One of the most sought-after features for homeowners today is a large, multifunctional kitchen island.
These standalone pieces can give you the ultimate storage, food preparation, cooking, seating, and dining options to make your space both beautiful and functional. They can serve as a convenient and flexible location for work. You’re probably already familiar with the old-school, basic kitchen island. These islands don’t have room for seating, and mainly serve as an additional space for storage and prep. But modern kitchen islands can be so much more – read on for our four favorite kitchen island styles, and to learn more about what kitchen island design would work best for you, visit us online or at our newly updated design center.
1. A Sleek Fixed Countertop Island
Chances are, when you think of a kitchen island, this style comes to mind first. Fixed countertop islands, often with seating underneath the cantilevered top, allow you to achieve outstanding functionality within a limited space. They also provide a visual centering point for larger, open spaces. These islands often feature wrap-around cabinetry or waterfall sides. They typically include a sink or cooktop, depending on your needs. They are perfect for most modern kitchens of any size.
One of the advantages of the sleek fixed countertop island is its flexibility. This style works great in either a modern or traditional kitchen, and is particularly well-suited to a linear kitchen where appliances, cabinets, and all cleaning and prep workstations exist along against the wall. In this instance, the sleek fixed countertop island adds additional space for you to prep food, eat, or seat guests, without taking up a ton of space. That’s why we’d recommend this style for any kitchen size, though it does work best in a medium-to-large kitchen where you’d have more than three people seated at the countertop.
Speaking of seating, this kitchen island style offers flexible seating options that work for personal use, small group gatherings, or larger parties. With this style, guests would sit alongside each other across the countertop, facing the cook to help facilitate conversation as the home chef prepares their next delicious meal.
2. A Combination Workspace/ Food Preparation Kitchen Island
Our proprietary K-table, created by MAISTRI, imagines the kitchen island as a cornerstone of day-to-day life. With this high-tech kitchen island, you can cook and prepare food, but also utilize your island as a real table for dining, work, or social gatherings. It features waterfall countertop sides and has open shelving beneath, with floating drawers to resemble a ‘classic’ dining table with island seating. These kitchen island designs are both functional and elegant and ideal for large or small spaces.
We love this kitchen island style because it offers something that you don’t often see in American kitchens – a functional space where both cooking and washing can occur. Typical American kitchens don’t often include both sink and cooktop in the island and will instead integrate one or the other into countertops elsewhere. However, with this style, cooking and prepping can take place side-by-side, leaving your countertops free for other uses. One thing to note about this style is that it is really only appropriate for larger kitchens, where space-saving is not a concern. When we install this type of kitchen island for clients, we also like to make sure we create a contrast between the island and the countertops or backsplash behind it. This ensures the kitchen doesn’t start to feel too monolithic in its design.
As you can see in the above example from a client of ours in Covington, Kentucky, the white sintered stone island contrasts with the dark wood cabinetry behind it, creating a visually stunning space with the island at its center.
Another advantage of this style? It’s great for entertaining large groups, and the host will never have to turn their back on guests as they cook or prep their food! No more missing out on half the party because you were stuck watching your water boil. With a combination island, you can do it all while still entertaining your guests (and yourself).
3. A Multifunctional Dining Island
A sleek and functional newer design that instantly updates your kitchen is the kitchen dining island. With a dining table that is usually positioned at standard dining chair height, this island provides you with a large, welcoming space for dining, work, or gathering. Meanwhile, you still can enjoy all the features that make kitchen islands so useful—extra counter space, storage, and preparation or cooking areas.
With this island type, the dining and prep space are combined, allowing for additional storage and flexibility in seating. Here, you’ll still keep your appliances and sink on your countertops behind the island and save the island for prep and eating space. Typically, your cooktop will also go in the back, but we’ve also worked with clients who incorporated a hidden cooktop into their multifunctional dining island for an additional space-saving boost.
One of the best parts of this island design is the flexible seating. Here you’ll be able to choose the type of seating you want, meaning your guests will be able to sit side-by-side or face each other depending on your own preferences and how the island is going to be used. It’s your island! We’re all just sitting at it.
4. A High-Tech Sliding Countertop Island with Flexible Kitchen Island Seating
One of the most exciting developments in modern kitchen islands is the sliding countertop island. It is a must-have for culinary enthusiasts who need flexible options for cooking, entertaining, and seating. Featured in one of NOLI’s most recent new kitchens, the sliding countertop extends to create a dining space over seating and can hide a flush-mounted cooktop or sink that appears on demand. This high-tech kitchen island is eye-catching and is ready to help you make your kitchen visions a reality!
This exciting, modern design is one of our most flexible. When the sliding top is closed, the island is just that: an island. But when the sliding top is opened, it adds an additional seating area for guests as well as even more space for dining and prep.
As you can see in this example from one of our clients in Hyde Park, the sliding countertop provides an additional space for countertop seating. This client opted to have guests sit together on only one side of the island, but the seating options could be expanded to three sides for even more dining options. Not sure how this would look? Stop by our showroom to test this style in person!
Inspired Design, Right Here in Cincinnati
Choosing the right island design and style is a critical piece of making your modern kitchen a success. Contact us today to discuss what’s possible for your project, and learn how we can help or see the styles in person.
