Kitchen islands are over — here’s what to do now

Are you Team Table or an acolyte of the island? Nothing divides the nation’s cooks like the hulking storage unit that squats in the centre of many a contemporary kitchen, meticulously matched to the fitted cabinets. Is the island non-negotiable — as the kitchen studios would have us believe — or a naff monstrosity? Wouldn’t we all be better off with a picturesquely scarred and scrubbed refectory table?
Islands became popular as the TV chef’s stage set. From Julia Child, in the Sixties, to Noughties Nigella Lawson and now the Sorted boys, we have come to expect our cookery programmes to be presented from behind sarcophagus-sized kitchen cabinetry. When dining rooms disappeared and kitchens took on the additional function of entertaining zone, demand for islands soared — we needed that extra cupboard and counter space. It’s a recipe that’s “good on paper”. So why does it often turn out as disappointing as a collapsed soufflé?
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen — interior designer, TV personality and island sceptic — maintains that devotion to these statement space hogs is driven by ego tripping home cooks. “Islands grew like knotweed alongside the cult of the celebrity chef. Guests turning up, bottle in hand, were invited to worship as their hosts, facing the crowd like an overhyped pumped-up Ibiza DJ, assembled dinner. All terribly typical of the past two decades when me-o-philia was allowed to run rampant.” Crikey. But yes. As a guest, who wouldn’t rather gossip at the table than be a captive audience for the cook’s santoku skills? The informality of the table wins round one.
In islands, as in everything, size matters. The dimensions of our actual kitchens are often significantly smaller than the expansive glass extensions shown in the brochures. In a normal-sized kitchen, the desire to cram in an island can result in a cramped space. Tom Howley, creative design director of the eponymous kitchen company and creator of illustrious islands, has this advice. “Sacrificing floor space to fit an island will just give an awkward, uncomfortable look. Always leave a metre of walkway space on one or two sides of your worktop, island or peninsula counter.” But hands up who has a metre to spare? Exactly. Round two to the table.
You can’t make your cake and eat it too at an island. If the counter is the right height to sift, whisk and mix, then it is too tall to sit at comfortably — unless you invest in a set of ludicrous tottery seats on stilts known as bar stools. “I have never been particularly good on a bar stool, and I do think being able to eat comfortably in the kitchen is critical to a relaxed, cosy dining experience for both family and friends,” says the garden designer and celebrated hostess, Butter Wakefield. “I am totally Team Table,” she says. “An avid lover of laying the table with a gorgeous cloth and mats, plenty of seasonal flowers from the garden, an array of coloured candles, a varied assortment of lovely bits of old china, and all the additional trappings and trimmings which go on a table. I don’t really think the same amount of glorious abandon can be lavished on a kitchen island.” Fair point. There’s a reason nobody ever coined the term islandscaping.
Even some kitchen designers have defected to Team Table. Helen Parker, creative director of the British kitchen-maker deVOL, says: “Kitchen tables and prep tables, for us here at deVOL, are the very best piece of furniture to have in the middle of your kitchen. Islands are still popular, and definitely have many benefits, but we have managed over the years to encourage our customers to favour prep tables or simple kitchen tables instead. A table creates a much more lived-in look, they are practical and they have an openness that islands don’t usually have.” Her prep tables are a delightful compromise, with open shelving below and a practical work surface, all at a comfortable dining height. Parker says: “They can have marble worktops and storage but still feel like a beautiful piece of furniture, which sadly most islands don’t.”
But before we declare islands out for the count, let’s cast an eye over the cool kitchens in which an island takes centre stage. Pro-island TV presenter and cookery writer Clodagh McKenna says she discovered a way to make the bar stool/island interface comfortable, when she designed her own compact Chelsea kitchen. “Do you know how many islands I’ve sat at, and your thighs are squashed against the counter or you have to move your knees to the side?” she demands. “Buy your stools first. Design the island around the stools, so people can sit on the stools and their legs fit underneath. Measure from the hip to the kneecap of the tallest person in the house [her husband is 6ft 6in tall, so she knows whereof she speaks] and that’s how deep you need the space under the counter. I know that sounds ridiculous but it is important!” Her island, topped by a chunky marble counter, is a petite spin on the genre. “You can fit four people on it for dinner. I don’t think you need anything bigger than that.”
Another option that suits a smallish kitchen — let’s call it island lite — is a peninsula. It’s an island that’s attached at one end to the wall units, creating an L-shaped run of cabinets. Rosanna Falconer, a textile designer and tablescaper, plumped for a peninsula. She says: “My husband, George, and I have always said one of the few things we have in common is our love of a good party, so this kitchen combines dining space with plenty of floor space so that guests can chat while we cook.”
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While she prizes her peninsula, Falconer’s favourite piece of furniture is the kitchen table. Six years ago, she made a resolution to hold more dinner parties (“In my thirties, I realised that my social life wasn’t as dynamic as five years before”), and has now hosted more than 100 suppers on this table, which she inherited from her great aunt. “Our kitchen table is the heart and hub of family life for us. It is where I paint a lot of my prints, where my eldest learns to write her name and where my youngest does her most masterful scribbles. But come 7.30pm, I can throw down one of my block-printed tablecloth designs, dim the lights, add a few taper candles and jam jars of flowers from the garden. Suddenly, it’s transformed for dinner. It is as adaptable as it is practical, the most hard-working piece of furniture in our house.”
Harriet Haskell-Thomas, a fashion stylist, chose a second-hand island salvaged from a professional kitchen for her rented northwest London home. “We moved in a year ago to this really big square kitchen — this big empty space. Before I’d even signed the contract I was on eBay looking for commercial islands,” she says. The stainless steel structure, from a Birmingham pub, cost her £500, and has a counter top that stands up to every family activity: hot pans, mixing the evening cocktails and colouring-in (for the two under-tens). “Last weekend, for my husband’s birthday, we hired a DJ and his decks went on the island. The kitchen turned into a proper kitchen disco.” One issue with buying a metal island, she warns, is+ “you don’t realise how heavy it is. We had eight friends heaving it in. We had the front door off. Eventually it went over the fence and into the side return. The only worry is how we get it out when we move. I’m so attached to it now. It’s definitely coming with me.” Who is going to tell her a table would have been easier?