Kitchen Islands - need some feedback and inspiration

[Rob Diz]

Well I'm pretty much done with the big work on my kitchen gut and remodel. the new shop made cabinets are in, the countertop is on, the water is hooked up and all of the appliances are working. All of the major "fixed" pieces are, well, fixed in place. We have liftoff. I have a long punchlist of things to do - like moldings, trim, handles on some pieces, caulking the granite etc, but it is functional.

Now for the deferred issues. We have an old crappy 4 person table in the middle of the kitchen as a "spaceholder" Wife wants a kitchen island made of walnut. She wants there to be an overhang of about 10 inches on one side so that we can have some bar stools and a seating area for two, and of course she wants more storage.

The rough dimensions of the cabinet are 48 long x 24 wide, with a top of 51 x 36 or so. The top will be edge glued 1 1/2 thick walnut, with a 1 1/2 overhang on all but the back lip.

The island needs to be mobile - I'm planning on using a caster Great Lakes CAster sells that incorporates a leg leveler - it seems like a sure way to

I am a bit concerned about the stability of the unit. I would be very interested to hear from those who have kitchen islands that are not attached to the floor that also have overhangs.

I was originally thinking of making a craftsmanesque island with casters under each leg. Frame and panel construction was going to join the legs, with some doors in front. Rather than having really wide doors, I was thining about having a small decorative bookshelf on one end. I am struggling with how I might incorporate shevles into the unit, but I guess I could use cleats screwed into the frames.

So, I guess I'm really looking for two things

1) feedback on my overall design; and
2) inspiration from seeing what you have done and what you woudl do again.

[Rusty Elam]

I would suggest making the overhang longer, 10" you will be banging your legs into the cabinet.

[Jim Kaczmark]

What would a suggested overhang be in this instance to avoid "banging your legs into the cabinet" as was previously stated?

[Steve Clardy]

Most overhangs are at least 12".

Wider is better, but also need to think about the possible tipping over.
If the cabinet is loaded up with pots and pans and such, theres not much danger.

I've built numerous islands. I don't like to put on wheels nor castors.

Glue a small piece of carpet upside down on each corner of the box. This lets you slide it easily when you need to move it.

[Jim Becker]

Rob, back in 2002 or so, I made our kitchen island. It's mobile on 4" double locking casters from Lee Valley because at that time, the kitchen door was the only door to get anything big into the house and a permanent installation would have interfered with that need. Those casters also had to be large because the floor is full-thickness brick and uneven. Smaller wheels would not roll very well. The island also served as the prototype for all the cabinetry I subsequently built for the complete kitchen gut and renovation the following year.

While I didn't design in the seating capability, it's certainly a very good idea. What you need to insure it that the overhang does not make the whole thing "tippy" since yours will be mobile. Be sure that someone putting their weight on the overhang cannot knock it over. If you use the casters you intend to use, that should be less of an issue since you can put the feet down, but it's still something you'll need to be careful with.

Here's an old picture of what my island design looks like:

http://sawsndust.com/images/kitchen-island/k-island-finished-250.jpg

And in the context of the finished kitchen a year later:

http://sawsndust.com/images/kitchen-remodel/kr-tile-2-280.jpg