With creativity and flair, your kitchen island will become your entertainment hub as well as a practical workspace. Here are 7 kitchen island ideas our Sydney clients are enjoying. Read on.
On Sydney’s Northern Beaches we focus on lifestyle and nothing says relaxed living like a stylish kitchen island. With creativity and flair, your kitchen island bench will become your entertainment hub. Here are 7 kitchen island ideas our clients are enjoying:
1. Add a drinks trough for easy entertaining
While it’s common to include a sink in an island bench, we recently completed a kitchen that features a plumbed drinks trough down the centre of their island. Now, guests can congregate around this kitchen focal point and help themselves to drinks. What a brilliant idea!
2. Creating a stylish focal point for open plan living
Don’t feel obliged to blend your kitchen island with your other kitchen cabinetry. Make it stand out. Here are a few ideas:
- Create an interesting architectural detail in your home by building an island with an unusual shape or at an interesting angle to the rest of your kitchen
- Use different coloured cabinetry or benchtop to the rest of your kitchen
- Include open shelving in your island to store recipe books or display your favourite glassware or platters
3. Add multiple layers to your island
Your island bench doesn’t need to be one height. In fact, the latest trend is to integrate a dining table into your island. For extra sophistication, use a feature material for the top of your table such as timber or marble.
Another option is to include a split-level countertop on your island to create a splashback for your built-in sink or hotplates.
4. Tight on space? Try a mobile island bench
While a spacious island bench is most people’s dream, it’s not always possible. But don’t let a small kitchen interfere with your island bench dreams. By including heavy duty casters on your island, you can create a highly flexible bench that can be located anywhere in your open plan living space – depending on your needs.
Remember, when it comes to fitting an island in any size kitchen, it’s all about proportion and how you want to use your island.
5. Tips when including a sink in your island
If you choose to include a sink in your kitchen island, make it a feature by adding stylish tapware with an undermounted sink. When it comes to choosing your sink, perhaps consider one in a feature colour like matte black or a metallic finish like copper or gold.
6. Traditional or unique? In a custom-built kitchen it’s your choice!
If you prefer a more traditional looking kitchen, make your island bench look like a piece of furniture with turned legs or ornate trim. Another option is to add highly individualised features to your island such as a pet feeding station.
7. Don’t forget to add feature lights
Every kitchen island needs good lighting and that’s your opportunity to go bold with feature lights. There’s a vast range of kitchen island lighting options. If you are planning to use your island for intimate dinners as well as meal preparation, ask for a dimmer switch to be included so you can adjust the light to suit the activity.
The Northern Beaches’ custom kitchen specialist!
Investing in a custom kitchen means you have the ability to personalise every aspect of your new kitchen design to create the lifestyle you want to enjoy. That’s why at Collaroy Kitchen Centre, you work with kitchen designers – not salespeople.
We’re licensed builders who specialise in building exceptional and totally customised kitchens, butler’s pantries, bathrooms, laundries and whole home cabinetry. We are also members of the Master Builders Association and the Australian Cabinet and Furniture Association (ACFA).
Located on Sydney’s North Shore, we have been designing and building unique kitchens for 25 years.
If you are looking for a kitchen renovation specialist who will listen to how you want to use your kitchen, contact Collaroy Kitchen Centre by calling 02 9972 9300 or email us.
