Whether you want to know how to design a kitchen island or want to understand ransom strips on a plot, our team of experts can help

IAN ROCK is a chartered surveyor, founder of www.rightsurvey. co.uk and author of Haynes Home Manuals

REBECCA FOSTER is an experienced homes and interiors journalist and writes regularly for HBR

NICK STOCKLEY is head of design at architectural practice www.resi.co.uk

DAVID SNELL is a serial self-builder and author of Building your own home

KEITH MYERS Designer at Luxury Kitchen Design Studio The Myers Touch

Got a burning question about your self-build, extension or renovation project that you need answering?

Drop us a line by emailing homebuilding@futurenet.com and your question could be answered by one of our magazine experts.

IMAGE: THE MYERS TOUCH

QHow do I get the proportions of an island right in an open-plan kitchen?

AMY AND STEVE, WILTSHIRE

Essentially, from a design point of view, it’s proportions that can sometimes cause the most problems when designing an island — too small and skinny and it’ll make the space feel cramped; too large and chunky and it’ll dominate the room. To avoid this you need to consider the relationship between the size of the island and the size of the kitchen, as well as the wider architectural space to ensure all are in proportion. You don’t want the island to prove impractical when you come to use it. It could be square, round or even shaped like a boat (a design we’ve done before!) but it will only work if it’s the right size for the space around it. You have to consider walkways, cooking zones, pull-out drawers and appliance doors so it all works together.

As a rule of thumb, when designing the size of an island, we always allow a minimum distance between walkways of at least a metre, but generally speaking we prefer to allow 1.1-1.4 metres. This provides extra comfort and functional access around an island when preparing and cooking food. It’ll also accommodate cabinetry and appliances that often face onto an island — for example, ovens, dishwashers and fridge doors that all need to be able to open fully to be useable and practical.