( Free kitchen design tool )
Kitchen island clearance. Room to use it.
( 01: Try the interactive tool )
Kitchen Island Clearance Visualiser
Free to use in your browser. No account or download needed.
24 in left between the working fronts.
48 in closed gap − 24 in dishwasher − 0 in drawer. This is the remaining distance between edges, before allowing for a person working in the aisle.
How to use this visualiser
Measurements use inches for gaps and projections, and feet and inches for room and island sizes. Sliders adjust in half-inch steps. Set the worktop-to-island gap and the space behind the stools. Try Unloading or Busy kitchen, then open and close each item individually. Switch to Plan to read the footprint and remaining gaps. Under model assumptions, enter the projections of your own appliance, drawer and occupied stool. Compare keeps the same room and gaps, with everything closed on the reference side. Choose Compare and drag the divider to check your selection against the reference. Use “Keep or share this view” to copy a link that remembers your choices, or get an embed for your own article.
What you can explore
- Adjust working and seating gaps from 27.5 to 71 inches.
- Open opposing fronts and see the remaining gap or overlap.
- Compare tucked stools with an occupied seating envelope.
- Set your own door, drawer and seating projections.
- Switch between a textured 3D room and a dimensioned plan.
- Share or embed a link that remembers the complete layout.
JavaScript is required for the interactive controls. The plan works without WebGL; the 3D room requires WebGL 2. Written guidance and the starting plan are available without JavaScript.
( 02: The short answer )
How much room is left when the kitchen is in use?
Measure island clearance from the nearest worktop or appliance edge, then check what happens when fronts open and stools are occupied. The working aisle, route behind seating and passage around each end do different jobs. A gap that looks generous with everything closed can disappear between an open dishwasher and the drawer opposite. Use this visualiser to explore those changes before fixing the island size.
| Where to measure | What uses the space | What the visualiser shows |
|---|---|---|
| Working side | Open appliance doors, drawers and the person using them. | The gap between opposing edges after the selected projections are subtracted. Space for a standing cook is additional. |
| Behind the seating | A pulled-out stool, the seated person and anyone passing behind. | The space left beyond the occupied envelope. The example envelope can be adjusted. |
| Around the ends | Routes to doors, tall appliances and the rest of the room. | Fixed end gaps of about 35.4 inches in this model. Survey your own routes separately, including every door swing. |
( 03: Start the conversation )
Bring the question. We’ll bring the ideas.
Explore the right proportions, materials and details for your home with a Posh designer.
( 04: Details in real Posh Design kitchens )
Look beyond the illustration.
The stool is part of the footprint.
A completed Posh Design kitchen. The photograph shows the relationship between seating, the working run and the garden doors; it is not a measured clearance reference.
- Include the back of the chair
- An upholstered back and its frame extend beyond the worktop. Take the actual stool to the planning discussion, or bring its width and depth alongside the island drawing.
- Follow the route to the garden
- The garden doors sit beside the island. Trace the route past the seating with someone sitting down, rather than judging the route from the empty floor alone.
Look at what faces the island.
A completed Posh Design kitchen with a timber breakfast-bar overhang and fitted storage. Camera perspective cannot establish the aisle dimensions.
- Check fronts in pairs
- An island sits opposite several different fronts. Mark the dishwasher, bin drawer and tall doors on a plan, then check the combinations you use at the same time.
- Measure the projecting edge
- The breakfast-bar surface projects beyond the cabinetry below. The outer edge sets the available route, so a cabinet-only footprint would overstate the floor space.
How much space should you leave around a kitchen island?
Begin with three separate measurements: the working aisle, the distance behind the seating and the gaps around the ends. Measure between the nearest fixed edges, including projecting worktops, handles and appliances. Do not assume that one distance works equally well on all four sides.
As a reference, the NKBA planning guide linked below recommends 42 inches for a one-cook work aisle and 48 inches for multiple cooks. It distinguishes that working space from a 36-inch walkway. These are US planning recommendations, not UK regulatory requirements or automatic approval of a layout. Your designer still needs to account for the people, appliances and circulation in your kitchen.
The visualiser starts with a 48-inch working gap and a 48-inch seating-side gap. Those are comparison settings, not a promise that a kitchen with those dimensions will work. Change the openings to see why the closed gap is only the beginning of the decision.
Is 36 or 40 inches enough between an island and cabinets?
Test what the aisle has to do. At 36 inches, the example dishwasher projecting 24 inches leaves 12 inches before the island edge. At 40 inches, it leaves 16 inches. Neither number includes a person bending to load the machine. Opening the opposite 20-inch drawer at the same time creates an overlap at both settings.
Try 36, 40 and 48 inches in Plan view, first with everything closed and then with Unloading selected. A wider aisle can reduce a conflict, but relocating the dishwasher or the drawer may be the better design move. This study deliberately aligns the openings so that the conflict is easy to see.
Kitchen island clearance with an open dishwasher
Use the installation drawing for your chosen dishwasher to find its open-door depth. Convert that dimension to the part projecting beyond the closed worktop edge. The model starts with a 24-inch projection; it is an assumption, not the specification of a particular appliance. The lower rack, handles and the space needed by the person loading it also deserve attention.
The working gap is calculated as the closed gap minus the open dishwasher projection minus the opposite open drawer projection. With 48 inches between worktops, a 24-inch dishwasher projection and a 20-inch drawer projection leave 4 inches between their plan footprints. A negative result is shown as an overlap, not as usable space. Openings at different heights still need a physical interference check.
How much space do you need behind kitchen island seating?
Measure from the island edge to the wall or obstruction behind the stool. Then allow for the occupied stool before considering any route behind it. In the model, the tucked stool projects about 4 inches; the occupied envelope starts at 24 inches and can be changed to suit the person and furniture you are considering.
The NKBA guide distinguishes no passing traffic, edging past and walking past seating. Its walking-past recommendation is 44 inches from the counter edge to the obstruction behind the diner. That is an overall distance, not an extra 44 inches behind the chair. Treat this as a reference for discussion and check your own furniture and access needs.
A taped outline on the floor and the actual stool can be more revealing than a distant photograph. Sit down, stand up and let someone use the route behind you. Include children, guests or mobility equipment where relevant to the household.
What size kitchen do you need for an island?
This example uses an island about 7 ft 10.5 in long and 3 ft 3.4 in deep, a wall run about 23.6 inches deep and about 35.4 inches at each island end. The model room is about 13 ft 9.4 in wide. Its depth adds the wall run, working gap, island and seating-side gap. At the starting settings, that is about 13 ft 3 in.
The sliders resize this example room to explore clearances. They do not move an island inside a surveyed room or prove that your existing room can accommodate it. A real layout also includes walls out of square, door swings, radiators, tall appliances, services and the route into adjacent rooms. Keep the island footprint and all of those features on the same measured plan.
Bring these questions to your kitchen design visit
- Bring a measured plan with doors, radiators and routes to adjoining rooms.
- Find the open-door dimensions for the exact appliances you want.
- Mark drawers and appliances that will be opened together.
- Bring the dimensions of your preferred stools, including their backs.
- Check space for the person using the appliance as well as the open front.
- Try a taped island outline and occupied stools before settling the size.
( 06: Start the conversation )
Bring the question. We’ll bring the ideas.
Explore the right proportions, materials and details for your home with a Posh designer.
( 07: A little more detail )
Common questions
It is a clearance visualiser with calculated gaps. It subtracts the projections you select from an illustrative layout and shows the result in plan and 3D. It does not calculate the largest island for a surveyed room or certify a design.
Yes. Open model assumptions and adjust the projections. Use the distance beyond the closed worktop edge, rather than the total appliance depth. The tool supports dishwasher projections from 15.5 to 30 inches and drawer projections from 11.5 to 26 inches.
The island stays about 7 ft 10.5 in long and 3 ft 3.4 in deep. Adjusting the two gaps changes the example room depth so you can compare the space each arrangement needs. The model is not a drawing of your existing room.
No. A positive value only means the illustrated footprints do not overlap. You still need space for people to use the kitchen, move past each other and access appliances. The tool does not assign a pass or fail score.
Yes. Keep or share this view creates a link remembering the gaps, openings, projections and view. The same sharing panel supplies an embeddable version with a link back to the full design guide.
( 08: More kitchen design tools )