One of the most popular ideas for modern kitchen designs and remodeling is putting in an island. An island kitchen adds more freedom of movement, more space dedicated to cooking, and an increase in the number of appliances. An island gives a kitchen room for appliances that would have otherwise been impossible luxuries. 



A special benefit of the kitchen island is that it can serve many purposes aside from cooking and cleaning. If you want to make your kitchen more useful for the entire house, a multipurpose island is one of the best tools available.

We’ve handled numerous jobs for kitchen remodeling in Woodland Hills, CA and throughout the Los Angeles area, and we have advice on how to start thinking about making your kitchen island as useful as possible—a place for food preparation, dining, socializing, entertainment, time with the family, and more.

Imagine people sitting around the island

Let’s do a visualization exercise. Imagine your new kitchen and the island at its center. Now think about how many people at a time you might want sitting at it. Maybe you can only imagine a few seats, and most people otherwise standing. But what if you’d like for the kitchen to become the main casual dining area for the house? Think about how much seating will work best for how you want the kitchen to be used. (We understand that you may want fewer people in the kitchen, and that’s an important part of planning as well.)

Traffic flow and traffic jams

The workflow of a kitchen is a critical part of remodeling. We’ve talked before about the importance of the work triangle of a kitchen , and you may wish to review that information. For a multi-use kitchen island, visualize how best to keep the more social activity and dining away from the work triangle. This makes sure the island is truly multipurpose, rather than making the work of cooking and cleaning harder and more difficult—certainly not the outcome you want from a remodel!

Island size, from Greenland to Iceland

The size of the island is essential for its function. If you end up with a Greenland-sized island (i.e. the largest island possible) you may have plenty of space for guests and entertaining, but it might be too big for the space. If you end up with an Iceland-sized island (i.e. one with limited population growth potential, but appealing for visitors), you might deprive yourself of some of the island’s benefits while making the space in the work triangle too distant. Finding the right size between extremes is what to aim for.

Work with an experienced contractor

You can make most of your decisions far easier if you have the ideal remodeling contractor on the job early. We don’t simply handle the construction work for a kitchen model; we are also the design team with the top architects who have many years of experience helping people realize their dream kitchens. We’ll go through all the important considerations listed above and many more so you end up with a kitchen island that serves all the purposes you want from it—and a few you didn’t even know you wanted.

Advanced Builders & Contractors has served the Los Angeles area for more than 16 years. Request an estimate for kitchen remodeling today.