If you are looking to add a kitchen island to your kitchen design, or maybe make an existing island look better, then this article is the place for you! Kitchen islands present the opportunity for more space for food preparation, an added stylish element to the space, a potential statement piece, and also allow for different appliance configurations. Often, people incorporate their sinks or cooktops on their kitchen islands. If you’re looking for more cabinet space, islands are a great place to put microwaves and other small appliances so they don’t take up any wall space that could otherwise be used for more cabinetry.
Incorporating an island into your kitchen doesn’t have to be a difficult task, especially once you’ve decided what style, size, and location you want for your island. This article presents the perfect opportunity for you to see which island will fit best in your kitchen design!
Let’s not waste any more time and dive into these 12 different and unique kitchen island ideas!
Modern Farmhouse Island
If you flip through home magazines, browse Pinterest, or scroll through almost any social media platform, you’ll find many homes that embody the modern farmhouse style. For the kitchen space, this look can sometimes be difficult to continue. The inclusion of lots of natural textures, such as wood or stone, is a great way to complete the farmhouse look in the kitchen. In the kitchen above, without the wood materials it would look like an ordinary white kitchen. Incorporating a kitchen island with stained wood cabinetry is a great way to not only create a statement, but allow you to continue that farmhouse feel that is otherwise easy to lose!
Island Furniture Repurposed
If you have an eye for vintage pieces, or just furniture that can be upcycled in general, having an island of repurposed furniture is another great option for a kitchen island. When you visit almost any thrift store, you will see tables, hutches, old cabinets, dressers, work benches, and more. Any of these have the potential to be a kitchen island and often have storage already built into them (no need to buy a countertop OR cabinets)! When you do this, make sure the top of it is sealed and prepared so it can last as long as the rest of the kitchen!
Minimalist Island
Looking to incorporate a kitchen island into a minimalist kitchen? The kitchen pictured above has a beautifully designed kitchen island, featuring only two basic colors yet providing a huge statement for the space. For minimalist designs, it’s easy for a space to start looking boring or maybe even unfinished. To get away from what happens in your minimalist kitchen, including a waterfall countertop provides a dramatic and attractive look to the space.
Stovetop Island
When a kitchen space is on the smaller side and there is not much space to work, including the stovetop or the oven in the island is a great option to save space. By doing this, your device will not look so crowded in a small space. Not only that, but it can also be seen as a statement in design with the inclusion of a range hood that descends from the roof. Depending on the size of the island, there may also be space for a breakfast bar or even additional appliances.
Rolling Island
Calling all small kitchen owners! If you have tight space in the kitchen, incorporating a rolling island (sometimes called a cart island) may be the best decision you’ve ever made. They come in all shapes and sizes, styles, colors, and can be purchased at almost any furniture store or furniture website. When you are preparing a meal, you will be able to roll the cart into the kitchen area and have the additional space and storage of the countertop.
Island with two colors
When you have an island that has cabinets or countertops that are different from the rest of the kitchen, it provides a nice statement for the space, as well as adding more color if you have a one color kitchen. The easiest way to achieve this two-tone look is to incorporate white cabinets with an island with or blue or gray cabinets. This is one of the easiest designs to incorporate into your kitchen, and it makes it look magazine-ready!
Butcher Block Island
Incorporating butcher block into kitchens has become increasingly popular, especially as countertops. But in this case, butcher block kitchen islands are a great way to break up the potentially plain, monochromatic space. Adding butcher block to your island will provide your kitchen with more warmth, more texture, and overall bring more style to your kitchen design!
Breakfast Bar Island
Incorporating a breakfast bar into your island is a great option for when you don’t have enough space for a breakfast nook or dining table. There are many ways to do this, all of which provide extra seating which can also be useful for families with children or people who like to entertain others. Like the picture above, a breakfast bar island can be just a piece of material added to the island. A more popular option is to simply make a continuation of the island or to include a raised portion of the island for people to sit on.
Island Statement
If you’re looking to add a little more style and differentiation to your kitchen design, adding a statement island will do wonders! There is a huge range of options that you can make in order to achieve the eye-catching look for an island. The island can be a pop of color, a different material such as wood, stone, or metal, or it can be as easy as including a different type of countertop from the rest of the kitchen. If bland and plain kitchens aren’t your style, then adding a statement island might just be the option for you!
Double Island
If you have a large kitchen space, incorporating two islands may just be the right decision for your kitchen design! Not only does it make an amazing statement, but it provides double the countertop space, seating, space for appliances, and an opportunity to add more stylistic elements to the kitchen. Having two kitchen islands presents the opportunity to get rid of negative and unused space and instead make it usable and add to the feel of the whole kitchen!
Irregular Shaped Island
Sick and tired of seeing the same rectangular or square shaped kitchen islands? Then an irregular shape kitchen island it could be the right decision for you. Kitchen islands can come in almost any shape you can think of, so depending on the shape of your entire kitchen space, you’ll be able to incorporate an island that’s different from all the rest. The beautiful kitchen island shown above is the perfect shape to incorporate not only a sink and cabinetry, but also extra seating. Try playing with different shapes of kitchen islands, and maybe you can just get away with an irregular one!
Built-in Dining Table Island
Another great way to maximize the use of space in your kitchen is to include an integrated dining table in your kitchen island. When a breakfast nook is not a possibility, or maybe you don’t have space for a dining room table, this is a great option. The look of the built-in is seamless with the island, providing more stylistic elements to the kitchen as a whole, and it functions as additional seating too!
Creating the kitchen of your dreams doesn’t have to be difficult, and neither does picking the right kitchen island to go with the rest of your kitchen design. LilyAnnCabinets.com has a free 3D kitchen design tool to help you achieve the exact design you’ve dreamed of. So when you want to shake up the design of your kitchen island or your entire kitchen, Lily Ann Cabinets is there to help along the way!
