One of the more popular designs that you can use for your kitchen island is the L-shaped. This layout is ideal for medium sized kitchens that have enough space to handle a large island design. It allows people to prepare food and eat at the same time without getting in each others way and helps to lessen the amount of traffic inside of the kitchen.
The only time that you should use this design is when the kitchen opens up and is adjacent to the living room or breakfast nook. In other words any room or space in the house that is viewed on to be casual. This gives you the option to add bar stool or high top chairs on the outer side of the island and turn it into a casual place for you and your children to eat snack, breakfast, or other small meals.
Although the L-shaped kitchen island is one of the larger designs that you are able to use in your kitchen it requires less amount of space and more flexibility for the entire kitchen area. You have the option to be as basic or complex as you want and to add features on it to make it something that would be useful. Most use the extra counter space to allow people to eat while the other prepares the food. You can also add in a stovetop or a sink for easy cleanup.
During the designing process you need to sit down and write out all of the features that you want it to have. When you have finished you must then measure your kitchen and determine the size that your island will be. It is during this time that you need to determine whether or not these features are even possible in the type of kitchen that you have.
Like with any type of kitchen island that you design this has to offer enough clearance for your cabinets and larger appliances to be able to open and for traffic to walk through. If you plan on making the L-shaped kitchen design in the middle of the kitchen you have to make sure that there is enough room for people to sit without blocking the pathway in the kitchen.