Choosing A Surface For A Kitchen Island

Where this works

• Islands with seating on one or two sides
• Waterfall ends where the surface runs to the floor
• Islands housing a hob with extraction over
• Prep islands with a secondary sink
• Large open plan kitchens where the island is the focal point

How we install it

1. 1
   Start with the slab, not the style

   Islands over about three metres will not come out of a single slab in most quartz and granite ranges, so the first question to ask any supplier is where the join will fall. A join across the middle of an island, in a plain pale colour, under a pendant light, is the detail people regret most. Options are to reduce the island length slightly, to move the join to a logical position such as behind the hob, to choose a busier stone that hides it, or to choose a poured or solid surface finish that has no join at all.

2. 2
   Overhangs and support

   For seating you want three hundred millimetres of clear overhang so knees fit under. Thirty millimetre stone will cantilever about three hundred millimetres unsupported, and beyond that it needs a steel flat bar let into the cabinet top or corbels underneath. Twenty millimetre stone needs support sooner. Do not rely on the fitter to raise this on the day, because by then the cabinet is built and adding steel means dismantling it. Agree the support method with the kitchen supplier while the island carcass is still on paper.

3. 3
   Waterfall ends and mitres

   A waterfall end, where the surface turns and runs to the floor, is what makes an island look designed rather than assembled. It is done with a forty five degree mitre so the grain or pattern appears to continue round the corner. On a patterned stone that means book matching, which limits your slab choice and adds cost. It also means the island carcass must be dead square and level, because a mitre exaggerates any error. In microcement a waterfall is straightforward, since the surface is applied continuously round the corner with no join to align.

4. 4
   Matching the island to the perimeter

   Two common approaches work. Either everything matches, which is calm and safe, or the island is a deliberate contrast in colour or material while the perimeter stays quiet. A frequent and effective combination is a hard wearing perimeter in stone with a warmer island in timber or a textured mineral finish. What rarely works is two similar but non matching stones, which reads as an accident. Take samples home and look at them in evening light under whatever pendants you have chosen, not in a showroom.

Common pitfalls we prevent