Forget the brilliance of your cooking and your impeccable taste with the decorations. The real way to wow guests this Christmas is to invite them to your own personal island. Kitchen island, that is.
It’s no longer just a run of units with a work surface perched on top. The latest must-have in modern kitchen design is a hard-working, bespoke island that functions as the hub of the room. They come crammed with high-tech extras, such as wine fridges, gadget drawers, recycling stations, dishwashers, boiling water taps, prep sinks, waste extractors, hidden rubbish bins . . . they’re practically mini kitchens in themselves.
Of course, this kind of luxury doesn’t come cheap. Bespoke islands can cost upwards of £10,000 each — almost the same price as a full kitchen. But those lucky enough to have one claim they’re worth every penny.
Here, four proud owners tell JENNY WOOD why they love being islanders.
Tracy Freeman, 56, Middlesex
Tracy Freeman, 56, lives in Middlesex with her husband Stephen, also 56. She has two grown-up children, Daniel, 28, and Georgina, 26, who no longer live at home. She says:
Our old kitchen was so different, with a traditional cottage feel, so this is a departure. My friends are all stunned. No one can believe how good it looks!
My island is almost like a kitchen in itself — there’s plenty of preparation space; a breakfast bar with three bespoke bar stools; cupboards and pan drawers; a six-ring induction hob; a one-and-a-half bowl sink with a waste disposal unit; a boiling water tap; a dishwasher; a wine fridge and a concealed bin. There are even pop-up USB plugs and a pull-out tea towel rail.
Tracy Freeman from Stanmore, Middlesex, with her kitchen Island costing £16,000
There are other clever touches too — we’ve put a big television opposite the island, so I can watch while I’m cooking, and there are spotlights running around the bottom, so if you want a glass of water in the night, you can see what you’re doing.
I’m quite a flamboyant person, and I don’t like kitchens to look clinical. I wanted a morning-room feel, so the cupboard doors have a glossy finish. We have diamante lights above the island, a glitter glass top on the breakfast bar, and the stools were upholstered in crushed velvet.
We can use the island as a buffet table: we have 17 coming for Christmas this year. For once, I’ll be able to have everyone around me while I’m getting things ready. Thanks to the island, this feels more like a family room than a kitchen — it makes people want to spend time here.
What it all cost
- The Wood Works cabinets (including fitting) £1,500
- Caesarstone Tuscan Dawn quartz worktop £6,300
- Sparkly/metal shimmer glass for breakfast bar area £1,400
- Miele dishwasher £1,500
- Miele induction hob £1,800
- ISE waste disposal £390
- Caple wine cabinet £650
- 2 Franke Fragranite sinks £460
- 3 bar stools £960
- Quooker Pro3 tap £1,150
TOTAL £16,110
Sarah Francis, 38, Manchester
Sarah Francis, 38, lives in Manchester with husband Mark, 42, a company director. They have two sons, aged ten and 12. She says:
Our island has changed the way we live. Our old kitchen used to be very small, so we would eat in front of the television. Since having our island, we all eat together and chat — it’s lovely.
Before we renovated our kitchen 18 months ago, we had a separate dining room which we hardly ever used. Our kitchen designer Diane Berry suggested combining the two — and that’s what our island does. One end is for preparing food while the other is a dining table with blue velvet seats.
Sarah Francis in her Manchester kitchen, which she had renovated 18 months ago at a cost of more than £27,000
I wanted a simple colour scheme. We throw a lot of parties, and when a guest opens a door to take out a glass, I want the insides of the cupboards to look as good as the outside.
The drawers are lined and coloured grey inside; the marble worktop runs down the sides of the island as well as along the top, for a neater finish.
There’s lots of storage, too — the island contains 14 handle-less drawers and cupboards, plus an integrated dishwasher, an induction hob, a hidden USB point, a built-in waste disposal unit, four recycling bins and a boiling water tap. Our small kitchen always looked so messy, but as everything is now hidden away it’s easy to keep tidy.
I spend most of my time in the kitchen now — the boys do their homework at the island while I’m cooking and chatting to them, and I’ve taken up baking!
It’s great for socialising, too — we held a 70th birthday party for my father-in-law and laid out the food on the island like a buffet. It’s the best thing we’ve ever done to our home.
What it all cost
- Eggersmann units £12,232
- Quartz worktop £5,559
- Silestone quartz tabletop and legs £4,712
- Miele three-tier dishwasher £661
- Undermount sink £510
- Quooker Fusion boiling water tap£1,257
- Waste disposal unit £426
- Pop-up socket £180
- Angel & Boho dining chairs and bench £1,650
TOTAL £27,187
Sommer Pyne, 40, London
Sommer Pyne, 40, an interior designer and owner of House Curious lifestyle store, lives in South London with her husband Will, also 40, and their two children, Lyla, five, and Indy, 18 months. She says:
If you watched the BBC series McMafia this year, you’ll already have seen my kitchen island. The producers hired my home to use as the main character’s mews house — it was incredibly surreal to see the actor James Norton standing in my kitchen!
I moved to the UK from Australia 12 years ago, and I love the Australian vibe of big, light open-plan spaces. So when we renovated our house, I knew I wanted a really large island.
Sommer Pyne, 40, an interior designer, with her kitchen island that was used in the BBC series McMafia as the main character's home
The kitchen has quite an industrial feel, with concrete floors, stainless steel units and brass handles. We worked with a company called Matrix Kitchens and had a very clear brief.
I knew I’d use the island so much that we really splashed out on it, particularly the honed marble worktop, which I don’t think will ever go out of fashion. The huge brass panel on the front brings a bit of warmth to the room and always gets lots of comments.
The island is fitted with a sink with spray-gun attachment, dishwasher, wine fridge, rubbish bins and storage for pots and pans. It also has a built-in herb garden for potted herbs, which drains into the main sink. I got the idea after seeing a Jamie Oliver show where he picked fresh herbs from the counter and added them straight to his dishes. It also works as a handy ice bucket for parties.
Our latest addition is the gold Zip Water tap, which we had to wait and save up for. It not only dispenses boiling water, but also filtered and sparkling water, as we’re trying to use less plastic. It looks stunning.
When people first walk into the kitchen, they always say ‘wow’, and they’re drawn to the island. My daughters love sitting on the countertop when we bake. Our island really has made our kitchen the heart of our home.
What it all cost
- Worktop (including fitting) £6,500
- Units and brass panel (including fitting) £4,500
- Appliances (dishwasher, wine fridge, sink, plant trough) £3,000
- Zip Water HydroTap All-in-One Celsius Arc tap in brushed gold £3,649
TOTAL £17,649
Nadine Pain, 39, London
Nadine Pain, 39, an executive assistant, lives in East London with husband Stephen, also 39, a software developer, and their two children, Ben, ten, and Beatrice, seven. She says:
Rather than just one island, we have two, which collide in the middle! Half has a copper top, while the other is marble, with an oak breakfast bar.
Each has its own function — the copper-topped side has storage units, a dishwasher drawer, a pull-out bin and a scrapings bin beside our dining table.
Nadine Pain, from East London with her kitchen island that cost just over £14,000
The marble-topped side has pan drawers with designer Buster + Punch handles, a prep sink for rinsing vegetables, a boiling water tap and a drawer for my Thermomix food processor. It has a power socket so I can simply lift it out.
We finished renovating three weeks ago, and already everything happens here. I’m self-employed and often work from the countertop; the kids will play around me, and friends can hang out while Stephen or I cook.
Everyone who’s seen it has been wowed by it — their reactions make all the hard work of the renovations worthwhile.
This Christmas, we’re having 13 people over, and the island will come into its own. I hate leaving guests while I’m cooking, so I’m looking forward to preparing dinner while feeling part of the gang.
What it all cost
- Units by Splinter Works £5,000
- Copper worktop £750
- Marble worktop £900
- Oak breakfast bar £1,200
- Quooker boiling water tap £1,800
- Hob £1,300
- Prep sink £350
- Dishwasher £900
- Steel gantry (with lighting) £1,000
- Thermomix food processor £1,000
TOTAL £14,200
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News Pictures New kitchen ‘must-haves’ come with wine fridges, USB hubs and quartz worktops…but cost £27,000
You don’t have to pack away your bikini just because you’re the wrong side of 20. These body-beautiful stars reveal their secrets to staying in shape and prove you can smoulder in a two-piece, whatever your age. Read on and be bikini inspired!
TEENS
Hayden Panettiere
Size: 8
Age: 18
Height: 5ft 1in
Weight: 8st
To achieve her kick-ass figure, Hayden – who plays cheerleader Claire Bennet in Heroes – follows the ‘quartering’ rule. She eats only a quarter of the food on her plate, then waits 20 minutes before deciding whether she needs to eat again.
Hayden says: “I don’t have a model’s body, but I’m not one of those crazy girls who thinks that they’re fat. I’m OK with what I have.”
Nicollette says: “I don’t like diets – I see it, I eat it! I believe in eating healthily with lots of protein, vegetables and carbs to give you energy.”
kim cattrall
Size: 10-12
Age: 52
Height: 5ft 8in
Weight: 9st 4lb
SATC star Kim swears by gym sessions with Russian kettle bells (traditional cast-iron weights) and the South Beach Diet to give her the body she wants. To avoid overeating, Kim has a radical diet trick – squirting lemon juice on her leftovers – so she won’t carry on picking.
Kim says: “I am no super-thin Hollywood actress. I am built for men who like women to look like women.”
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