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Kitchen Island Ideas: Everything from Seating to Storage

Whatever your kitchen dilemma, a kitchen island could be what you need. Whether you're dreaming of an iconic statement style, a spacious kitchen island with seating, or extra surface space and much-needed storage, we've gathered a selection of kitchen island ideas to inspire your bespoke designs.

Make your island your own with a choice of worktop, units, and accessories. Below, our expert kitchen designers have provided you with the best kitchen island ideas that blend style with effortless functionality. To begin designing your room, whether it features a small peninsula or a large freestanding kitchen island with seating, book a free design appointment today.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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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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