Did someone say “counter intuitive”?
If you’re cooking up a new kitchen design, your thoughts (and your Pinterest board) will likely focus on the fun stuff, like lighting, paint colors, and backsplashes. Kitchen islands, meanwhile, can easily be an afterthought and lumped in with other functional elements, like floors and countertops. We’re here to tell you, however, that with a little creativity and a little extra budget (OK, in some cases a lot of extra budgets), you can take your kitchen island from an isolated Greenland-esque monolith to an Aruba-worthy paradise. After all, as practical as a kitchen island may be, it’s an essential supporting character amid life’s daily rhythms, as Australian designer Tamsin Johnson points out. “Islands really serve as a family anchor in the home,” she shares. “They seem to magnetize congregation, so they almost create a sort of refuge. In this way they are not just a practical object, but they also become a crossbeam in the family architecture.” stainless steel sink bowl
Such importance naturally commands good design. Just see Johnson’s own kitchen island, a cantilevered stone monolith that could have been plucked straight out of MoMa’s sculpture galleries. So what makes for scene-stealing kitchen islands? “They need to look solid and permanent, like they were always there and not like an afterthought,” Johnson says. “Stone certainly gives them gravitas, but each kitchen will be different.”
And even if you have a slim budget, there are still wallet-friendly ways to create a unique kitchen island. Johnson, for her part, suggests using a hefty antique table instead of something generic and off the shelf. You can also try cladding your island in an interesting tile or—the simplest solution—simply painting it in a fresh color, like green or blue. To inspire your next kitchen island makeover, we’ve rounded up 75 innovative ideas from the ELLE DECOR archive. Though they all differ in their materials and design point of view, one thing’s for sure: These island beauties are all a vacation for the eyes.
Manhattan is technically an island, so why shouldn’t its kitchens boast ones that are equally grand? This Cristallo quartzite one, in an apartment with interiors by Kelly Behun, was designed by Studio Sofield and is practically translucent when the sun glows behind it. Behun added to the setup with a complementary quartz bar that runs the length of the windows so diners can take in those vertiginous city vistas.
“The kitchen is on the small side, but I love it, and it’s where people always want to be,” says architect Celeste Robbins, who recently refurbished her dream midcentury modern home on the shores of Lake Michigan. The home’s primary material is wood, so Robbins, working with the Italian kitchen outfitter Boffi, leaned into it in the kitchen, with a timber island topped by a complementary slab of Emperador marble. We can only imagine how cozy this space gets, once the fire’s crackling.
Sunshine pours through the windows of this historic Bay Area home, so it’s little surprise that designer Lauren Geremia wanted to bring that brightness to the cooking space. Here, she painted the kitchen island in Farrow & Ball’s Pale Hound—a light celery green—and topped it with a marble slab that complements the marble checkerboard flooring.
OK, where do we even start with this beauty? Not only does this custom green kitchen island belong to sports power couple Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe, but it’s also clad in fabulous Brazilian quartzite (a variant known by the equally fabulous name Crystal Tiffany). Pull up a pair of Mario Bellini for Cassina stools and you’ve got yourself a real winner of a hangout spot.
At first this San Antonio kitchen felt dated and sterile, with pure-white walls and bamboo cabinetry. Instead of ripping everything out, architect Vicki Yuan of Lake | Flato opted to make some strategic swaps, including recladding the kitchen island in a fun, hexagonal tile by artist Erin Adams. The same design, in fact, appears on the pool just outside making it feel a bit like a “swim-up bar,” per Yuan. Pass the margaritas, please!
Purple isn’t typically a color that shows up in a kitchen, but we’re here for it. In this Los Angeles, Mediterranean–style home, designer David Lucido painted the custom arch-shaped kitchen island in a Benjamin Moore’s subtly eggplant-tinged Caponata.
For a budget-friendly option, try repurposing a vintage workbench, like star chef Elena Reygadas did here in her Mexico City apartment. This one is an upcycled carpenter’s table, which she painted in a charming patinated green and topped with a new stone slab.
This sculptural kitchen island, in the Sydney home of Aussie designer Tamsin Johnson, ranks among the best we’ve ever seen. The bespoke creation, carved from a piece of gray Bianco Gioia stone, is equal parts work of art and family gathering spot.
If you have the opportunity (not to mention the budget!) why not make your kitchen island a work of architecture? The designers at Home Studios were inspired by the work of Finnish modernist Alvar Aalto while creating this Brooklyn kitchen and dreamed up a custom island featuring ridged white edges and a Paonazzo marble top that nods to his buildings.
If your kitchen island is a far cry from destination-worthy, try dousing it in a unique hue. Look no further than Augusta Hoffman’s elegant Manhattan kitchen, where she covered the cabinetry in a luxurious olive shade. “I do love green,” she says. “I think of it almost as a neutral.”
We can’t take our eyes off of this stunning kitchen island in a Chicago home designed by Summer Thornton. Rather than settling for a workaday Carrara slab, she selected stone with swirls of violet and green. Pro tip: Want to bring color to your kitchen? Style your island with heaps of vibrant (and long-lasting) produce such as artichokes, citrus, and mini melons.
Exotic marbles—in hues encompassing all colors of the rainbow— are having a moment. All-star designer Jeremiah Brent embraced the trend in the lavish kitchen of his Manhattan design studio, here opting for the bordeaux Calacatta Vagli Rosatto variety.
The most eye-catching kitchen islands function as pieces of sculpture. Montana Labelle’s has decidedly postmodern touches, with pillarlike legs slightly offset beneath a glossy stone slab.
We love the lozenge shape of this trendy kitchen island, in a Manhattan apartment designed by Le Whit. Combined with pink bar stools to match the candy-colored stove, we’d say this is a match made in heaven.
Forget white: In this happy Bay Area kitchen, designer Jessica Davis played with punchy primary colors. She painted the island in Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue and topped it with a huge walnut slab.
Everything about this charming Minnesota lake house, designed by interior designer Anne McDonald with Plaad architects, was crafted to evoke the client’s Scandinavian heritage—without going over the top. This sweet custom kitchen island features Scandi-chic turned legs, a detail that cleverly nods to the home’s exterior columns.
We’ve written plenty about the joys of blue kitchen cabinets and this example, in a Manhattan apartment designed by Emily Todhunter, is one to emulate. She painted everything—island included— in Benjamin Moore’s Van Courtland Blue.
Short on storage? No problem! Choose an island with plenty of drawers for storing flatware and other entertaining essentials. Architect Raed Abillama made sure his was painted in the same gray as the vent hood and the rest of the cabinetry for a unified feel.
Two islands are clearly better than one, as demonstrated in Mara Brock Akil’s sleek Los Angeles kitchen. Their reflective steel forms are the perfect foil to the rich timber on the cabinetry.
Pass the mustard! We’re obsessed with this custom yellow kitchen island (painted in Farrow & Ball’s India Yellow) in an 18th-century villa on the Spanish island (of course) of Menorca. The look gets further glam, old-world touches via the impressive marble backsplash and the gilt-bronze fringed chandelier, sourced from a palace in Madrid.
Anna Fixsen, Deputy Digital Editor at ELLE DECOR, focuses on how to share the best of the design world through in-depth reportage and online storytelling. Prior to joining the staff, she has held positions at Architectural Digest, Metropolis, and Architectural Record magazines. elledecor.com
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