I agree with colourhappy if it's being squeezed in. I'm not sure I agree with the comments about it being a status symbol though?! If it's practical and efficient I don't see why you wouldn't have one, unless you have a table in the middle a kitchen can look a bit odd with just units round the edge, you wouldn't do it in any other room so why a kitchen. I think an island can also look more like furniture so brings a more homely element and if the room is small one on legs looks better IMO.I can't have an island in my kitchen unless I lose my breakfast table which I don't want to do. I am thinking of buying a shaker table at counterheight (plans currently on hold as the only stools I liked of the correct height sold out!) as although the kitchen is a fair size it is lacking worktop space which I can't do anything about for various reasons

Islands within a kitchen are very much space dependent, there is nothing more annoying than an island that actually uses more space than you gain. If you are pushed for space, the mid century approach was always to combine the social aspect of an island, with that of an extended 'peninsular' or 'L' shaped kitchen. This provides the seating flexibility etc without compromising on your floorspace. A good example is Davison & Hillman's Copper Beech in London courtesy of http://www.themodernhouse.com/past-sales/copper-beech-london-n6/

A Kitchen island will work well providing there is the space within the room for it. If the room is too small then it wouldn't work and would be a waste of space.

Islands are the new trend and they do look great but are often not right for the space you have, There is nothing worse than forcing in an island that is too large for the space. It will only make your kitchen look smaller and also be very tight to work in. Proportions are very important in design. Why not look at the options of having a peninsular instead. You are not wasting space like an island but you get a similar look. You can still have an overhang so that you can sit at it and overall it may look a lot better. Give it a try!

No. Its a fad that will cause house buyers a lot of money to remove in the future. A table is more sociable, useful and removable.

I have the space to have an island so we have a large one with an induction hob, extractor fan that descends into the island, second small fridge underneath (opposite sink) and rounded end which sits 6 people. Everyone always congregates around it and it's the central point of our home. It's great for entertaining.

Our current kitchen project is on a farm in Devon, a series of trailers are forming the house. The kitchen trailer will open seamlessly onto a terrace so we're making the island on industrial castors, allowing it to be wheeled outside for some al fresco prep work. (They also have a simple locking system!)

Seems like everyone is saying the same thing. It all comes down to your available space rather than just having an island because they're 'popular'. This is one of my bugbears really where people insist on having the latest must have feature in their houses but yet their houses just aren't big enough to take them - specifically, en-suites squeezed into new builds so the master is smaller than a kids bedroom - why?!?! Multi-fuel stoves in inner city properties that have readily available gas and kitchen islands that are 1 cabinet deep and 2 or so wide!

it does come down to space, if every body had space and money i bet everybody probably install an kitchen island ,and follow the trend,

i would love to have a island in my dream kitchen, just for an indoor barbecue, appliances eg: 1x big electrical griddle,2x miele cs1312bg modular grilling hob, 2 worktop pop up extractor fans,or, a small restaurant style extractor fan (designed by me ) and a small sink

this is part of my dream kitchen