Range In Kitchen Island or Sink

To add to this discussion – an interior designer I respect suggested putting a cooktop (not a full range) in an island, and our architect nixed the idea for a PARLOR floor kitchen (could be a different answer for a ground floor kitchen with a cellar or basement below where you could hide pipes) since downdraft ventilation needs to vent downward somehow and in a parlor floor it’s harder to make it work, especially in a cost-effective way.  I’m kind of getting put off having anything in the island when like bklynpwds says, people stand around the island (I’ve lived that in a former place before and it was great) and if there was a sink or cooktop in that island, it would get in the way.  Adding that it’s pricier (for our parlor floor) to locate an appliance in the island, and less desirable other than for the triangle, I don’t want to do it – we also have a narrow space in an old house, would/could be different in a more modern or more spacious living situation.  Oh, also – My parents live outside NYC and have an island with a cooktop in it and my mother dislikes it and wouldn’t do it again, finds it inconvenient (their cooktop isn’t vented properly but they don’t use it that much; we would use it a lot and would need proper ventilation)

jeanmarine2

in Appliances 12 years and 1 month ago

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jjq | 12 years and 2 months ago

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Contemplating putting a 4-burner Wolf rangetop in a kitchen island. Space is not an issue, as the island will be designed from the ground up brand new, and there is plenty of room in our existing kitchen for the island.   Im just curious, 40% of the pictures you see of kitchen islands contain SINKS, another 55% contain NO APPLIANCE at all, and only about 5% contain gas burners or electric cooktops.   Ive read down-vent gas burners are useless, so I assume the issue with putting a GAS cooktop in an island is simply — Its tough to vent.   PLUS I assume with effectively NO BACKSPLASH, the island may get messy– especially with grease splatter.   Im curious if any forum users have any comments, experiences, or strong opinions on putting the cooktop or sink in the kitchen island?   THANKS.

7andfive | 12 years and 2 months ago

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I think a range in the island doesn’t make that much sense for the reasons you stated. Who wants cooking oil and smells flying around the kitchent? If you put the sink in the island, you might as well put the dishwasher there as well. You’ll have the water line and loading/unloading the dishwasher will be easier next to the sink.

jjq | 12 years and 2 months ago

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Thanx… It just seems to me…. That cooking has become a “participation sport,” especially when entertaining.   Id rather be looking out into the kitchen and interacting with my dinner guests, (versus looking at a wall and backsplash,) while cooking for a dinner party. A couple (maybe 4) island burners would be nice, especially if there is another full-on range with broiler located somewhere else in the kitchen.   Now admittedly Im talking about the “ultimate” scenario for ME here, and was hoping someone can give me practical advice.

jeanmarine2 | 12 years and 2 months ago

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We’re struggling with this too – cost would dictate NO appliance in the island because we would then keep the current ceiling and floor; but space issues along the utility wall would mean that we are barely fitting our appliances into 10 feet of space, with almost no countertop other than in the island itself.  So for us it’s more, do we put a sink in the island.  I agree with the poster that it makes more sense to put a cooktop in an island in some ways, although I’ve been told a cooktop in an island means one of those big overhead vents from the ceiling to the outside, which is a lovely dramatic look but harder in a smallish brownstone kitchen than a new house or something.  If we have neither stove nor sink in our island we have no triangle, we just have a one-wall kitchen with an island for countertop work – which is fine with me in theory, but might not be in practice.  10 feet is not a lot of space for a stove, sink, dishwasher and fridge, with any kind of real countertop.

bklynpwds | 12 years and 2 months ago

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We have a big island in the center of our kitchen with the stove just behind it.  At parties, everyone congregates at the island while I cook.  It’s wonderful, but has it’s drawbacks.  Cooking needs your attention and I find it almost impossible to concentrate when I have 10 people surrounding me.   I can’t imagine trying to use a cooktop in an island with guests around it.  For one thing, you need the counter space to prep the food/put the hot pots on, etc. Even if the guests are helping to do the prep, which is a lot of fun, they can’t really help you with stuff on the stove.  Imagine having to asks your guests to move while you grab the boiling pot of pasta water to drain it, and then to move again when you need to get back to the stove.  At dinner parties, I’m constantly asking people to move because they get to the wine and cheese at the island and stay for conversation.  Don’t get me wrong, I love having dinner parties.  I had the same idea as you, that it would be fun with everyone around me and helping to cook, but it’s not as much fun as I expected for the reasons I’ve described.  I think it would be even worse if my stove was in my island.

sethamin | 12 years and 2 months ago

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I would guess that venting would be the biggest issue. In these old attached houses, the joists generally the width of the house, so there’s no way to run a ducting for a vent in between the joists (since there’s a party wall on either side). So you either have to drop the ceiling or build out a soffit to get that ducting to an exterior wall.

Arkady | 12 years and 2 months ago

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I have a center island & love it.  Sink is against a wall so glasses & dishes can be put into cabinets easily.  Pots & pans store nicely in all the under-counter cabinets in the island.  I did have to create a soffit – took the duct to the side betwseen beams from the hood & then out to the backyard.  Sorry I can’t get the photo right way up.

http://cdn.brownstoner.com/516311522377a-processed-DSCN5750.JPG