Most of us who live in a home without an island in our kitchen have probably at some point wanted to put in one. If you are like me you may have looked at various pictures of kitchen islands and went through the whole design process over and over again to visualize what would and would not work in your kitchen. After all building in an island is no small undertaking and so some good planning would be wise especially if you live in a smaller home and space considerations is at the forefront. One thing I find a lot of people overlooking is a mobile or movable kitchen island. There are some really great pre-built mobile islands that may do the trick for a smaller kitchen and at a lot less cost than building a permanent one. Most are on wheels (hence the term mobile) but the the wheels are usually lockable and can be set so that the island doesn't move once a desirable location is found and the great thing is you can alway unlock those wheels if needed and roll it away if needed. Ikea usually has a couple of movable islands for sale at any one time. You can see their stuff online at ikea.com. Sometimes they are refered to as kitchen carts or island kitchen carts. A little online searching for any of these terms will get you loads of information and places to shop and buy.
Generally you won't find many of the mobile types of islands designed to accomodate seating. If you need seating for more than just a few people then you are probably stuck building some sort of custom island, movable or otherwise.
Which ever kind of island you happen to go with there is a little trick that can be very useful if you are even a little unsure as to dimensiona and placement. Make a mock kitchen island out of cardboard and tape and place it in your real kitchen for about a week. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just as close to the dimensions as you were intending on buying or building. You can get card board from your local grocery store or bike store, just ask for some used boxes they were otherwise going to recycle or throw away. A good razor knife and some packing tape and you are all set to build a box with a lid the same size and shape as you intented island. Trust me you will be surprized as to how much you learn after you place something like this in your kitchen for a week. Everything from the oven or fridge door being too close to wacking your hip on the corner everytime you pass by a particular edge. You may even decide you don't want an island anymore!
Using the mock up island trick can push some people toward getting a mobile, smaller island or even the opposite.
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