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Kitchen island ideas

Whatever your kitchen dilemma, a kitchen island could be the answer you’re looking for. Whether you're dreaming of iconic statement styling, a spacious kitchen island with seating, extra surface space for quality cooking appliances or smart storage solutions, we've gathered a selection of ingenious kitchen island ideas to inspire your bespoke designs. Make an island your own with your choice of sleek kitchen handles, or opt for a smooth handleless style. Below, our expert kitchen designers have provided you with the best kitchen island ideas that feature both style and seamless functionality. To begin designing your own room, whether it involves a small kitchen island or a large freestanding kitchen island with seating, book a free design consultation today.

Decide on your purpose

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 the worktop be, should it have a waterfall counter, and what colour should I choose for the main unit? 

While these things are essential, there are some other priorities you might need to think about first. For instance, what purpose is your kitchen island going to serve? The answer to this lies in the problem your island will solve. 

Perhaps you want a kitchen with an island so you have an extra worktop space to prepare food. Maybe a kitchen island with seating is going to allow you to have more friends or family over for dinner. It could be that you 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: lack of space, seating, and impractical layout.

Once you’ve decided on a purpose, keep this in your mind throughout the entire planning process below so your project has a focus.

Styling a kitchen island

We’ve discussed a lot of the practical elements of a kitchen island; the layout, the size, the functionality, the usage, zoning and more. But now it’s time to get excited about the styling.

A stylish blue kitchen with contemporary Shaker panelling.

Kitchen colours

Alternatively, introduce a whole new colour in your kitchen island. You could try to match what you currently have by 

simply 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. 

Discover kitchen colours
Ludlow Arboretum kitchen with brass and wood barastools in an open plan layout

Add an accent

Mix and match doors for added interest; the Nordic Oak Wave door is perfect for introducing natural wood elements subtly in the island.

View kitchen accents
Soho kitchen in neutral color with Nordic Nature fluted oak wall cabinets and Burlington Red kitchen island, a painted premium slab door from Magnet.

Dual-toned kitchens

Dual-tone 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 top and bottom cabinets. 

Get inspired

Practicalities to consider

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 for you to walk around your kitchen and make it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible. This is particularly the case 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 absolutely need to ensure you can still open the island’s drawers and cupboards comfortably. Where space is an issue, you could consider using open-plan shelving as an alternative. 

If the island will have bar stools, you should leave enough space to be able to pull these out and easily settle yourself into them. Bar stools are usually 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. 

Besides size, the other practicality to consider is how your kitchen will function with an island. In kitchens, we have what is known as the work triangle. This is a generalised layout that recommends your three main appliances (fridge, sink and oven) are placed in a triangle shape. When you have a one wall kitchenl, it can be very difficult to achieve this, which is where a kitchen island could help you.

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

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Choosing a worktop

A different colour island can work wonders, but a different worktop can make the kitchen feel disjointed and unharmonised.

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).

Dual-tone 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 top and bottom cabinets. Alternatively, introduce a whole new colour in your kitchen island. You could try to match what you currently have by simply 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. 

A different colour island can work wonders, but a different worktop can make the kitchen feel disjointed and unharmonised. 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).

Statement handles are another way to add some ‘wow’ to your kitchen. The options for handles are almost endless; round, square, bars, cups, loops, silver, brass, gold, matte black. You can truly show off your individual personality and style through the handles you pick. 

Book a consultation

Can I have a kitchen island in a small kitchen?

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. 

Tatton Kitchen by Magnet. A beautiful easy to use kitchen with traditional features with stylish modern touches.

Create a peninsular kitchen 

If your kitchen runs around one wall, you could create a peninsular kitchen (also known as a G-shaped kitchen) with your island. 

The island can be used to create a divide between the room and helps to add a zone so you have a definite kitchen vs. dining space. The benefit of this is the island doesn’t have to be too imposing. Instead, a small breakfast bar complete with bar stools can be all you need to transform your kitchen and make it more functional. 

Nova by Magnet. Affordable slab door kitchen available in matt and super glass. 6 colours to chose from.

Deciding where to put your island?

Maybe you don’t have to, with portable variations. Portable islands are really versatile and allow you to move them pretty much anywhere, 

while still providing additional storage and worktop space. These options are all perfect for a smaller kitchen.

Top tip from our designers

We asked our expert designers to their top tips for designing your kitchen island. 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."

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