Back in the nineties I remember being in awe of Tracey’s kitchen in Birds of a Feather. Yep Chigwell’s finest had an island. #kitchengoals right there. When I grew up I wanted a central place in my kitchen to sit and chat too (though ideally the discussions wouldn’t centre around bank robbers and nymphomaniac next door neighbours). I don’t ever remember seeing Tracey or Sharon cook, it just seemed like a nice place to hang out.
Though the years have passed there still seems to be some common things on kitchen wish lists. Whenever I’ve spoken to friends about dream kitchens it’s frequent for them to mention Belfast sinks, American style fridge-freezers, those fancy taps that spill out boiling hot water so you can make a cuppa in an instant, and the aspirational kitchen island.

As you can see in the gallery below, an island isn’t specific to any particular style of kitchen; modern, classic, urban you bag yourself a central unit. One thing you do need is a bit of space, though the amount is debatable. If you plan to house your appliances in there, for example your dishwasher then you’ll need enough clearance to be able to open the door and stack your pots and pans. However if you don’t plan to open doors there are plenty of custom options available in bespoke heights and depths so you can squeeze one in. There’s a good article over on Houzz suggesting you need 800mm around a fixed island to make it effective.

Peninsula

A peninsula unit is also really desirable. As it’s accessed on three sides rather than four it can be better for a smaller footprint. My friend recently added one to her abode and added a few stools to make a fabulous breakfast bar. I also love seeing how people sneak in crafty storage in to their units, a little bookshelf here and a cupboard there. My friend Michey even has a wine fridge in hers. Very swanky.

Fake It

I suppose I’m a quarter of the way to a kitchen island with my own kitchen trolley. I don’t have room to access on all sides but I ditched the chair recently and added two swivel stools which have made the space more social. If you missed Hannah’s home tour last week do take a peek as she used an Ikea trolley to create a free standing island, a perfect space for chopping and prepping. As it’s on wheels it also has the extra bonus of manoeuvrability. It’s been used as a drinks trolley in the past!

So is the island still the holy grail of kitchen design? Anything else higher on your cuisine wish list? Have you got your own kitchen island or peninsula and how much space did you need? Also if you want to check out more of the kitchen in the header image then check out DeVOL.Thank you Martha for introducing me to this beauty!