Do you have traffic problems in your kitchen? Do you find that while you have plenty of floor space, what you need is more work space! Have you considered adding an island to your kitchen? One of the easiest ways to increase the amount of work space in your kitchen is to install a kitchen island. Kitchen islands are standalone countertops usually placed in the middle of large kitchens to create more room for preparing and storing food. Kitchen islands can contain additional drawers, cabinets and wine racks, increasing the overall storage capacity of smaller kitchens. When you plan for your island you need to plan for the lighting as well as you need ample light to cook and do other tasks. Because the island is typically in the center of the room there can be ample room to hang lights from above.

When you decide to put in a kitchen island, you’ll want to decide on three things — the countertop, the basic design and the color. When these harmonize with the rest of your kitchen, your kitchen island is a beautiful fixture that will not only be useful, but increase the value of your home.

You don’t necessarily have to match the countertops in the rest of your kitchen, and may not even want to. You can choose kitchen island countertops that contrast rather than match your present counters. If you’ve ever longed for a granite countertop, but have been afraid of the expense, installing one in your kitchen island will be a lovely, rich grace note to your kitchen and still harmonize well. If you don’t favor marble or granite, a stainless steel kitchen island countertop is often a lovely choice. If you intend to use your kitchen island as a cutting board, maybe a wood block countertop (sometimes called butcher’s block) might be just the thing.

Many people chose to match their kitchen cabinets when choosing cabinets for their kitchen island. This gives a lovely, harmonious look to the entire kitchen, but again you don’t have to be constrained by that. As long as the look harmonizes with the rest of your kitchen, you can choose different cabinets for your kitchen island. Do give careful thought to the type of storage you’ll need in your kitchen island when you install cabinets and shelving. Will you be storing large, awkward dishes, or will you be keeping regularly-used plastic ware? Design the cabinets to fit your needs.

Of course, design and color are the most crucial parts. Make sure that you’re choosing colors that harmonize well with your kitchen and designs that go well with the rest of your kitchen appliances. Whether it’s bright French country or darkly-formal 18th century, make sure that your kitchen island enhances your kitchen’s overall design. There are varieties of pre built or build it yourself types of kitchen islands that you can buy. These are typically less expensive than getting one custom built. They come in different sizes and designs. A custom built island also looks very nice. It is created especially for your kitchen to fit all of your needs making it look like it was there the entire time the house was. If you do not want an island all of the time, but still want it available when you need it, consider getting a portable island. These types of islands offer the convenience of an extended workspace when you need it most but they have wheels on them so you can wheel them out of the way and store them. They are also called kitchen carts by some. When you plan out your kitchen island you should be mostly concerned about efficiency. It should not hinder your ability to move around in the kitchen. They are typically four feet by two feet and if you want to put stools around it there should still be room to walk around the stools as well.