Island vs Breafast Bar

GoneShootin

I'm looking for experienced opinions - those of you that have lived in the trenches. If you had your time over, would you choose Island or Breakfast Bar?

[what I mean by Breafast Bar is an "L" runout from one corner of the kitchen]

Poor Uncle Tom

GoneShootin wrote: »

would you choose Island or Breakfast Bar?

Used to have a breakfast bar but opted for an island during a redesign and I get much better use out of the island because the island is designed specifically for the kitchen and holds a lot of the big dishes and pans in its body and incorporates a wine rack and other storage. The bar was empty underneath to accommodate feet from the high stools, etc. It's really a personal thing, whichever you think you will get the most use out of.

RKQ

Its down to personal taste. We have a 10ft breakfast bar to the side of the kitchen.
Its great for parties, as it becomes our bar.
Sometimes surf the net from it, so its comfortable, practical etc.
It works well and we are very happy with it.

davidoco

just saw this and the other thread re kitchen size. From the drawings it would be a great help if you (or the boss) put the location of where you want the ovens, fridges etc do you want high level ovens/microwaves, firdge type. From the second or third drawing with the island your possibly looking at a large cooking triangle. Also that corner window limits any full height units on that side.

sunnysoutheast

We put in an island (2.4m x 1.2m) with the hob in it. It's good for us because the "chef" is then facing outwards and can be involved in conversation while cooking. The rest of the kitchen is along the wall behind (4.2m) with 3 full-height units and then the workspace/sink. We specifically wanted to make it "difficult" to get behind the island by guiding people (especially small ones) to the front of it.

It depends on what you tend to cook, we rarely if ever cook roasts for example, whether you plan to have a range etc.

If I was designing your kitchen I'd possibly think about the L configuration, but with the "L" at the other end so you could be part of the dining area, but we would design it to our requirements which would differ from yours! There's too much outdated/lazy design goes on - must have sink under window (why?), the all important "triangle" (very often irrelevant these days) - and a little bit of thinking can go a long way.

SSE

bauderline

For that design of kitchen I would much favour the breakfast bar design. The island will likely give you a somewhat cluttered feel to the room. You would in effect have two tables in one room..... not good....

I get away with an island in my design as the two rooms are distinct even though the design is open plan...

The breakfast bar is a winner for your design IMHO.

P.

noby

I presume in your 'Island' plan, the island won't actually go there. It seems to be pushed out to the middle of the room too much. If it was set back in to give you your 900mm walkway all round then it wouldn't feel so much like another table in the room.

We have an island in an open-plan living space and it works for us. At any kind of social gathering the island is where everyone congregates, but as someone said above a breakfast bar can act as a similar focal point. Our island was not designed to be sat at, so we do gain a lot of storage space with it, and a fair bit of worktop too.

JohnBoy

for that layout i'd go with the breakfast bar.

we'll be doing an island in our kitchen, but its a different shape, really depends on the shape of the room i think

noby

JohnBoy wrote: »

for that layout i'd go with the breakfast bar.

I think I would like to walk from the hall straight into the kitchen without walking around a breakfast bar. As SSE said maybe the BB cold be put at the other side of the kitchen.