The "Crown Jewel" of the Kitchen- The Kitchen Island

If the kitchen is the heart of the home, the kitchen island is the heartbeat. 

Kitchen islands tend to be the focal point of the kitchen, providing a chance to display gorgeous lighting that will enhance your entire room; but most of all, it’s a space for friends, family, and guests to gather. 

1.  Make it fun! We encourage our customers to make their island a “show piece”, make it “pop” and have fun with it.  You can do this by mixing woods or colors that are different from your surround cabinetry. Dark colors for islands are very popular currently such as black, blue, gray, or dark green that provide contrast to white or light wood cabinetry. The island is also where you will want to splurge on the countertop and hardware, which is known as the “jewelry” for the cabinet.  You can also add features like furniture legs or corbels to dress it up. 

2.  Make it functional! For functionality, you’ll want to include a seating area for bar stools. We recommend a minimum of 12” for countertop space to sit, and 24” for workable space. Even if your space is small, a 3-foot-wide counter can add so much! For height, you’ll need 36-42”.  If you plan to gather comfortably where people will sit and stand, go with the higher option. In addition to having a place to sit and eat casual meals, items to consider that will enhance your island include:  minifridge/wine cooler, prep or full-size sink, microwave drawers, pull out trashcans or recycling bins, butcher blocks, and outlets which are a “must have” for the use of small kitchen appliances, or a charging station for phones or electronic devices. 

3.  Make it fit your need! For the cabinet layout, you can choose from drawers, shelves with doors, or open shelving. Don’t forget that you can have storage, on both sides-. On the non-seating side, have deeper cabinets for pots and pans.  We recommend roll out shelves inside the cabinets to make accessing everything much easier, especially since its low and items can be heavy. On the seating side, do a shallow cabinet- like a 12” or 18’ depending on what you choose as your seating space, and in there you can store large platters, serving trays, table runners, placemats, and other special occasion items that you won’t need to access daily. Be sure to include decorative panels on the ends for that “finishing touch” or shelves are great for storing cookbooks, wine, or decorative items. 

So, when it comes to your kitchen island, make it fit, functional, and most of all fun! 

Visit www.TopNotchCabinetsTX.com/kitchenislands to see some ideas that we can help with!