All products featured on Architectural Digest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
An island is the star of the kitchen. It may seem difficult to muster up ultrafunctional small kitchen island ideas, but even with a tiny footprint, these pieces serve many purposes, from prep space to dining area to a spot to drop the mail. You don’t have to have a sprawling suburban kitchen to incorporate one of these glorious surfaces into your home, as there are plenty of options out there for those with even the tiniest kitchens. What is more, adding an island can make a huge impact on a small space, giving you extra counter surface and a cozy spot for morning coffee. Below, we’ve gathered up the best small kitchen island ideas to help you make the most of your own interior. And don’t worry, small kitchens with islands do indeed exist outside of your fantasies!
Can you put an island in a small kitchen?
Yes, you can! Not only can you put a kitchen island in a small kitchen, but you can also add major style to your home by employing one. While you don’t necessarily need to add a kitchen island if you don’t foresee yourself using the extra countertop and storage space, there’s a reason why so many kitchens are centered around these pieces.
How should I style my small kitchen island?
Don’t let an attempt to squeeze the most out of your small space distract you from creating a kitchen that’s stylish. Bold colors, pattern, and interesting fixtures can all help create a kitchen you’re eager to spend time in without taking up any valuable real estate. Some splendid options:
Make it as dark as you want
Honed-leather black granite, meet wallet; wallet, meet a sneaky and chic way to save money. Not only will this underutilized countertop help you save a buck, but it’s also easy to clean and hides dirt. Case in point: this chic kitchen by interior designer Allison Crawford.
Consider a touch of terrazzo
Steer clear of boring and expected countertops by adding a terrazzo slab to your kitchen island. Looking for an even more astounding design? Follow the lead of photographer Sidney Bensimon’s kitchen design and choose Marmoreal, terrazzo’s arguably cooler cousin. The statement-making material uses larger segments of colorful Italian marble, allowing for natural shapes and textures to thrive.
Add waterfall marble
Deceive the eye and make your kitchen space look bigger by opting for a waterfall-like marble kitchen island, as homeowners Nick Spain and Michael Bolognino did in their kitchen renovation.
Tap into the potential of a colorful faucet
At a loss when it comes to spicing up your kitchen island? Swap out your standard sink faucet for something a bit brighter, like in this Fabrikate-designed kitchen. Choose a color that matches the accents around your space for a more cohesive look.
Lean into a matchy-matchy look
For extra-tiny islands, matching the island to the materials of your cupboards and countertops can help the space feel more cohesive, like in this Paris kitchen designed by Thibaut Picard that combines stainless steel surfaces and wood cabinetry.
How do I make the most of my kitchen island?
There are plenty of ways to best utilize your kitchen island, but first you must decide what you need most from it. Are you looking for more storage space? A place primary for food prep? Are you looking to add pizzazz that the kitchen cabinets are not providing? Whatever the answer may be, use it as guidance for planning out your kitchen island (or accessorizing it, in the case that you already have one).
Go utilitarian
Stainless steel tables can be found at restaurant supply stores, and their slim profiles (and incredibly low price) make them a great kitchen island option for tiny kitchens. The tabletops can also be outfitted with a butcher block top for a less industrial look. Homeowner Chris Bletzer designed his stainless steel kitchen with Bowery Restaurant Supply.
Opt for butcher block
Small butcher block tables are ideal for avid chefs who are constantly chopping and slicing. You can find tables like the one that Shoko Wagner got for her Harlem apartment in different sizes, including compact square versions that can be squeezed into tight spaces. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a reno project, switch out your existing countertop for one that doubles as a chopping board.
Add storage
Make the most of your island by choosing a version with shelves, cabinets, or drawers within the base, just like this coral pink Barcelona kitchen that got a makeover thanks to architecture firm Conti, Cert. If you’re making the island a permanent addition to the room, consider adding a pot rack to utilize the space above (and free up the cabinets for other items).
Raise the bar
If you don’t have room for an island in the center of your space, position it perpendicular to the cabinetry or a wall. This will create an extension that can have bar seating and provide extra counter space, as artist and interior designer Carly Berlin’s kitchen island shows.
Make an impact
Just because your kitchen island is small doesn’t mean it can’t be the centerpiece, as the Tropico Photo founders’s kitchen island design proves. Make a colorful splash with unexpected accents like barstools that match bright cabinetry, and layer in prints and pops of color everywhere you can—whether it be the backsplash, linens, fruit bowls, or cabinet fronts.
Draw it out
Depending on your floor plan, if you have a small kitchen that opens to a bigger room, you can always draw a kitchen island out into that space. Though it might cost you extra square footage, it can certainly pay off whether you hope to use your kitchen island as a breakfast bar or as a workspace. The white kitchen in Jeni and Johnny Erbes-Chan’s Brooklyn townhouse is the perfect example.
What can I do with a small kitchen island?
A small kitchen island can do so much more than any old piece of furniture: It can help create a better kitchen layout, serve as a focal point, add extra storage, offer a place to eat a quick meal, and provide a countertop for meal prep.
Add hidden storage
One can never have too much storage...ever. Be like food blogger Anna Barnett and choose a kitchen island that includes sneaky storage with hidden door handles and discrete cabinets.
Put it on wheels
A kitchen island can be handy when you’re cooking, but it also takes up floor space the rest of the time. Find a version with wheels—or add them to your existing island—so that you can roll it into a corner or closet and keep the kitchen clear. Food photographer Ashleigh Amoroso did exactly that for her own workspace.
Create separation
In this apartment remodel, Project AZ knocked down a wall that once created a very tiny kitchen. The space is still rather small, but the removal of that wall allowed an island to be put in place. The island adds a soft separation while still allowing the homeowners to feel connected to the living room.
Incorporate a statement color
Model Jacquelyn Jablonski brought a bright mint green into her kitchen with her small kitchen island that was designed in collaboration with Benjamin Schlief. Even if the kitchen island is smaller than some, it still packs quite a visual punch thanks to this fab shade.
Use slight stools
So you’ve added an island to your small kitchen, but now your space appears to be nearing capacity—what to do? Slight metal stools like the ones in this Amsterdam home designed by D. Hage Designs will never make a kitchen feel cramped and you’ll still end up with a perfectly comfortable breakfast bar.
What can I use instead of a kitchen island?
Just about any table can be used in place of a kitchen island if you get creative! Ideally a kitchen island stand-in should include a tabletop suitable for chopping vegetables or otherwise preparing food, space underneath where you can store additional kitchen equipment, and for a full triple threat, a lip that allows you to pull up a bar stool or two. Both online retailers and used stores have plenty of options that would be suitable if you know what to look for. Read on for a few specific (and out of the box) options.
An antique piece
An antique walnut French Draper table is used as an extremely distinct kitchen island in the North Carolina home of interior designer and photographer Carley Summers, thereby providing both open storage and a charming country vibe. Bonus points for those eye-catching pendant lights!
A hybrid island-slash-dining table
When you have room for only a kitchen table or a kitchen island, why not add a piece that can serve as both? A drop leaf table will seat a crowd, and the sides can be lowered when not in use. After a tragic fire, Barcelona homeowner Marta Klinker and architects Andrea Serboli and Matteo Colombo of CaSA had to get creative, and an island dining table was one of the many brilliant solutions employed.
A micro-island
A small island is still an island! We love the small island in Erica Boginsky’s Michael Arguello-designed 394-square-foot studio, which offers a casual dining zone in a small space that might otherwise not have room for one.
