The Biggest Kitchen Island Design Mistake

The kitchen is the heart of your home, a gathering space that needs to be both practical and stylish enough to entertain guests. With open-plan living areas and multi-functional spaces becoming increasingly popular, the kitchen island design plays an important role both in how your kitchen looks and in how efficiently it can be used.

At FCI London, we've been designing and installing bespoke luxury kitchens for almost 40 years. Our expert designers have seen all the mistakes that people make when planning a kitchen island. Here are the top three biggest kitchen island design mistakes and how to navigate them.

1. Not enough seating - make sure to include enough chairs or stools for everyone who will be using the island

Your brand new kitchen island is installed and it looks fabulous - you can't wait to show it off to your friends over brunch. But there are 6 people in your besties group and you only have 4 seats. What to do?

"We've seen people come up with some very creative solutions," says Reyhaneh Amini, senior designer at FCI. "Everything from outdoor chairs stacked on bricks to a cabinet of the right height being used as an extra seat."

While this makes for a good story, it's not the story you want other people to tell about your kitchen. When planning your kitchen island, think about who will regularly use it. You might simply want to sit around it as a family for meals; in which case you'll allocate enough space for that number of chairs.

If, however, you like to entertain, think about your guest flow. Do you want people to sit around the island for meals or are you happy to use it as a more informal gathering point, in which case people are more likely to stand? 

Once you've decided on the number of chairs, you can start looking at options and make your seating selection depending on the space available. For example, bar stools without backs take up the least amount of space and can be cleverly stored underneath an overhang. If you have the room, a more luxurious padded back bar stool will make mealtimes more comfortable. 

2. Not enough storage - be sure to include cabinets, drawers, and shelves to store all of your kitchen supplies

When planning your new or refurbished kitchen design, it's of paramount importance is make sure there is sufficient storage. A kitchen island brings the wow factor and is a natural gathering point for cooking and mealtimes, but it's a huge miss if you don't include it when planning where your cabinets will go.

Reyhaneh has this to say, "No matter what size your space is, the key to a successful kitchen design is carefully planned storage. The depth of your kitchen island should contain enough space for at least one kitchen cabinet that opens on one side."

"If you're planning on using open shelves instead of cabinets, ensure that the design takes the seating arrangement into account. The last thing you need is people's feet knocking over carefully stacked dishes or bags of food."

When considering storage, cabinets, drawers and shelves are not the only things that a kitchen island can house. "Some people put appliances inside their kitchen islands," says Reyhaneh. "A dishwasher or washing machine can be hidden away behind an attractive cabinet door, allowing you to keep the outer edge cabinets for groceries and kitchenware."

3. Wrong placement - make sure the island is in a convenient spot and not blocking any walkways

The third kitchen island design mistake that people often make is not placing it in the optimum position. It must be placed in a way that it doesn't block any walkways into or around the kitchen.

The path between the sink, stove and fridge is known as the functional kitchen triangle and is the most important walkway in any kitchen. This triangle must be kept free at all times if you want to work efficiently and easily in your kitchen.

If you turn around in a hurry and walk into the edge of your kitchen island, it's going to be a source of constant frustration - not to mention it will also hurt! Reyhaneh suggests that as a rule of thumb, your kitchen walkways should be 1m wide to be safe and easy to navigate.

In Conclusion

We understand that designing a new kitchen can feel overwhelming. We're here to help, whether you need a few simple answers or you'd like a detailed 3D drawing. If you already have a design but you'd like us to help you pick out some top-class appliances, we'll do that too.

Whatever your kitchen needs, we'd be glad to discuss your requirements. Get in touch with our expert kitchen design team and let's avoid these kitchen island design mistakes.