First, it all depends on what you plan to place on the island, and secondly, from what materials will be made of this element. The most budget-friendly option is to order the island in the same place where you order the kitchen set. Very often companies can make the island from the same modules, from which the kitchen is made. In this case the island will not differ significantly in price from the linear part of the set. Of course, designer islands of unusual shapes with all the good things like dishwasher, sink and stove will not be cheap. And an even greater cost is assigned to it conducting communications and installation of the island.

If you have all the conditions: sufficient area, high ceilings, financial resources and fearlessness regarding construction work, then you can afford to make an island in the kitchen. After all, you should agree that it is very beautiful, and sometimes this criterion and a great desire is enough to fulfill your interior dreams.

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