The Many Benefits Of A Kitchen Island

Adding a kitchen island to your kitchen has many functional benefits. Of course, you will need to have the extra room to take an island. If you are thinking about adding one, you will need to make sure there is at least 42" of aisle space on each side of the island. If your kitchen is rather cramped and you have a table and chairs, consider replacing the table and chairs with an island that has an eating counter. This will free up some space but still allow for eating in the kitchen.

A kitchen island can enhance the cooking experience as well as add storage space. In the kitchen, the cook prepares food in a "triangle" going between the stove, fridge and sink. Some kitchen layouts might make this triangle a bit unnatural, but if you are able to add an island in the middle that has either the sink or stove it can even out the triangle and make cooking a bit easier. Even if the island is just counter space, it is that much more space to prepare food on which really comes in handy with more than 1 cook and is even better if you can use it to add a second sink!

You can buy a kitchen island that is immovable and matches your cabinetry, or if you are short on space, you can also by a moveable island that you can wheel out for food prep and then put back against the wall to make more "moving around" room in the kitchen. You can get these in many styles to match your décor and can even buy them online!

Lighting a stationary kitchen island is important for task lighting and eating if it has an eating counter. The preferred method is to use pendant lights that drop down from the ceiling and cast light onto the surface. Depending on the length of the island, you may need more than 1 light. Of course you would not want to use this type of lighting for a moveable island as you would be banging your head on the lights when you moved the island away!

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