Browse Forums Kitchen Corner Re: Sink on Island Bench 21May 01, 2010 3:08 pm I agree with the general consensus that the sink in the island is not all that practical. In saying that, our house will have the sink in the island . This was the standard design and we elected not to vary it. Our island is wide (3.5m) and I do like that you don't have your back to any guests while washing up. I know that I am going to have to get used to using the dishwasher though so the island isn't always messy. In our current house I never use the dishwasher because the plates in our dinner set don't fit. Hopefully they fit in the new dishwasher or else I have a good excuse to hit the shops. Building the Monte Carlo with McD Jones View my building thread @ viewtopic.php?f=31&t=37255 Re: Sink on Island Bench 22May 01, 2010 8:48 pm Our island is 4m x 1.2m and the sink is undermounted in the centre. But we have a raised servery to shelter any splashes and also keep any mess from general view. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Sink on Island Bench 23May 01, 2010 10:14 pm We have been grappling with this same questions for the past few weeks but we only really use our sink for food prep, draining pasta and rinsing dishes before they go in the dishwasher. My main issue was the fridge being so big and as the fridge is next to a wall it needs a bit of space for the door wont open far enough. Once we moved the fridge over I didnt like how the island sat in relation to the L. The symmetry would have really annoyed me so we went back to the drawing board. Results on our blog. Verdict: sink is in the island but the island is longer. Now I want to swap my above counter window to an extra sliding door. (Is that the sound of my builder swearing????) Min Building at The Ponds Land reg 3/12/09, Land settled 18/12/09 Approved by Design Panel 16/11/09, Submitted to council 24/11/09, Approved by Council 21/1/10 Site Start 21/5/10 http://andyminpondsbuild.blogspot.com/ https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=19800 Re: Sink on Island Bench 24May 02, 2010 8:43 am suh My sink is at the end right next to the fridge, so when chuck out time comes it's arm in the fridge and hoyke junk into the sink. I wish I'd thought of that..... I love my sink in the island, no dramas with splashes - at least not when I'm the one using it. Our old kitchen had the sink under the window, and I liked that arrangement in pre-dishwasher days. It meant I had a nice view of the almond tree while doing a sometimes long and always tedious job. Unless of course my very large next door neighbour was hanging out her washing in her short-short nightie .....then the blind got closed very quickly. Like a large number of kitchens these days, ours doesn't have a window, so a sink stuck against a wall doesn't really appeal. I would probably have designed it a bit differently, given a second chance though, and moved it closer to one end, so as to have a longer uninterrupted stretch of bench. As it is, we have a decent amount of space either side, but a bigger continuous area would work better for us. Actually, I'd redesign the whole thing if I could, but the sink in the island would stay. BTW, I want to know why Southies doesn't use the dishwasher too..... We've had one for almost 20 years, and I just about have a meltdown if it isn't working... Re: Sink on Island Bench 26May 02, 2010 9:15 am barker My preference is to have the cooktop on the island. It means no worries about not having enough room for all the pots and pans with handles hitting the walls and as I do my chopping and everything else on the island, nice and easy to pop it straight into the stove next to me. . One other question about this - how do you ventilate the cooktop?? I have a standard oven/cooktop on back wall of kitchen and standard rangehood over that - I use the rangehood every time I am cooking anything. Cant envision how a rangehood would work with a cooktop in an island or outward bench? Do you have a canopy one suspended over the cooktop like suspended pendant lights or just not have one at all? Re: Sink on Island Bench 27May 02, 2010 9:50 am Helyn barker My preference is to have the cooktop on the island. It means no worries about not having enough room for all the pots and pans with handles hitting the walls and as I do my chopping and everything else on the island, nice and easy to pop it straight into the stove next to me. . One other question about this - how do you ventilate the cooktop?? I have a standard oven/cooktop on back wall of kitchen and standard rangehood over that - I use the rangehood every time I am cooking anything. Cant envision how a rangehood would work with a cooktop in an island or outward bench? Do you have a canopy one suspended over the cooktop like suspended pendant lights or just not have one at all? I've seen a few kitchens with the stove on the island, some just have no rangehood and others have the rangehood hanging frrom the ceiling, it looks odd. Re: Sink on Island Bench 28May 02, 2010 10:03 am You can get some pendant rangehoods which are pretty funky and would look good in a modern house. In my parents house, they just don't have a rangehood but despite 15 years of cooking (and burning things) there is no smoke marks on the ceiling and the smoke alarm has only been triggered once. They have 10 foot ceilings though so this might help. Because I am going for a more country look in my kitchen, the pendant rangehoods don't suit that great. Instead I was thinking of installing some extractor fans with filters into the ceilings (kitchen will have a drop down bulkead so while higher than a normal rangehood won't be ridiculously high). Provided the rectangle is of sufficient size, I am hoping it should do the same job... Building tip No. 3: A raft slab will not get you down a river. A waffle pod slab does not go with maple syrup. My building thread https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=53000 Re: Sink on Island Bench 29May 02, 2010 10:25 am Last week when I was visiting the HIA Home Ideas Centre I noticed a cooktop in an island bench and rather than a canopy style rangehood, they had fitted a stainless steel tube-like rangehood over the cooktop which looked very funky. It would have been approx the diameter of a regular exhaust fan and therefore wasn't too imposing. Cooktops on island benches don't do it for me either, mainly from a safety aspect, but sinks otoh look great..then again I'm not messy in the kitchen. Re: Sink on Island Bench 30May 02, 2010 1:00 pm Re: Sink on Island Bench 31May 02, 2010 1:16 pm Our sink is on the island and I've opted to have the raised screen to hid our mess. My daugter has the sink without the screen and if you sit in her family room you look at dirty dishes and clutter all the time. Added to that things regularly get knocked off it onto the floor. I know it doesn't look as open and spacious but I don't want to look at dirty dishes and clutter (which is inevitable unless you're really disciplined). A refuse to be lulled by the gorgeous display homes that no one lives in. Handover February 2011 Happy with our home Re: Sink on Island Bench 32May 02, 2010 3:35 pm I LOVE my island sink! We have quite a large island and even with the sink there is still plenty of room to accimulate crap! I love the fact I can stand and do the dishes whilst watching tv or talking to my guests sitting at the table or on the barstools at the other side of the bench. I have a nice wooden dish rack.... just my thoughts 2nd build here we come in Whittlesea! https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=92617 1st Build - Henley - Cooper in Doreen! (2009) https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=17354 Re: Sink on Island Bench 33May 02, 2010 3:41 pm robinred55 I know it doesn't look as open and spacious but I don't want to look at dirty dishes and clutter (which is inevitable unless you're really disciplined). A refuse to be lulled by the gorgeous display homes that no one lives in. There are no dirty dishes and definitely no clutter in my kitchen. Even today, after I've cooked two casseroles, a batch of muffins and two lots of roasted veggies for the week ahead, plus mixed up some home made yoghurt and a marinade for tonight's dinner, there are zero dishes. It doesn't take much effort to clean up as you go. And the dishwasher is where plates, mugs and glasses go when people have finished with them, NOT the sink. Unless they have a death wish. Some people are messy, some are tidy; that's just the way it is. One of my friends thinks I'm "minimalist". That's only because she lives amongst a collection of "stuff", including towering piles of papers on the kitchen bench, that would send me into a nervous breakdown. I just like things in their place - call me Mary Poppins. Re: Sink on Island Bench 35May 02, 2010 5:37 pm kek Some people are messy, some are tidy; that's just the way it is. One of my friends thinks I'm "minimalist". That's only because she lives amongst a collection of "stuff", including towering piles of papers on the kitchen bench, that would send me into a nervous breakdown. I just like things in their place - call me Mary Poppins. Hilarious!!! I'm exactly the same. Can't even stand when DH comes home and puts his phone/wallet/keys on the kitchen counter. Less than two seconds later, I have whisked them away. It drives me nuts to see any sort of clutter/anything out of place. DH thinks I have some sort of complex - he, he can't imagine why!! Re: Sink on Island Bench 36May 02, 2010 5:54 pm n&n02 Hilarious!!! I'm exactly the same. Can't even stand when DH comes home and puts his phone/wallet/keys on the kitchen counter. Less than two seconds later, I have whisked them away. It drives me nuts to see any sort of clutter/anything out of place. DH thinks I have some sort of complex - he, he can't imagine why!! That's not a complex. It's perfectly normal. Jackets do not go on the back of dining chairs, shoes do not go next to the front door, keys, wallet and assorted crap do not go anywhere in my kitchen, dining room or living rooms. He has a study, a walk in robe and a garage. If he'd just confine himslef to those places, there'd never be a problem. Re: Sink on Island Bench 37May 02, 2010 5:57 pm kek n&n02 Hilarious!!! I'm exactly the same. Can't even stand when DH comes home and puts his phone/wallet/keys on the kitchen counter. Less than two seconds later, I have whisked them away. It drives me nuts to see any sort of clutter/anything out of place. DH thinks I have some sort of complex - he, he can't imagine why!! That's not a complex. It's perfectly normal. Jackets do not go on the back of dining chairs, shoes do not go next to the front door, keys, wallet and assorted crap do not go anywhere in my kitchen, dining room or living rooms. He has a study, a walk in robe and a garage. If he'd just confine himslef to those places, there'd never be a problem. I am so glad to hear it isn't just me!! DH thinks I am crazy because I don't like cr@p left everywhere where it doesn't belong Re: Sink on Island Bench 38May 02, 2010 6:30 pm ^ x8. Great picture kek. That's a good looking kitchen but I notice the low clearance between the benchtop and the bottom of the cupboards. I can just imagine, barely enough room for the coffee maker or a kettle, imagine the steam and crap getting all over everything. And someone tall wouldn't have a hope of using the sink because they wouldn't be able to see it! Geoff - Decophile. Re: Sink on Island Bench 39May 02, 2010 7:26 pm Eager ^ x8. Great picture kek. That's a good looking kitchen but I notice the low clearance between the benchtop and the bottom of the cupboards. I can just imagine, barely enough room for the coffee maker or a kettle, imagine the steam and crap getting all over everything. And someone tall wouldn't have a hope of using the sink because they wouldn't be able to see it! Good point, Geoff. I didn't even notice the bench against the wall, I was looking at the cooktop/rangehood setup. Weird heights, that's for sure. It did occur to me that the owners mustn't actually cook much, as there's bugger-all bench space in that kitchen. I'd struggle to even make a sandwich there. Re: Sink on Island Bench 40May 02, 2010 8:34 pm we will be having the sink on the side bench, i want to be able to have laptops and room for newspapers on the bench and not worry about the water. Plus we never wash up when guests are over, we wait until they leave and then deal with the mess- so out of the way will work best for us. DIY, Home Maintenance & Repair Are you going to have the frame exposed or are you cladding it with something. Usually if you are making an exposed frame you would use solid legs around 100x100 or… 3 6590 Have had stone benches with undermount sink (kitchen) and drop-in (laundry) and top-mounted basin (bathrooms) for coming up 13 years and not one chip/scratch of any kind.… 2 9678 Hi - thanks for your reply. Yes I think 'Ill go for whitish with very speckly bits rather than pure white something like this. PS was actually 2008 I built the… 2 11708 |