Kitchen Island Design Question

FutureMrsMerati

As I've posted about a few times before, my husband and I have recently closed on a house and are in the process of having renovations done. We have decided to knock down a wall separating our kitchen and living space, and install an island in its place. In our current home's island, we have a garbage & recycling receptacle, thin/wide drawer and two large cupboards. In all honesty, the cupboards are a place where we store a lot of our "junk" and plastic bags, and I will be the first to admit we do not utilize it efficiently. Do you have any tips/ideas for smart installations or uses for islands? Do you prefer drawers or cupboards? We are retaining the garbage/recycling bin in our new island, but the rest of the 5 ft. is up for discussion, so plenty of space to work with! Thanks!

musictchr25

Definitely go with drawers. They will save you tons of space and will be much easier to access the items in the back without having to get down on your knees and move everything around.

I also would highly suggest making sure that you have electrical outlets. You'll want them for mixers, countertop grills, crock pots, etc. 

I use some of my island storage for outdoor dining storage, so plastic cups and plates, seasonal items that I don't need to access all the time, and other items that aren't always used, like cake forms, cookie cutters, rolling pins, table linens, fondue set.

As you grow into your home, you'll accumulate more things - having that additional storage space will be really nice, even if that means right now you put in cabinets that remain empty for a while. Try to add as much storage as you possibly can.  

MommyLiberty5013

I actually have a huge drawer and a large cabinet with two doors beneath it. The cabinet has two pull-out shelves inside it. I like this. The size of the cabinet allows for larger items to be stored, but the pull-outs allow for easy access. It's a mixture of both a cabinet and drawers, basically.