Sink or Cook Top on Island
I see a lot of island kitchens in display homes and when visiting friends……..one thing that puzzles me is that they all have the sink in the island unit.
In my opinion it’s better to have the cooktop on the island (like the above photo) and the sink under a window, or wall, for the following reasons:
- If you are having friends round for a meal, or even just talking to the family, you will be facing them while you cook.
- Because of the extra pipe distance to get to the island bench it generally takes a long time for the hot water to get to the mixer.
- Washing pans, or peeling veggies, are tasks where you don’t need to concentrate so its nice to look out of the window.
One problems is you will have less choice when it comes to range hoods, and perhaps need a more powerful model for the same effect.
If you really want a sink on the island, have the main one elsewhere but have a smaller sink at one end of the island. You will probably only need cold water to this sink but make sure you have a high outlet, so its easy to fill pans with water.
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What about the oven?
Myself I think I wouldn’t put the oven on the island but put it against a wall. When you are getting a hot dish out of the oven its useful to have a clear bench above it rather than a cook top.
Brian
I think you are correct, my plans had the cooktop against a wall, however i changed it to the island bench and am very happy with the decision. however I also have a small round sink about 800mm away used for washing vegies and preparation before cooking, this i think works great as you wash, cut, prepare and cook all in the same area. though my island bench is 4.2m long x 1.1m wide so i have room for both