The Newfangled Kitchen Island

The ultra modern kitchen doesn't differ too much from kitchens of say 20 or even 30 years ago. It's still home to a cooker and a sink, a fridge and possibly a freezer and there's still plenty of storage space for food, pots and pans, crockery and cutlery. In spite of the fundamental similarities, one can tell at a glance whether a kitchen is old fashioned or ultra modern and the difference is in the design, not the functionality. The kitchen is still the hub of the home, the room in which food is stored, prepared and served. However the kitchen is evolving.

From the tiny kitchens of terraced housing seen on Coronation Street to the large kitchen diner which is common in most semi-detached or detached housing, the kitchen became a place to socialise, to eat together instead of a solitary room designed purely for cooking. It was this step forward which saw the birth of modern kitchen design; kitchen base units became 'standard' which meant finding just replacement kitchen doors was far easier than ever before. Giving the modern kitchen a make-over can be done in a day of you just want to change the kitchen doors and drawer fronts. And even replacing the kitchen base units too can be done in a weekend if you're an adept DIYer.

Many modern kitchens feature the breakfast bar; a small area of worktop, often with no kitchen base units beneath leaving room for a couple of stools making a handy area for eating breakfast or any other quick snack. The down side of the breakfast bar is they are seldom used. It seems like a great idea at the time but essentially, the breakfast bar is a waste of space. However even this has come of age with the development if the 'island'. No longer is the centre of a large kitchen taken up with a dining table and chairs, as the 'island' offers even more storage space, puts the sink or hob centre stage and gives much more workspace for food preparation.

Essentially a kitchen 'island' is either two, three or four kitchen units assembled in the centre of the kitchen. The worktops can be left free or can easily accommodate a sink or even a hob, however plumbing in a sink with underfloor drainage or fitting a gas or electric hob may require the hiring of specialist trades. The beauty of the kitchen island is the person preparing the food no longer has to face the wall, allowing them cook and socialise without constantly having to twist and turn. The kitchen island has changed the kitchen from being merely a place to cook and store food to the social hub of the home.