Islands serve two main purposes in the kitchen: They give the cook added workspace and they give the kitchen a focal point. Depending on the layout, an island might also provide extra eating space or additional storage. If it is located at the edge of an adjoining room, an island may serve as a border between rooms or as a screen to hide everyday kitchen mess. An island must be properly proportioned. I've seen large ones crammed into tight kitchens and undersized islands cast adrift in enormous spaces. Passageways and work areas need to be wide enough to allow the cook room to move, but compact enough to prevent the work triangle from becoming too big (see Figure 1). The
