Kitchen islands: dos and don’ts for 2026

An island can fill the dead space that’s created when your kitchen walls are lined with cabinets. If you’re dealing with a more open plan area, an island can also divide the space into cooking and dining zones.

Yet islands can be tricky to plan in. They need professional input from various trades, require more space than you may anticipate and their potential can be unfilled if they’re badly designed. 

Our kitchen island ‘dos and don’ts’ guide will help you decide whether you have enough room for an island and how to avoid common mistakes.

Do

• Think about clearance: accurate measurements are a must when planning a kitchen island. While the dimensions of an island are important, you need to factor in clearance. You should aim to have been 100cm and 120cm around your island. This will allow people to circulate without obstruction, and for cupboard, dishwasher and oven doors to be freely opened.

• Involve an electrician, gas engineer and a plumber: if you would like a sink, a dishwasher, plug sockets, charging points or an appliance within your island, you’ll need to contact the relevant trade early in the process. Don’t forget, you may want pendant lights or an extractor fan overhead, so ceiling cabling may be required. 

• Give your island a main job: islands can become messy and overcomplicated if they’re trying to do too many things at the same time. You can avoid this by giving your island a set job. It may be a cooking station, with an integrated hob, recessed book shelf, undercounter oven, pan and utensil draws, and downdraft extractor fan.  

If you want your island to be where people gather to eat and drink, ensure you factor in an overhang, so bar stools can be tucked away, as well as for cupboard/draw space for cutlery, plates and drinking glasses.

• Choose materials wisely: if you’ve opted to create an island cooking station, you’ll need a material that won’t stain easily. Marble, granite and concrete will soon mark if not treated properly, or if spills like turmeric-based sauces and red wine aren’t wiped away quickly. Quartz is a great choice as it’s non porous and can also be used if you want your island to have a waterfall worktop. 

Don’t

• Rush in without measuring up: not every kitchen has enough space for an island so take a full set of measurements with you when visiting kitchen showrooms. Don’t just measure from the cabinet door fronts. Measure from any protruding element, such as a handle, a doorknob or a structural feature. 

Also factor in the swing of all doors – the main access door, a door to a utility room or the garden, and existing cupboard/appliance doors. There are a number of free online kitchen planners that will give you a basic idea of what’s possible.

• Forget to include storage: an island is a great opportunity to increase the amount of

storage in your kitchen, especially if you have a lack of wall space. Many people focus on creating a breakfast bar or integrating something into the worktop, such as a sink or hob, but talk to a kitchen fitter about how this may impact the storage available. If you’re not opting for a waterfall finish, use your island ends for open shelves, a wine rack or vertical tray holders.

• Skimp on any overhang: having an overhang is how you’ll create a breakfast bar. Yet in your quest to squeeze an island, you may be tempted to trim back its depth. The ideal depth for casual sitting is 300mm (anything less will have your knees touching the base unit and be too shallow to tuck stools under). Aim for an overhang of 400mm if you’ll be eating most meals at the bar, not just breakfast.

• Try and squeeze in two islands: you may have read that a number of celebrities have not one but two kitchen islands. This set up only works if you have a super spacious kitchen – usually one that’s part of a bigger open place area. Aesthetics and functionality are critical. Get the design wrong and you’ll risk creating something akin to the Masterchef kitchen, or end up with zero space to manoeuvre. 

If you’re not happy with your current kitchen, there may be a house for sale that’s better suited to your lifestyle. Contact us to explore the idea of moving home.