When we bought our home I was particularly struck by the awesome details that the previous homeowner added throughout; however I was also a bit baffled because they settled on cheap kitchen cabinets for what I consider to be the most important room of the home. Despite the beautiful architectural touches such as arched doorways, gorgeous wood floors, and stunning wood work we had ugly laminate cabinetry and a fairly un-cohesive design in the kitchen. We opted for a complete gut job and started fresh from the ground up. I knew I wanted to add a large kitchen island as well as tons of pantry space and a large decorative range hood. We were able to get all of this and more inside our long and narrow layout. I think my favorite feature ended up being this long kitchen island with seating for our entire family because it made the room so much more functional for the kids.
I wanted to share one of our latest home renovation projects because I think that a lot of homeowners would love the style of this kitchen island with storage that we built as the focal point to the space. We know that many people come on here for design inspiration as they embark on their own DIY renovations or even to help them direct interior decorators and contractors that they hire to complete their work -- so sharing unique or particularly functional designs has become a passion of mine. What makes this particular kitchen island with granite top different than all of the other units you have seen is the wide variety of storage options and appliances we were able to fit (and disguise) in here. There are custom drawers for pots and pans, spice racks, a garbage/recycling organization station, dishwasher and bar sink as well as so much more. We started with a basic design for a kitchen island with seating, then branched off and added cool custom touches that fit the homeowners lifestyle needs. I encourage you to do the same in your own kitchen.
We just replaced our old formica with these beautiful granite kitchen countertops in preparation to list our home on the market, and now I am sad that we are going to be selling! I can't believe how much they transformed the whole space and made it feel like we were in a completely different home. The kitchen designer at the tile shop where we purchased these even suggested that we overhang about twelve inches on the existing using so that we could add a kitchen island with stools where we didn't have one before. I can't believe how brilliant of a tip that was and I definitely wanted to pass it along to any other folks that are on the look out for a creative way to add a kitchen island with seating to their space.
When we started renovating our house, my wife specifically requested a large kitchen island with seating to accommodate all of our kids and their friends. She wanted a space that they could work on their homework, hangout, or each a snack while she was preparing meals. Honestly, I thought that this was a great ideas as well so I was happy to accommodate her request. I started looking around for kitchen island ideas and realized that there are two main categories of designs -- your typical floating rectangle or a peninsula shape. Now, typically a peninsula style island connects to one row of cabinets and creates an "L" shape. I liked the shape a lot but I did not have the layout to connect it to an existing row of cabinets, so I decided to try something a bit unconventional and create a floating kitchen island with seating in that same peninsula shape. I think it flows much better within our kitchen floor plan and actually gives us a ton more storage than I would have thought possible.
Unconventional kitchen island designs seems to be a quickly emerging trend for 2022 as we see unconventional styles like this space becoming more and more requested. Most homeowners that are embarking on a remodel or new build list a kitchen island with seating on their "must have" list, and for good reason. These awesome features offer a ton of functionality including storage, space to house additional appliances, area for dining, and tons of workspace for prepping food or doing work. I love the idea of a kitchen island table like we used in this recent home built because it acts as a hybrid between the traditional unit that we have all come to love, and a piece of furniture. It makes the overall look much more contemporary and I find it to be quite elegant. This particular island design is especially beautiful because we opted for a stained wood top rather than using the same granite as we did in the rest of the space. I think it gives the finished piece a much more upscale look.
While researching kitchen island cabinets you see the same old design over and over with nothing particularly new or exciting between the photos. This home, however, was so inspiring to me particularly because of their awesome geometric kitchen design. I have never seen a home quite like this one. Between the beautiful wood panelling, modern lines, and cool industrial touches, it is such an unexpected combination of styles, colors, and textures. Even better, with features like this kitchen island with seating for 4, bounty of storage, and huge gas range, it is as functional a space as it is decorative. Our current home does not quite have the same style architecture (ours is far more traditional) so I do not think that I could recreate this design there. However, it really inspires me to work harder to create a unique and unexpected design that is highly functional. We already knew that we wanted a kitchen island with seating, but now I want to build a huge surface like this one and cover it in wood grain panelling for the same contemporary look.
