Kitchen Island Ideas from Seating to Storage

Integra Nova by Magnet. Matt finished handless option with trim brushed in aluminum for a high end feel.

Your kitchen island goals

Making changes to your home decor is always exciting, and you might be positively gleeful at the idea of a contemporary, state-of-the-art kitchen island. But what many people do is skip the practical decisions and jump straight to the styling – what material should my worktop be, should it have a waterfall counter, and what colour cabinets should I choose?

Before you get to the styling, there are lots of other things to consider first. For instance, what purpose do you want your kitchen island to serve? The answer to this lies in the problem your island will solve.

Perhaps you want a kitchen island with extra worktop space for food preparation. A kitchen island with seating might also allow you to host more friends or family for dinner, or you may want to redesign your kitchen layout to allow you to cook from the island while looking out into the room. In each of these cases, you’re solving a problem with your current kitchen: a lack of space, seating, and an impractical layout.

Keep in mind the purpose of your island throughout the entire planning process so your project has a focus.

Kitchen island design ideas

Let’s get onto the exciting stuff – kitchen island design. This is an element that involves a lot of decision-making. The three key areas to consider before putting pen to paper are size, layout, and storage. Luckily, Magnet is here to help. Here you can find the things you need to consider when designing your kitchen island.

View of Nordic Nature kitchen island with Dekton in Ceppo, hob, potted plants and earth tone decorations

Worktop size

An island that’s too small can look a bit lost in the room; too big and you may not be able to reach anything in the centre. Like Goldilocks, you need to find the island that’s just right.

No matter what size island you go for, almost all of them will provide you with additional worktop space. Even when they have a hob or sink in the middle, you’ll still be left with a surface area for chopping, slicing, pouring and serving.

For more tips on sizing, keep reading, as we discuss this issue a little later.

Discover kitchen worktops

View of opened built-in ovens in the tall matt finish Luna kitchen cabinetry from Magnet in a neutral shade.

Appliances & layout

Another practical consideration is how your kitchen will function with an island. The kitchen work triangle recommends placing your three main appliances (fridge, sink, and oven) in a triangular shape. With a one-wall kitchen, achieving this can be challenging, which is where a kitchen island can help.

You can use the island as a home for your hob, and locate your sink and fridge in the main units to form a triangle. It’s the ultimate practical design for a kitchen with an island.

View kitchen appliances

Side view of opened oak drawers in Nordic Craft kitchen island, drawers containing beautiful cookery ware.

Smart storage solutions

If the purpose of your new island is to provide a place to store all your kitchen knick-knacks, consider what smart storage solutions you’ll incorporate. Perfect your cutlery organisation with a bespoke drawer insert that has a slot for every knife, fork and spoon. Or why not neaten up your pans by incorporating a place where they can be stored upright? Do you have an army of cookbooks? Make space for them all by adding open shelving to one corner so they can be stored neatly.

Discover storage solutions

Kitchen island with seating

If your goal is to make your kitchen a social hub – a place for friends and family to create lasting memories over delicious food – then a kitchen island with seating makes these moments even easier to achieve. Before we look at the options, consider the breakfast bar stools you’ll pick. If you want to work at your kitchen island or eat dinner there, you'll need ultra-comfortable chairs with decent back support. If your chairs are for occasional use only, you can afford to opt for style over function. No matter what you choose, ensure you measure the height and width so they slot perfectly under your island.

Traditional Shaker-style kitchen Ludlow Parchment with tactile woodgrain, tall cabinets, brass cup handles and knobs, integrated ovens, a kitchen island with rattan bar stools, a vase holding foliage, and light wood herringbone flooring.

Island with breakfast bar

The breakfast bar-island with seating maximises space but also enhances functionality. One half of the island can be dedicated to storage with cabinets or shelves for kitchen essentials, cookware, and utensils, while the other half provides space to tuck your breakfast bar stools underneath.

Tatton Sage from Magnet, a contemporary narrow frame shaker door, with a grey sofa in the foreground

L-shaped overhang

If you don’t want to lose that much storage space, you could compromise with an L-shaped overhang that allows for additional seating. This type of kitchen island allows you to keep the storage cabinets you want while also including a couple of extra dining seats for your family and friends.

Traditional Shaker-style Ludlow Parchment bench cabinets with tactile woodgrain, a kitchen island and matching wall panel, a long wood diningroom table with matching wood chairs and ceramics set out on the table.

Built-in booth seating

If you really want to make your kitchen island work hard, opt for one with built-in seating. This is a great idea if you don’t have a huge amount of space, because the island doubles up as a spacious dining table. It’s one of the most versatile uses of an island, especially when you have a limited amount of space.

Kitchen island size

From a practical perspective, your kitchen island should satisfy your needs and pain points while also maintaining a seamless design that complements your existing kitchen. One of the most important things to consider, therefore, is its size.

It might be tempting to go for an enormous island, but this isn’t always the best route to take. You need to leave enough space to walk around the counter and open its drawers and units easily.

Our advice is that you leave a gap of at least 1.2m to walk around your kitchen comfortably and maintain it’s stylish look. This is particularly important for an island that has cupboards opposite it.

Where the island is opposite a wall, you could potentially make this gap a little smaller, more like 90cm, but you must ensure you can still open the island’s drawers and cupboard doors comfortably. When space is an issue, consider using open-plan shelving as an alternative.

Kitchen island sizes with seating

If the island has bar stools, leave enough space to be able to pull these out and easily settle yourself into them. Bar stools are best placed on the side of the island that faces the rest of the room, so you can pull them out as far as you need to. Where you need to position them so they’re in a walkway, the gap should be extended to at least 2m.

Open layout kitchen, a Thyme shade kitchen island and tall Wardley Shell cabinets with built-in ovens.

Styling a kitchen island

We’ve discussed a lot of the practical elements of a kitchen island: functionality, storage, seating, and size. But now it’s time to get excited about the styling.

Wide image of sink, kitchen island and pantry larder. Ludlow cabinetry from Magnet in colours Burlington Red, Chalk blush and Harvest in Heritage classic with a contemporary twist.

Kitchen colours

Have you thought about introducing a whole new colour to your kitchen island? You could try to match what you currently have by opting for a slightly darker or lighter variation, or go bold by choosing a pigment from the opposite side of the colour wheel. Either way, your kitchen island will stand out in style.

Fluted front kitchen Reed from Magnet in light warm neutral shade Shell, with a marbled splashback, worktop and decorative side on kitchen island with barstools and black handles, herringbone wood flooring.

Add an accent

Mix and match doors for added interest; Nordic Oak Wave and Reed are perfect for introducing textured elements subtly in the island.

Traditional Shaker-style tactile woodgrain Ludlow kitchen in bold shade Morello with matching wall panel and shelves, brass accents such as knobs and brass tap, a white ceramic sink, Ludlow parchment kitchen island with open end shelves and dusty oak vinyl flooring.

Dual-toned kitchens

Dual-toned kitchens are a huge crowd pleaser right now, and we love the contrast that two opposing colours can create. Create a multicoloured space by contrasting the colours of your kitchen and your island units.

Find your appliances

Appliances are a necessity in any kitchen, and with great kitchen island ideas comes great functionality; your island is the perfect location for these. Think of all the appliances you currently have in your kitchen and the ones you would like to design into the island. There may be more than you think, from the oven, hob, sink, fridge and dishwasher to premium appliances like wine coolers.

An island can be a great place to house at least some of these things. Should you want your hob to be on the island, consider opting for a pop-up extractor fan that seamlessly appears from its surface, only to disappear again once it’s no longer in use. If you struggle to fit wine and other chilled drinks into your fridge, a slimline wine cooler won’t take up a lot of space in an island, but could solve your problem.

View of shaker kitchen in dark blue shade, with marble worktop and a kitchen island with light wood worktop.

Choosing a worktop

A different colour island can work wonders, but a different worktop can make the kitchen feel disjointed and unharmonious. To tie everything together, you should keep some elements the same, and the worktop is the perfect way to do this.

If you want to add a statement, waterfall edge worktops offer a touch of luxury and will surely be the talking point when your friends and family come to visit (with a touch of jealousy thrown in too).

Another consideration for your island worktops is the material. From tough granite to cost-effective laminate, durable quartz and dependable solid wood, we have a choice of worktop materials for you to choose from.

Each option comes in an array of colours and thicknesses, so you’re sure to find the perfect fit. Our worktops are durable enough to withstand the heavy use of a kitchen island, so you can expect to enjoy your kitchen countertop for many years to come.

Kitchen island ideas for small kitchens

It’s become an outdated view that kitchen islands are only for enormous kitchens; your small kitchen can absolutely have one too, and the key is all in the design.

Handleless frame door Integra Brunswick Spruce G-shaped kitchen with Minerva white worktop and splashback, open plan Georgian extension, breakfast bar, fluted glass vitrine wall cabinets.

Peninsular kitchen

If your kitchen has three sides, you could add a peninsula (a small section that juts out) to create a G-shaped kitchen.

This style of kitchen island works well in small kitchens and open-plan kitchen-diners. It can be used to create a divide between the room’s separate zones so you have a definitive kitchen and dining space.

The benefit of this is that the island doesn’t have to be too imposing. Instead, a small island breakfast bar complete with bar stools can be all you need to transform your kitchen and make it more functional.

View of natural oak Nordic Craft kitchen island contrasting against the dark Sumi Black Hoxton cabinetry behind it.

Island on wheels

For small kitchens, consider a kitchen island on wheels (sometimes referred to as a butcher block or kitchen trolley). Portable islands are incredibly versatile. You can move them around the kitchen to wherever there is space, while they continue to provide additional storage and worktop space.

This flexibility is particularly beneficial in compact areas where space is at a premium, as you can easily reposition the island to suit your needs, whether for food preparation, dining, or entertaining.

A final thought from our designer

We asked one of our expert designers for their best kitchen island design tip. So what did they recommend?

"Use boxes to lay out where the island would go for a few days. This not only allows you to see how the size would work, but also how the island would function.

If you find you’re frequently nudging the corners of the boxes, or they’re getting in the way when opening your cupboards, you may need to reconsider your design.

Do this by choosing to move the island further away from your cabinets or pick a slightly smaller size."

Speak to an expert

Magnet kitchen designer showing samples to customers in a Magnet store during consultation, woman browsing a brochure.

Ready to design your kitchen?

We’ve covered a wide variety of kitchen island ideas in this guide, but as you can see, there is a lot to think about. Book a free appointment with Magnet to get you on your way.

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