My guess is that anyone suggesting putting the stove on an island has never had a stove on an island. Once I had that and it was in a kitchen I designed and I didn’t like it at all. Think about what you wipe off the wall behind your stove. That all goes onto the floor behind the stove when you’re cooking at an island.
Once a house is built, if it’s on a concrete slab foundation, gas lines or 220 electric lines have to come from the outside somehow. At an island that’s already there and not wired for gas or 220, the stove could not be placed there or we’d be stepping over the gas line and I doubt that’s allowed — not that we would do it anyway.
I like my stove more out of the way and not in the middle of my kitchen and if we were to get House #5, I would leave the stove where it is til I saw whether or not I disliked the position. Then if it bothered me, I’d just move it over a bit — maybe a foot or so.
I doubt that’s the house we’re going to get though. It’s in the city and the taxes are higher in the city and it’s really quite a bit larger than we need and having extra room is good but it means more utilities, more insurance costs, more taxes, etc.
Vince will see the house out in the country today and hopefully he’ll see House #5 on Thursday. We’ll see what happens after that.
Jill in Ohio says
I’m excited/anxious to see what he has to say about the house out in the country. That one would be my first choice. 🙂
When do you head down to TX for the first time to check out these houses?
Nancy says
When we just renovated our other house we moved the stove from the long open counter to the other side and up against the wall.. we made the decision strictly based on money…those slide in stoves are really pricey…and I like it so much better. I now have a long counter top with no breaks…the basement isn’t finished so it wasn’t hard to move the 220…
Camilla says
I have a stove in an island, and I like it fine (pre-renovation, the fridge was in the island, and that really obstructed sight lines). My stove does have a “bar” height counter behind it, though, so it’s that that gets scuzzy rather than the floor. I’m not such a fan of the controls-at-the-front stove style I chose, though, knowing that the dog(!) and kids can turn it on.
Barbara says
My island stove also has a counter behind it. I like it, but I can see your point about the floor. We installed a traditional hood above it rather than the Jenn-aire type fan it had previously. I didn’t like that at all. I like the counter behind the stove. People can pull up a stool and talk to me and watch me cook. It’s nice when I have company…they’re out of my way.
Karen Langseth says
Here I was thinking….Island….Judy has had enough and she’s running away to an island!!!
Linda H says
I am the same about about the island cook top. I have one and even with a narrow counter behind it, the splatters go until they stop. And no one ever sits at the counter. It’s just a catchall. –except when I bake. It gives some extra space for cooling racks. Well, this is exciting. I’m on tiptoes waiting to see which house you choose. 🙂
Mary LeClerc says
The house I buildt in Iowa 26 years ago had a center island with a Jen-Air top. I loved it and found keeping the floor mopped much easier than constantly cleaning a back splash behind a stove. Besides that meant room for counter tops and cabinets on three sides of the big kitchen…finally had as many as I needed. Loved, loved that kitchen and have never seen one in any other house that even came close to pleasing me as much.
Linda says
Hi Judy
Have you ever thought of buying an induction cooker top? Like you I dont like smooth top cookers and prefer gas. Induction cookers give you the best of both. The speed and infinite adjustment of gas with the ease of cleaning of a smooth top. Please check it out. I just LOVE mine. It has 5 “cooking zones” including a large one for your big pans. Quicker than gas, amazing. We have a Fisher & Paykel model – you can check it out here:
http://www.fisherpaykel.co.nz/product/cooking/inductioncooktops/index.cfm?productuid=F9508F73-94B3-6FF1-D7FA66F27EE30D95
Oh the other thing I love – no knobs to clean around!
Linda
Taupo New Zealand
Glen in louisiana says
Never thought about the floor behind an island. Hmmmmm.
Saska says
I know this is an older post, but I’m behind!
I have a bar-type cabinet with my jenn-aire in it. It has a 4″ higher backing on it which goes on out further to a bar that nobody sets at. The only gunk I notice accumulates on the bar and an occassional wipe gets it off. I do not regret building it this way because I hated cleaning that darn hood that hit me in the chin!
I also can on my ceramic top drop in burners. Figure if I have it, I’m going to use it. We’ve been in the house for 3 1/2 years and I’ve already burnt out one heating elements in the grill. They’re not real cheap to replace, but I’d rather have a grill inside than out (DH does NONE of the cooking)