The Kitchen Island

What type of kitchen island do you prefer?

  • A. Sink in Island

    Votes: 15 41.7%

  • B. Stove in Island

    Votes: 4 11.1%

  • C. Nothing in Island

    Votes: 20 55.6%

  • D. No Island

    Votes: 4 11.1%

  • E. Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Total voters
    36
NEW -> Contingent Buyer Assistance Program
irvinehomeowner

irvinehomeowner

Well-known member
340711.full.gif
http://comics.com/pearls_before_swine/2010-10-27/

I love kitchen islands. But I prefer them a certain way. Which one do you like?

You can refer to my crude diagram for reference (assume that to the left of the kitchen is either dining, great room or family room where you would eat or entertain):

wlotua.jpg
 
We have the range in our island but the sink is located directly behind it  ??? there is very little room for two to work at the same time. Also our particular range has a pop up vent that is not effective. I would prefer a traditional overhead vent system.
 
annabanana said:
You should add an option for 2nd sink in island.  That's what I would choose.
Click to expand...
You can choose nothing in island + other.
iacrenter said:
We have the range in our island but the sink is located directly behind it  ??? there is very little room for two to work at the same time.
Click to expand...
I was going to deal with that by offsetting the stove with the sink in island... the only problem is, aesthetically, it looks a bit weird. The key to that is to make more space between the island and the stove (which is what I did in my diagram).
 
it would kind of depend on the kitchen for me..size and layout and stuff.    I know you probably put a little picture up iho but I can't see pictures for some reason ...usually....althoguh I can see the pearls comic.  I'm pretty sure its a setting on my network at work.
 
Only problem with stove in Island is the ventilation system.  You have to have a downdraft (which doesn't work very well) or a hood sticking down in the middle of the kitchen, which I don't like the look of.
 
Irvine2Irvine said:
Only problem with stove in Island is the ventilation system.  You have to have a downdraft (which doesn't work very well) or a hood sticking down in the middle of the kitchen, which I don't like the look of.
Click to expand...
I agree. Also because most island can also serve as breakfast bars, I don't like having the stove there out of fear of my kids touching it. For adults as a sort of Teppan area, that's cool or even as a self-warming buffet area during parties... but I'd rather have my stove against a wall (easier cleanup too).
 
I went with nothing.  having additional storage (within)and power (for food prep) is a good setup
 
How big is too big? It is funny during the bubble years, the size of the kitchen island has grown as much as the average American waist line. I've seen townhomes/condos with islands that take up almost a quarter of the room.
 
I like big islands... esp if there is a sink in it to give more space to put other stuff on it.

I am the designated dish-washer so I like it in the island because that's usually facing the action and I can still be a part of it. And if it's being used as a breakfast bar... dirty dishes can go directly to the sink without worrying about dropping crumbs or gunk on the floors as you move them from one area to another.
 
We are closing in 2 days, but found that cooktop has downdraft vent - one of those final walkthrough surprises. The cooktop is old and with all of 3 (vent, knobs and vent switch) in between 2 lanes. The vent in the middle is connected to downdraft that is connected to pipe and it goes below floor (not sure if it takes turn and goes into wall behind cooktop into the roof or to basement into the backyard).

We are looking to get new cooktop, but vent stands as a problem. Have any one of you tried to change downdraft vent to hood vent? If yes, how does it compare (cost, effort, ease of use) to buying cooktop and telescopic downdraft (E.g. JVB94SHSS). Any ideas?
 
A friend of mine added an island to his kitchen and moved the cooktop there which resulted in him having to add a top vent. It could be done but as for cost, all he told me was it wasn't cheap (was not his idea to do that).

The telescopic downdraft is probably cheaper as the island is already configured that way. I've seen some nice ones and it's not that bad considering you don't have to stare at some huge vent in the middle of your kitchen.
 
Thanks IHO.

Well, our cooktop is not on island - but on the kitchen itself. The wall that I was referring was the wall between kitchen and great/living room.

Given this scenario, will it change your suggestion. I have read many reviews where folks do not like downdraft vent, that vent pulls air - ends up pulling flames as well resulting in uneven distribution of heat on cooktop burners.
 
From a design standpoint, keeping a downdraft will be much, much easier.  Of the people I know that have changed (less than a dozen) none have said it was worth the cost. 

If it makes you feel more at ease, the uneven heating on a stovetop should be less of a concern than an uneven temp on an oven. 

Good luck, and congrats again,
IR2

P.S. To find out where the terminus is for the vent, cook some stovetop garlic shrimp with the vent on, and chase the smell down from outside... You'll find it immediately :-) 
 
IrvineRealtor said:
From a design standpoint, keeping a downdraft will be much, much easier.  Of the people I know that have changed (less than a dozen) none have said it was worth the cost. 

If it makes you feel more at ease, the uneven heating on a stovetop should be less of a concern than an uneven temp on an oven. 

Good luck, and congrats again,
IR2

P.S. To find out where the terminus is for the vent, cook some stovetop garlic shrimp with the vent on, and chase the smell down from outside... You'll find it immediately :-)
Click to expand...

Thanks IR2!

Not sure what you mean by " uneven temp on an oven.". Microwave oven and regular oven are stacked and they are separately located in kitchen side below one of those cabinets. So, cooktop is on its own - with nothing above or below it (other than downdraft duct pipe below it).

Hood vent is futuristic change (than downdraft which is almost obsolete now), thought changing it that way is better. But not sure how much it will cost? Any ideas on how much it costed for your people?
 
1. Is there room above your stove for an updraft? Usually if there is downdraft against a wall, you will have upper cabinets or something. Do you want to give up those things for that?

2. If the wall against your stove is a separating wall (which I think you said it is), the cost will probably be higher since you would have to create ductwork up the wall to the attic and out one of the existing vents or creating a new vent. An exterior wall would probably cost less (I think I've seen enough 'House Crashers' to form this opinion).

3. If the downdraft is working properly, why change it? As long as it's venting efficiently, it will probably be more cost efficient to use it and you don't have to worry about installing a hood. Aesthetically, some people like not having a hood, where others want to make the hood look like some industrial centerpiece for visitors to drop their jaws at. If you like the Pick-Up Stix look... then you may want to consider it.  :D
 
There is room (of may be 2 ft) above the stove, above which there are 2 cabinets.

The wall against our stove is separating wall (between kitchen and great room). Existing downdraft goes below stove into the floor (not in to the separating wall, unless it twists after it goes into the floor). Hence, my intent was to reuse to put hood vent and connect it to existing down-draft vent duct pipe.

Downdraft works fine. The problem with it is to upgrade "old" cooktop to stainless steel one, its costing $1800 to purchase one (eg. JGD3430WS from Jenn-Air). These are rarely sold and are ordered to make. And knowing that it is obsolete, should we be spending the same (or less) money on making downdraft to hood vent?
 
I don't think downdrafts are obsolete... kitchens with island cooktops need to use them.

I think you will get less efficiency by changing the direction of the air flow (going up and then back down again) as that would probably need more mechanical elements to keep the air moving.

Have you looked at other models than JennAir?
 
That (less efficiency) is another reason - flavours/spices in air goes up and downdraft have to pull them down.

We wanted 30'' stainless steel cooktop with steel knobs on the side. We could not find any brands other than Jenn-Air. GE has a telescopic vent that does downdraft (with flat cooktop to buy separately) for $900, but reviews are not that good.
 
We found that range hoods are of 3 types depending on exhaust type: vented/ducted (has an outlet with duct pipe), non-vented/duct-free/recirculating (has no outlet but charcoal filter that can be replaced every 6 months) and convertible (serves both and offers flexibility).

To avoid downdraft - we plan to install convertible range hood (eg. JV636HSS - http://products.geappliances.com/ApplProducts/Dispatcher?REQUEST=SpecPage&Sku=JV536HSS) and use it with charcoal filter for now - till we remodel kitchen to put ducted outlet connecting to existing downdraft duct. Did any one use one of these range hoods before? Comments?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top