Bespoke Kitchen Island Ideas

 At Papilio, we love a kitchen island. As bespoke kitchen designers, the possibilities are endless, and we can be more creative yet deliver form, function and style.

Kitchen islands have become increasingly popular and for good reason. They offer a wealth of benefits. A well-placed island can create more worktop space, a place to entertain, eat, sit and provide more storage space. Kitchen islands can also be flexible, and not all need to be static. They can be designed to move within the kitchen with the right know-how. One of our favourite aspects of an island in a bespoke kitchen is its flexibility. We can customise it to fit specific needs and fully customise it to height, storage, and usability needs. Our Bristol kitchens are a great example of innovative kitchen design, so read on to find out more!

If you're considering a new kitchen for your home, a bespoke kitchen island should be on everyone's list. An island that is custom-made to your specifications will ensure that it will fit perfectly in your space and meet your needs. We design kitchen islands taking into account the size, shape, and layout of the room to ensure that it does not take up any unnecessary space and design it to your exact specifications, which gives you the freedom to create a kitchen island that reflects your individual style. In our Bristol kitchens, we always work with the best materials to echo our high standards so that your bespoke kitchen will last many years.

Here are three examples of our favourite kitchen islands to date—each unique and entirely personal to our clients. 

The Georgian Townhouse Kitchen Island

The Georgian Townhouse Kitchen in Bath is one of our most recent projects. Our bespoke kitchen team redesigned an already established kitchen on the lower ground floor of a Grade I listed Georgian townhouse in the historic city of Bath. The brief from our client was to create a sophisticated kitchen with contemporary elements, highlight the original Georgian features, and incorporate a much-needed dining space and a functional pantry. The showstopper within this kitchen design was the kitchen island. Incorporating Neolith ''Sintered Stone'Stone' worktops, banquette seating to double up as a dining space, and wheels so that it can be moved around the room when entertaining. As with our Bristol kitchens, the Georgian Townhouse Kitchen offers the family quality craftsmanship, beautiful finish and flexibility to transform how the space is used day or night. 

Mid-Century-Inspired Kitchen Islands

For our Mid-Century-Inspired Kitchen in Somerset, close to the market town of Bath, we designed a bespoke kitchen with two unique kitchen islands. Inspired by the architecture of the space and its past utilitarian function, the existing mid-century furniture, and a curved, glazed antique cabinet already owned by the client, we constructed the first island in teak. We used its original frontage, building a cabinet around the piece, matching the tone and glazing detail. This island was designated for cooking with a cleverly sunken Bora Pro hob and a Miele oven.

The second kitchen island was designed for food preparation and entertaining with a row of stools to perch, perfect for informal breakfasts and sharing a bottle of wine. This island has an industrial feel with a metal framework and black cabinetry. The metal frame extends to provide the overhang for the breakfast bar. Clad in untreated copper, which will naturally patina over time.

The Richlite Kitchen Island

For our Richlite Kitchen, the island became the centrepiece of the entire design. The sensational kitchen island became more of a sculpture than a piece of furniture and showcased some of the finest materials. Its structure was cut by hand from a single section of oak, allowing the grain to weave along the entire length naturally. We exposed the finger joints to highlight the skill of expert cabinet makers. We also used the naturally occurring cracks in the timber by filling them with resin and reiterating them with hand-cut brass ties. The worktop of the spectacular structure was made from a single sheet of Richlite, a fantastic engineered material made from sustainable paper and phenolic resin. We chose it to juxtapose the sturdiness of the oak and make the golden tones pop. 

These are just three examples of our handmade kitchen islands. As is the Papilio way, each is transformational and unique and specifically designed with our clients in mind.