SFGate

designideas4me I think you have a nice kitchen. whats wrong with it? I suppose you could lengthen or shorten the island to make the counter match the cabinet size. There is tons of room for a table.

slangie I think its a bit too ordinary since it opens into the family room. Would like to maybe change the granite counter top add backsplash and undercabinet lights (forget the flashfrom the camera, its really dark in there) and lighting for the kitchen island

The Virtual Designer- Kitchens & Bathrooms I am a kitchen & bathroom designer and just had a quick look at your kitchen dilemma. I agree, the island does look out of place and in my view, the wall cabinets make the room look heavy. A quick way to fix that problem would be a) paint the wall cabinets a similar shade to the wall or b) take the wall cabinet doors to a cabinet maker and ask them to remove the centre panels and replace with opaque glass.
I'd remove the island altogether and try to see if a dining table will fit in there. Best way to see if it will is to mask out the area required on the floor and see if you can move about comfortably.
If you can't do without the island, can you rotate it 90 degrees and then have your table up against the back of it? Another idea is to turn it 90 degrees and re-do the benchtop and extend the length so that the benchtop becomes your table and use stools instead of standard height chairs.
Hope this makes sense. Good luck

designideas4me I know someone who had an island made out of reclaimed wood and it looked nice. I think unless the cabinets are new or custom it may be hard to match . Do you want it to match the existing cabinets for the island? what is your style or vision? I would not put a table there instead. I think most big kitckens have islands and people like them. Put the table next to it.

designideas4me Looks like you like a larger island with stools judging from the ideabook pictures you saved.

slangie Thank you for taking the time to go thru my ideabook to get a feel of what I would like.
Would love to have an island for entertaining. Ideally I would love a large island but would not want the space to look tight. A good sized island with stools that works with the space would be fine.
The only logical place to have the breakfast table would be the first thing you see when you walk into the home. Is that ok?
Would love to have a round table off the island like the 2nd photo. Not sure if it would work though with my space

designideas4me your space does have a bit of an odd configuration.. But I am not a designer just speaking from my own experience. unless you want to spent a lot to take down walls sometimes your limited by the structure of the house and sometimes the dining room is at the front and there is just no where else for it. Have you spoke to any designers where you live? what did they suggest. ? where is the door to the house? Do you want to keep that den as it is? where is the formal dining table? most of this depends on your needs. tell me what you need in that space? If you keep the cabinets you are limited to entend in my view the island too far out. Can that den be your dining area?

henryspad I would turn the island.

slangie spoke to one but didnt like what she came up with.
I'm not looking to tearing down walls. Want to try to work with what I have since i'm on a budget.
The door is straight down the hall in the last pic ! attached to the comment.
I think its quite odd having to walk all the way to the other end to eat.
I was thinking along the line as Henryspad, shorten the length of the island (to give room to the breakfast table, and increase the width to help. But, where do the island chairs/stool go? THe tip of the island or on the side facing the refrigerator?

Darzy How about something like this? A BIG island with the kitchen table at the end combined?

Micki Samson What a beautiful and spacious kitchen! I can see from your pictures that you have little ones. Thinking that bar stools may not be the best thing for you right now because of the height. I couldn't tell for sure, but is there space at the end of the island, centered in front of what looks like a patio door for a round table? Almost seems like there should be a chandelier there to put the table under?

slangie @ darzy, I'm loving the island by the wood shop of Avon. Had seen something similar awhile ago in a google search and thot it wld work we'll in my space but unfortunately after talking to the cabinet guy it looks like it will gulp up my budget. That's why I thot having a round table off the island might work.
@ Micki, there is some space but not sure it will be big enough and although I wld need a chandelier above the table, the layout makes me feel it wld look awkward