21 Awesome Kitchen Island Ideas (Here’s a Final Answers)

Why not have a gorgeous kitchen island as the centerpieces of your kitchen if you can? Since the kitchen is the heart of a home, add another ‘place’ for family activities in the kitchen beside expanding your functional space. These unique kitchen island ideas are here to inspire you to create memorable cooking for you and your family.

Not only as a practical area where a family is making their food, kitchen often become the most memorable place at home.

These ideas will guide you through the essentials of making your kitchen island not only functional but also enhancing the quality of your kitchen design.

It will also guide you to decide the design style, materials, and also the layouts for your kitchen island. So, Let’s explore!

1. Farmhouse Kitchen Island Ideas

Not only most-known one, but farmhouse island style is also the most suitable for your country looks kitchen. Diagonal cross at both ends of the wooden island is the bold characteristic of this style.

The combination of light colored wood and brick vibe in your kitchen is the perfect match for farmhouse island style. Picking the bold texture wood like oak is an option you can do.

The wooden island will complement your light colored country kitchen and define the warm kitchen ambiance even more. Keeping the characteristic of wood as the dominant element of the island will make the style perfectly works.

An additional creative step you can do is to paint your wooden island. Bright and soft color can add a pop of cheerful mood into your warm kitchen.

2. Attractive Rustic Kitchen Style

Bring back your childhood ambiance with this rustic kitchen island idea. Simple and bulky wood structure island just like one mom had is what you need.

The bulky structure filled your kitchen even the overall size of the island is small. This is one great island idea if you want a simple style kitchen with a minimal number of furniture.

Rough joints of the island installation and the texture of wood are what made the rustic vibe. You can decorate the island with bronze colored utensils or black metals decoration to make it more attractive. Let this island stands alone and being the rustic centerpiece of the kitchen. Moreover, it is also perfect to be combined for your outdoor kitchen ideas.

3. Cottage Kitchen Island

Cottage Style is basically a combination of farmhouse ambiance with a touch of vintage. You can pop pattern to complete this style to make your kitchen more family-friendly. This style encourages you to use embrace pattern and the combination of soft and bright color.

Cottage style is one of a great kitchen island ideas because soft-bright combination gives fresh mood into your kitchen space.

You can transform your clean white kitchen into a more liveable ambiance by having this island style. Place square wood island in the middle of your kitchen with bold vertical plank pattern, and paint it blue.

Voila! If you feel a little bit experimental, you can add some pattern like dots or stripes on your stool cushion to step up your design.

4. Minimalist Kitchen Island Ideas

If your overall kitchen is already breath-taking, you do not need to do ‘more’ with your kitchen island. These kitchen island ideas are about completing your kitchen looks. Simple does not always mean understated. Simplicity is actually a great and stands out design style.

Minimalistic can show through unifying your design elements, such as color or material. By choosing a mono-color or mono-material island, you can draw attention without doing much. White colored island, stainless steel island and the option goes endlessly. It is your call.

5. Modern Chic Ideas

The simple-basic shape and cool color combination are what you need to have in mind if you want a modern chic island. Choose your pattern wisely, because modernity often being related to plain surfaces. Your decoration has to complement each other without stealing the attention.

A natural pattern like wood, concrete, or stone texture is a safe option to bring in the pattern without ‘over-do’ your palette. Glossy white granite can be a beautiful choice to enhance the cool ambiance of this kitchen island idea.

Make your island structure continuous with its countertop also an excellent way to emphasize the basic shape of your island. Or, if you want it to be more futuristic, you can have a floating island to create a modern vibe in your kitchen.

6. Luxurious Kitchen Island Style

Your kitchen is your second living room. For you who often have your socialite friends coming over, this luxurious style from these kitchen island ideas is a perfect composition to make your kitchen your luxurious hang-out place.

Glam up your island countertop with a high-end stone in a gloss finish and match it with selection gold-colored utensils. To complete the look, put elegant chandelier hanging right above with yellow tone lighting.

To make this island a comfortable hang-out place, you can choose the breakfast bar type island. Don’t forget your stool can also be your decorative elements. Pick a matching leather cushion and maybe a small fur pillow. Nobody will want to go to the café anymore!

 7. Professional Kitchen Look

If we are talking about professional look kitchen, we are talking about stainless steel. The endurance of it makes stainless steel as the most suitable for kitchen material.

Another characteristic that speaks professional look kitchen is an island with wheels. It is because a professional island needs to be mobile, so the kitchen is flexible for doing a transformation.

This kitchen island idea is a brilliant way to combine stainless steel to make an impressive professional look kitchen. Stainless steel also gives cool nuance. Therefore, it is best to balance it with material or color that offers a warm ambiance.

In this case, you can use wood or dark colored stone to balance the stainless steel. Unlike light colored stone, stainless steel has light characteristic along with its cool ambiance.

Stainless steel is a perfect countertop material if you want to have a long or large kitchen island.

8. Contemporary Kitchen Style

The contemporary style of the kitchen island is all about dark and bold bright combination, and sleek stainless steel utensils. The minimalistic is a must. This kitchen island idea encourages to create clean looking island without any decorative elements.

The most used color combinations are black, white, and red. The contrast that comes from the color combination is balanced with the absence of the decorative elements.

This makes, although it has a bold color combination, the style is not ‘too much’. It is because the primary focus of this style is the color, you can pick any material that you want, as long as it does not have texture. This way, you can choose cheap material if you are shopping on a budget.

9. Double Duty Island Ideas

The kitchen island is normally a table. But these kitchen island ideas will upgrade your “only table” kitchen into something more. It can be an extension of the kitchen space or be part of the kitchen. The type and the design of your kitchen island will determine the activities on the table.

Most commonly, the kitchen island is the additional space for meal preparation process. But, through these kitchen island ideas, you can add another function to your kitchen island.

Expansion of the Kitchen (with sink or with stove)

Not only for supporting your kitchen, you can also do your main kitchen activities on your kitchen island. You can do this by designing your kitchen island with a sink or with a stove.

It is an amazing way to make your cooking activities easier to blend with other family activities.

If you are usually facing the wall when you are cooking, this way you can face your stove or sink to any direction you want.

One thing you have to note is that by doing this, your kitchen island will have a functional installation that will make its position fixed. Therefore, if you want to have a movable one, this is not for you.

Family Space (as a dining table or as a breakfast bar)

The other great way to enhance your family bond is to bring them into the kitchen. You can do this by adding a dining table function to your kitchen island.

You can do this by creating the kitchen island with breakfast bar style just simply ‘plant’ your dining table into your kitchen island.

Picking the right style of chairs or stool you are using is something you can do to add other decorative elements to your kitchen.

This way, you can just have a kitchen island and not buy another dining table.

Additional Storage (with Shelves)

Having a kitchen island means you have another space to utilize. The space below the countertop is a perfect space to store all your stuff that no longer fit into your kitchen cabinets. You can design attractive drawers or cabinets to hide all the mess.

10. Leveling Surface Style

Create leveling on your kitchen island will make it more interesting. Besides, you get more clear space organization on the table. Leveling helps you to manage the space and what it is for. Its surface really helps if you have the double duty island in your kitchen.

Leveling idea also gives you more enclosure. If your kitchen is connected to other rooms, higher can hide the messy part of your kitchen island and acts as ‘the wall’. The cool part is you can utilize the higher part of the kitchen island as a freestanding bar.

You need to adjust the height of your kitchen island surface so you can complete it with matching seating type on one side.

11. Material Combination Countertop

Using more than one material on your countertop is an easy way to decorate your kitchen island. Not only it gives more characteristic, but it also helps you to divide space organization on the table.

Combining the leveling and materials’ selection will emphasize the shape and the function of each part of your kitchen island.

If you want to have a big kitchen island, this kitchen island idea is the answer to your organizing issues. Also, it is a practical way to make your island shapes more dynamic.

12. Round Table Ideas

Most of the kitchen have square layouts, but you can always explore your kitchen island shape. If you want your kitchen island to stand out as your kitchen centerpiece, round is the shape you must choose. It is because the psychological character of round shape is a natural center.

This kitchen island idea encourages you to put a focal decorative element in your kitchen. The round kitchen island also makes your working flow more flexible in the kitchen. The round shape is exceptionally perfect if the island is also used as the dining table.

Therefore, all the family member will have centered orientation seating and will be facing each other on the table.

13. Organic Curve Shape

Not only basic shape like square and round, but you can also create your own organic shape with curves and lines. This creative kitchen island idea makes it possible for you to create the most fitted island layout in your kitchen plans.

Narrow space sometimes is a big challenge for the kitchen island, so this will be a perfect yet creative trick of kitchen island ideas to face the challenge. Combining with interesting level and material composition, you will have one amazing kitchen island.

14. Framing Islands Ideas

Not only as an extended space of your kitchen area, but you can use your kitchen island to frame your dining area. This way, you can have a clear boundary between the dining and the kitchen area without having them in two separate area.

This one of fantastic kitchen island ideas create more secluded and private dining area in the kitchen and provide new center orientation for your dining table. This makes, even your dining table is placed in the kitchen, it will still have the sense of one independent room.

15. Artistic Mosaic Tiling

Having a personally designed item in the house will speak for your personality. If you feel like doing a creative project for your kitchen, this kitchen island idea will be a challenging project for you.

Go thrifting in your nearest flea market and find colorful and unique mosaic tiles. Then after, get your tools ready and decorate your kitchen island to make it one of a kind.

It is an amusing way to make your kitchen island extraordinary without splurging your money for the luxurious materials. If you love bright colors with beautiful composition, mosaic tiles will surely cheer your kitchen up.

16. Playful Seating Ideas

The key to step up your decorating game is the courage to combining your elements. You can have a simple and fully functional kitchen island but still able to make it looks interesting. One practical way to do it is playing with your selection of seating, especially if you also use this island as the dining table.

Try to think out of the box and combine chairs with different colors and shapes to make the ambiance more alive. This idea totally matches you to a person who requires a simple idea but giving a major change.

17. Décor on Top Area

Besides playing with your seating selection, you can also optimize the space above your kitchen island to make the best out of your simple kitchen island. You can always add a decorative element above your kitchen island such as lighting fixtures.

Lighting comes in an endless type of design and also a various tone of lighting ambiance. Not only with lighting fixtures, but you can also always add other decorative elements like hanging wind chimes or even clean and organized pot racks.

It is a beautiful way to complete your simple kitchen island with an eye-catching décor element.

 18. Amazing Portable Island Ideas

Having a kitchen with flexible plans is undoubtedly one significant advantage, especially, if the overall house space is limited. To create a flexibility to transform your kitchen plan, having a portable kitchen island is a very suitable option for you.

Movable

This kind of island is actually quite practical and easy to apply. You just need to put your island on wheels to make it transferable. Rolling kitchen island makes it easier for you to move your island to another place and transform the space for other function.

Foldable

Another portable island that you can have is the foldable ones. This type of island makes you able to completely eliminate the island when you need to transform the space into something else.

In other words, this island has only existed when you need it. When you don’t, you can fold it and store it somewhere else.

What an amazing portable island idea you should explore more!

19. Multiple Kitchen Islands Ideas

If you have a roomy kitchen with a lot of space to fill, having multiple kitchen islands is a go. Multiple kitchen islands sometimes used to divide the kitchen into ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ area.

Hot area is where the cooking part happened, like where you put the stove, oven, and also microwave. While the cold area is where you put the fridge, sink, and sometimes also a bar or dining area.

Having multiple kitchen islands means you have more decorating to do. It also means the more significant risk that you will put too much stuff in your kitchen.

Select a modest color palette, and simple design is a safe way to do these kitchen island ideas. Make sure you use material and colors from the same palette to ensure your elements get along with each other.

Shape and size of the islands, on the other hand, is something you can explore to make your kitchen looks beautifully designed. Want to get more inspiration from kitchen cabinet ideas? Don’t hesitate to visit it!

20. Recommended DIY Kitchen

If your budget is rather tight, there is always a way to make your kitchen island works on a budget. Turn your cheap everyday stuff into a gorgeous kitchen island that completes your kitchen. For sure, DIY Kitchen is one of best kitchen island ideas you should try!

Here are some things you can transform into your DIY kitchen island idea:

Classic Cart

A classic rolling cart is one statement item you can put in your kitchen as your island. The vintage vibe brings in warm ambiance into the kitchen, and the wheels make it more practical to move.

Wood Pallet Puzzle

Build your own kitchen island with a wood pallet instead of a plank to save the splurge. Besides, the pallet has a sturdy structure already so you can easily build it on your own.

Oldie but Goldie Dresser

An old dresser is also a good alternative for your kitchen island idea. Pick one that has suitable height and your good to go. You can also install a wood plank on the back side of the dresser to create a bar.

It is such an inspiring kitchen island ideas to completely help for pressing your allocated budget!

21. Transition Island Ideas

Another creative way to make your kitchen island more attractive is by using it as transitional furniture from the kitchen to the next room. Not only as the dining table, but you can also make the outer side of your kitchen island your cabinets, bookshelves, or maybe an aquarium. This way your kitchen island is becoming part of two rooms in the house at one time.

There is always a way to make your kitchen is one of a kind, and one of them is to have a wonderful kitchen island. Whether your kitchen is a modern or a country style, there will be a perfect kitchen island to complete it. Read also kitchen backsplash ideas to complete the overall kitchen look!

All these kitchen island ideas is a starting step for you to create your kitchen a memorable family space. Find the most suitable kitchen island ideas for you, both in term of style and budget, then you can start your kitchen transformation.