Where space allows, kitchen islands have become a prominent feature in modern kitchens. They not only provide great additional worktop space, but also offer increased storage, and can be used as a casual dining, socialising or work place.

Although the design options are almost limitless, a kitchen island can be created quickly and easily using a combination of our solid oak kitchen cabinets, wooden worktops and accessories such as oak end panels.

Considering the design and placement of your kitchen island

Before finalising the design of your island, give plenty of thought as to how your island will be used. How much seating space is required? What kind of storage space will best suit your needs? Would your kitchen benefit from open cabinets with shelving or cabinets with doors or drawers?

Answering these questions can help to eliminate uncertainties in the design process whilst ensuring that your new kitchen island has all the functionality and storage you require.

If adding an island to an existing kitchen, we recommend using a sheet of cardboard to simulate the footprint of the design. This allows you to visualise how much floor space will be taken up, and helps you to consider how far away from your units the island will need to be in order to allow easy access to existing cupboards and appliances.

Once you have decided on the final design and placement of your new kitchen island, mark the position of the corners so that you can place cabinets in the correct location with ease.

Ordering the necessary cabinets and worktops

The vast range of different base cabinets marketed on our website will make designing your own custom kitchen island a relatively easy task. First, choose a combination of our base cabinets that will fit into the allocated island space in your kitchen. If you would like a mixture of cupboards, drawer cabinets and specialist cabinets, you may need to use pilasters and end panels to space the cabinets apart evenly.

Once you have decided on the arrangement of cabinets that will make up your kitchen island, it is time to choose a suitable surface. All of our solid wood worktops are available in widths of up to 960mm, and many species are now available in an extra-wide 1240mm variant – ideal for creating expansive kitchen islands.

If you would like your island to feature a custom edge profile, radius corners, a smooth ellipse end, or any other alterations, our sister company – Worktop Express – offers a full bespoke cutting service that will customise any worktop to your requirements.

Installing a kitchen island

Now that you have chosen the separate components that will make up your kitchen island, it is time to put the individual pieces together.

We recommend connecting the individual cabinets using bolts with large washers either side that allows the wood to expand or contract with changes in environmental temperature. Once the cabinets are in place, additional aesthetic details such as pilasters, corner posts and end panels can be installed. We recommend screwing them into the cabinets where possible – alternatively a suitable silicone adhesive can be used.

Before attaching the wooden worktop, don’t forget to apply a number of coats of Rustins Danish Oil or an appropriate alternative finishing treatment. You may need to leave the worktop to dry for a number of hours between coats, so allow plenty of time for preparation.

When attaching the worktop, take into consideration that it should also be allowed to move very slightly, so we recommend the use of multiple spacer brackets to attach the worktop firmly to the cabinets. These brackets are available as part of our Worktop Installation Kit, which also includes a router cutter, worktop connector bolts, mitre sealant and wood screws.