Thank you we are looking forward to it :-) I have already done a whole floor plan for the renovations and additions and I have done elevations for the kitchen, which have already had a few changes due to seeing something on Houzz and thinking hmmmm that would work better etc. I will also run the drawings past an architect just to make sure there isn't a better way of doing things. Also we will live in the house as is for quite some time before starting the renovations which will give us a feel for how things should be. Very much appreciate all the advice. Regards Lynda

I would speak to Tim Lorian of Milano Stone in Claremont, he knows everything about stone. www.milanostone.com.au

Hi Lil, I believe your original plan works much better than the revised version. While the notion of ideal working widths is great, the larger problem here is the post. I worked on a project very similar to this last year where a post could either be connect to, or separate from the island. What we found was that by separating the island the space between island and post became very awkward. It's not enough of a space to comfortably walk through or be seated at the island in front of. Instead of your room feeling open and generous in proportion, it is going to start to feel cramped and awkward. We have a kitchen in our showroom (Kitchen Studio Tauranga NZ) with a 6ft gap between bench and back wall and it works wonderfully. It allows someone to work at the sink and a second at the island with ease. Stick with the original plan. It will feel a lot more spacious, without compromising work flows.

So where would your cooktop be? Where would you cut up vegetables and need to wash them? Where would people get a drink of water from? If you want to keep the kitchen bench top clear then that means you are going to be standing in the butlers pantry a lot accessing water for various cooking and personal needs of washing hands and drinking. Have you thought of putting a small sink at the end of your “clear island”, this will be somewhere to fill up and empty pots of water, if your cooktop is in the kitchen, somewhere to get a drink, somewhere to wash hands and vegetables.