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Lately, I can’t stop daydreaming about swapping my kitchen island for a banquette and round table. It just feels warmer, chattier, and way more inviting. Surprisingly, the kitchen island has become a quite divisive topic in interior design. What used to be a common element of the kitchen seems to be going out of style. It started when some homeowners began arguing that the island made their cooking space feel cluttered.
In fact, there are so many kitchen island haters these days that many homeowners are ditching this feature entirely, opting for a more spacious, airy kitchen. It's certainly different from past trends, where kitchen islands seemed to make homes feel more luxurious.
What are your thoughts on this popular unit? Do you think it’s a crucial part of the kitchen in terms of practicality and design? Or are you team, please get that eyesore out of my home, once and for all? Or perhaps you’re undecided on whether you want to keep your kitchen island around in 2026. There’s a long list of pros and cons to weigh in mind when deciding whether to keep this unit or replace it.
Let’s dive into why or why not your home should have an island.
Photo by roam in color on Unsplash
Pros for Keeping The Kitchen Island
The kitchen island is such a staple in a person’s kitchen that it’s practically a family member at this point. It’s the ultimate place for you to plug away on your laptop while enjoying a bowl of fruit and a glass of seltzer water. Meanwhile, it’s where the kids tend to toss their backpacks after a long school day, where they get all their homework done, and munch dinosaur chicken nuggets once dinner rolls around.
I think that if you’re a parent with kids, keeping this kitchen unit can be extremely beneficial for your home, since it’s both practical and sentimental. Not only is it a good storage place, but it’s also an ideal location to gather around and chat while cooking or cleaning, in a more casual setting than the dinner table.
Pros for Ditching The Kitchen Island
Standard seating instantly shifts the energy of a kitchen, making it feel warmer, more relaxed, and genuinely inviting — which explains why banquettes are having such a major moment right now. And honestly? The oversized kitchen island isn’t always the hero it’s made out to be. In many homes, it becomes a bulky catch-all that dominates the room, disrupts flow, and quietly collects clutter. Kitchen islands also work best in open layouts, which are trending out.
If your island feels more like an obstacle than an asset, you probably won’t miss it nearly as much as you think. Smart storage, thoughtful layouts, and cozy seating arrangements can deliver far more function without the visual heaviness. Ditching the island can completely transform a kitchen, creating a space that feels lighter, more open, and very stylish.
So, where do you stand: kitchen island loyalist — or fully ready to let it go?
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