How to Choose the Best Kitchen Island

Needless to say, the kitchen is the very heart of any household: we spend the best time together with our family at the kitchen table, cook delicious meals, or welcome old friends. All of these activities will turn into a not entirely pleasant one if your kitchen lacks space or kitchenware pops out of your shelves uncovered, giving the whole space a messy look. If you want to improve your beloved kitchen’s appearance and save up some space for important things, let alone make your kitchen more modern and stylish, think of having a kitchen island installed.

The range of possibilities is quite wide when it comes to the choice of the right kitchen island. Among the most wanted nowadays are waterfall-shaped kitchen islands, big-size islands (fit spacious kitchen areas only, though), those islands that flow into your wall with no seams, those having huge LED lighting appliances installed in them, and many other types. Meanwhile, nobody wants you to be a copycat all the time: you can induce your creative thinking and create a unique style in the end. However, in order to avoid messing up the most visited room of your house, please do follow our expert recommendations.

Before you do so, please get acquainted with our recommendations on the choice of the right and well-priced kitchen island in 2022 that we have compiled for you in this article.

Kitchen Island’s Main Purposes

There are many ways in which having a kitchen island installed in your dining room is better than going without one.

• First of all, a well-thought-out and designed kitchen island will be most handy in terms of uniting several storage spaces scattered around your kitchen into one solid piece, with easy access and super storage capacity.
• Second of all, your kitchen island can serve the purpose of having a meal in your kitchen: with the convenience of a kitchen table and the spacious storage capacity, you will be able to kill two birds with one shot.
• Third of all, kitchen islands can be great in terms of saving the precious space of your kitchen room and recreating its entire look and functionality. Based on the size of your kitchen island, you can save up considerably on the space, as well as the money you would otherwise spend on some more cabinetry, for one.
• Last but not least, your kitchen table can host several means of illumination — both upper and lower kinds — and reinvigorate the whole look of your dining room. If you think of it, you can also use your future kitchen island as a stand for some decorations to embrace style and luxury.

Kitchen Island Seekers’ Top Recommendations

For you to be more confident while picking the right kitchen island, we have gathered several essential recommendations that will surely help you make the right choice without severe impacts on your budget, tight as it can be. Of course, it is necessary to add that kitchen islands are most often the choice of the owners of spacious kitchen environments; however, those of you who have smaller kitchen spaces can also benefit from having an island installed.

Let us consider the main pieces of advice that will help you make the right decision:

Feet are important

Never forget about the legroom. Even though your kitchen island may look perfectly well, it will be of no real use and pleasure to underestimate this factor. Experts recommend homeowners to leave at least 36 inches of the room about the kitchen island to reduce the inconveniences related to foot traffic flow.

Don’t underestimate trends

Well, this may seem obvious, but even if you consider your taste in kitchenware and all to be reliable, it is of essence to look through the currently trending designs and solutions, including materials, shapes, and styles of installation, before you get on with the project. You may be a designer yourself; however, it is always best to check with the community. Recent poll stats reveal that more than 70% of Americans put kitchen islands among the topmost must-haves when it comes to kitchen design.

Keep legs in mind

It is really important to think of how many people will be seated at your kitchen island, aka kitchen table. Think of chairs and their sizes to be accurate in designing the layout of your kitchen island remodeling project. You should have at least ten inches between the legs of a sitting person and the downmost tip of the island’s counter. This legroom is considered the most appropriate by professional designers and remodelers. And don’t forget that every person sitting at your dining table just deserves at least 25 inches of space, individually, for the best dining experience.

Be unique and pursue your own goals

All kitchen islands are, of course, different. While they can have matching features, every single one should be approached individually. THose kitchen owners who enjoy baking or storing enormous supplies of food may have different preferences when it comes to the kitchen island\s choice. Also, tastes differ greatly in terms of the right materials, too.

For example, if you have a child or several children, it would be great if your kitchen could be a good place for them to do their school home assignments while spending some time with you as you are cooking. For that purpose specifically, we recommend having two-tier or multi-level types of kitchen islands to be installed.

For those whose kitchen areas are of small size, you will delight in having a kitchen island and using it as a multifunctional area, free from unwanted stuff and totally convenient.

Open your mind. And shelves

Small surprise that many homeowners these days tend to choose open shelves as well as open-type kitchen islands for their households.

The reasons are rather simple in nature:

• It will help you save up on materials and installation.
• You will be able to have all your best cutlery displayed to the entire astonishment of your dear guests.
• It is a new trend; look it up.

Be practical

Your kitchen island will attract the most attention from your kitchen visitors. Therefore, it is totally important to make it look as decent as it can be. The main part — the countertop— is a matter of debate in terms of its size, materials used, color scheme, and all. You can go with marble or granite countertops: these are extremely durable and long-lasting. However, they can be costly to obtain, maintain, or remove in a DIY way. Some people nowadays opt for eco-friendly glass materials, safe for nature and easy to keep in good shape.

Remember that your kitchen needs to be practical. So before choosing some amazing-looking but bulky and heavy one, please check if it really fits the requirements and will not turn into abuse for you and your dear ones.

Details are of the essence

Some extra poshness can be attained if you add some style to the legs of your kitchen table. Table legs with intricate detailing or patterns can add up to your kitchen’s overall look in the eyes of stylish individuals.

Extra shelving for extra storage

Think of adding some extra shelf under your kitchen island\s countertop: you can put some decorations in there, as well as use this space for more utilitarian purposes, like keeping your favorite woven-out baskets in them. Also, it can become a great hub for the most often used kitchenware, so you will always be ready to cook and eat meals in your future remodeled kitchen.

Contrasting is a great idea

Instead of making your entire kitchen follow the same color scheme, think of implementing some contrasting: you can have a counter of one color (and material) combined with extra shelving made in a completely different — but matching — color. It will underline your sense of style and blow fresh air into your kitchen’s overall look.

Be reasonable

You should focus on your particular needs when choosing the future look of your kitchen. So don’t overload it with appliances or some unnecessary stuff: if you need to chop meat, you will need a special space for that. Think twice and make the right choice.

Shaping your kitchen island

Instead of turning to some traditional square-like island shapes, try something novel: some kitchens unable to fit rectangle-shaped islands will undoubtedly fit the L or T types of shapes.

Don’t forget some unique quirks

You can have some in-built appliances installed on your kitchen island or have several electrical sockets at hand to satisfy those who love to stick to their gadgets while eating a meal.

The right place for the island

What is also important is to choose the right place to fit your kitchen island.

While it can be problematic to place it right in the center of the room, we definitely recommend thinking about some crucial things:

• Electrical outlets should be located the nearer, the better to your kitchen island if you are going to use your island for having meals
• When you want your kitchen island to serve the purposes of cooking, you will surely need to have your garbage bin at hand.
• If you like to be free from dragging used dishes into the sink or a dishwasher, it will be a relief if your kitchen island stands near the dishwasher or sink.

The triangle thin

You may have never heard of one, though; however, we are here to introduce the thing to you: actually, the triangle does not exist in reality. It is an unseen line connecting three things in your kitchen: the center of your stove, one of the sink, and one of your fridge. Hence, you will get a triangle-shaped figure that offers a lot to think about. This placement of your kitchen stuff in relation to your kitchen cabinet will save you plenty of time jogging from one end to another with dishes and forks in your hands. The triangle should cut through your kitchen island by less than 12 inches.

Magic kitchen islands

One last thing on that recommendations list: you can use visual tricks to make your kitchen look more spacious. On the one hand, it will not affect the practical aspect and won’t really make your kitchen bigger or more comfortable. However, in the eyes of the onlooker, your cabinet will seem less bulky or space-consuming. To do so, you only need to lift up the countertop by around five inches and give your counter’s material and/or color with that of your kitchen\s walls. And your kitchen island will virtually disappear out of view; At least, the magical impression will be made.

Kitchen Island Buyers Takeaway from A+ Construction & Remodeling

Generally, you can opt for any style, shape, and color of your future kitchen island’s design: from snow-white island species to some belonging to the farmer’s kitchen style to solid granite countertop variants.
Whatever style you choose, the most important thing is to embrace reasonability in cost generation, practicality in use, and style to astonish your guests and yourself with the pleasant and modern kitchen looks after kitchen remodeling project completion by A+ Construction & Remodeling specialists.

And, of course, read our extensive guide on how to choose your kitchen island once again before you actually make a purchase. This will make your remodeling project better and will increase the perks you will be getting from experience!

Our experts have tried their best to introduce you to the most wanted trends in kitchen remodeling and design in 2022 so that you don’t have any difficulties picking them from the really vast offer.

Whether you are running on a really tight budget or, otherwise, seek some posh and exclusive kitchen island options available, both ways, you will have to be practical, reasonable, and keep in mind the modern trends. With that considered, you will have your perfect kitchen island fitting your particular needs and those of your family members, let alone the comfort and enjoyment your guest might be having in your kitchen if you do everything correctly, of course!