Kitchen Island Ideas to Inspire Your Remodel
Kitchen islands are versatile pieces that solve all kinds of kitchen problems from limited counter space to minimal pantry storage. You can customize your kitchen island to your liking with plenty of add-ons and built-in features. Keep reading to explore kitchen island ideas for your home.
Kitchen Islands with Seating
Kitchen islands with overhangs are commonly used for additional seating. This can be for seating friends or having casual meals and snacks outside of your dining room. When working from home, your kitchen island can be a nice place to work and a change of scenery. This is also a great spot for your kids to do their homework while you cook dinner. While most people choose kitchen islands that seat 4 people, there are numerous sizes available that can accommodate any number of people.
At Deer Ridge Construction, our home remodels generally include kitchen islands with additional seating. Our customers love the convenience of having extra seating in their kitchens and the added community it brings to their homes. As you’ll see throughout this article, extra seating can be added to kitchen islands of all styles and functionalities.
Kitchen Islands for Extra Storage
Another reason people choose to add kitchen islands during home remodels or new home construction is to expand their storage space. Kitchen islands are frequently built with drawers, cabinets, and shelves. These drawers are typically larger than traditional kitchen cabinet drawers, making them perfect for wide silverware and kitchen utensil trays.
Kitchen island cabinets are also more spacious, with lots of space to store large pantry items, bakeware, cookware, and appliances. Many people also use these cabinets to organize tablecloths, fabric napkins, placemats, and seasonal dining items.
Additionally, built-in shelves are perfect for storing cookbooks and displaying kitchen decor, such as family photos and heirloom recipe books. Kitchen islands with storage are incredibly handy for people who don’t have pantries in their kitchens. These pantry alternatives open up more space for items like spices, canned food, snacks, cereal, and baking ingredients.
Kitchen Islands with Electrical Outlets
To further increase convenience and functionality, electrical outlets are frequently added to kitchen islands. Electrical outlets help free up countertop space by enabling you to store large appliances on your kitchen island instead, like a stand mixer or crock pot. These appliances can take up whole sections of your countertop, giving you little room to work around. Moving these items to your kitchen island can increase your food-prep space and keep your kitchen stress-free.
For those who use their kitchen islands to serve party food, you’ll have outlets close by to plug in crockpots, slow cookers, and coffee makers. This is especially helpful during holidays and game nights where you have multiple dishes that need to be kept warm. Built-in electrical outlets are also useful for charging phones and other electronic devices. This comes in handy when using your phone for a recipe or when working on your laptop at your kitchen island.
Kitchen Islands with Sinks
Sinks are another common addition to kitchen islands. Choosing a kitchen island with a sink gives you extra counter space for food prep and washing dishes. For people who enjoy open-concept floorplans, a kitchen island sink will open up your kitchen and make it easier to be social while preparing or cleaning up meals. This also creates an uninterrupted stretch of countertop that helps you stay organized while cooking and baking.
Kitchen islands with sinks have likewise been used to offer homeowners different home views. If your kitchen has a preferred view that you face away from or you’d like to see your TV while working in the kitchen, you can change your view by installing a kitchen island with a sink.
To further customize the layout of your kitchen while enhancing functionality, consider adding a kitchen island that has both a sink and a built-in dishwasher. This makes cleaning up after dinner and washing the dishes even more convenient. For homeowners who want to keep their kitchens open and spacious, kitchen island sinks are great additions.
Kitchen Islands on Wheels
Portable kitchen islands, also called kitchen island carts, can be moved around your kitchen to make more room or rearrange your space. Moveable kitchen islands are incredibly convenient and versatile. They can be used to display food at parties or extend your countertop space while preparing large meals. A moveable kitchen island can be easily relocated to a dining room or living area to serve appetizers before meals, keeping guests out of your busy kitchen. If you need more space while cooking, you can pull your kitchen island over to keep large appliances and finished dishes out of your way.
While kitchen island carts are on wheels, these wheels are lockable, making them just as sturdy as traditional kitchen islands. Additionally, because they aren’t permanently placed in one spot, moveable kitchen islands are great for people who like to occasionally change their home layouts.
Kitchen Islands for Small Kitchens & Apartments
Kitchen islands aren’t just for large kitchens and homes. People who live in apartments or have small kitchens can also benefit from having a kitchen island. With a kitchen island, you can maximize your limited storage space and do away with cramped, disorganized cabinets.
Moveable kitchen islands are popular choices for people with small kitchens and apartments. These kitchen islands can easily be moved around your kitchen to create extra counter space or moved out of the way when you need more room.
Kitchen islands with overhangs make great dining table replacements for small kitchens and apartments. Instead of taking up precious floor space with a bulky dining set, you can add counter-height chairs or barstools to your kitchen island. The kitchen island and dining table combo gives you 2 functionalities in 1 piece of furniture, merging dining with storage. Using a kitchen island as a dining table opens up a lot of free space in your home, making more room for hobby equipment, pet supplies, and other furniture.
Kitchen Islands as Bars
Kitchen islands are also commonly used as home bars. Kitchen island bars create extra space to store drinks, mixers, and glassware, as well as a counter for serving and sipping drinks. These cabinets have lots of room for large, irregularly shaped bottles and drinkware, saving you space in your regular kitchen cabinets.
Adding a sink and electrical outlets to your kitchen island bar gives you everything you need in one place. You can add appliances like ice makers and glass chillers to your bar, as well as a sink for easy cleanup. You can even get kitchen islands with built-in mini-fridges for storing cold drinks and ingredients.
Two-tier kitchen islands, like the one in the photo on the right installed by our team for a new home in Newport, PA, are ideal for kitchen island bars. The first tier provides enough space to prepare drinks while the second tier is perfect for pulling up a barstool and socializing with friends.
Learn More About Stylish & Functional Home Remodels
Are you looking to redesign your home to better meet your needs? At Deer Ridge Construction, we have decades of experience working with clients to design and build the homes of their dreams. Contact our team today to learn more about our remodeling process and to answer any questions you may have. For more inspiration and remodeling ideas, check out our featured home projects.
