Kitchen Peninsula vs Kitchen Island

kitchen island

If you’re designing your dream kitchen or attempting some renovations to make the space more practical and functional, you might be wondering which is best: a kitchen island or peninsula.

As with most choices when it comes to home design and construction, the right option will depend on personal factors, needs and preferences. The same is true with kitchen peninsulas and islands. Everyone’s home is different and unique and the way you use your kitchen should be complemented by its design.

However, there are some clear differences and key benefits between peninsulas and islands. Let’s dive in and find out more.

Kitchen Island: what is it?

Kitchen islands have become increasingly popular over the last few years. As its name suggests, the island is a free standing kitchen benchtop that allows one to stand on any and all of its sides. Kitchen islands come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and styles and can incorporate benchtops of a variety of different materials, such as natural stone. 

The purpose of a kitchen island is to try and open up the space to free flowing movement around and in/out of the kitchen itself. As more and more homes are moving towards open plan designs, the preference for an island in the kitchen has increased as it decreases the barriers and obstacles in the room. 

Kitchen Peninsula: what is it?

The kitchen peninsula is similar to an island but with one key difference: Instead of being completely free standing and open on all sides, the peninsula is open on all but one of its sides. Instead, like a peninsula landform, this kitchen bench is actually an extension of the main kitchen cabinetry, sink and benchtop space.

Very versatile in terms of design and use potential, kitchen peninsulas allow one to make the most functionally of any space and in turn compromise on free flowing movement on all of its sides. 

Should you choose a kitchen island or peninsula?

As mentioned above, the right option for your kitchen will largely depend on your particular context and needs. However, to help you out, here are the main factors to consider when making your decision. 

 How big is your kitchen?

Small, compact and tightly designed kitchens may not be suitable for a kitchen island. While designed to allow people to pass on either side, an island still takes up space and being free standing it needs enough room on every side to allow someone to pass unobstructed. The kitchen is a room of the house that sees a lot of activity and movement, so adding a feature that will cause congestion is not a great idea. 

A kitchen with a peninsula, on the other hand, allows for an extension of benchtop space for food prep and cleanup but will not necessarily restrict the space too much. While islands need to be in the middle of a kitchen, peninsulas by their nature can be tucked into corners or economically designed to add a bit more surface area without taking up too much floor space. 

 How is your kitchen laid out?

The layout of a kitchen is a very important and influential thing. You may have heard of the kitchen triangle: The classic design approach seeks to ensure an unobstructed triangle of access between the stove, the refrigerator and the sink. This highly practical kitchen ‘rule’ allows you to work and prepare food without having to move too much and without too much interruption.

Think about how a kitchen island or peninsula will change your access to the important areas of your kitchen. For some kitchens, adding a peninsula is the smart way to increase benchtop space without impacting on the general flow of the room. Whilst in other kitchens the benefits of having an independent and free-standing island is your best bet. 

 What is your preferred aesthetic?

Both a kitchen peninsula and an island can look utterly fantastic in a kitchen. There are a wide variety of materials, colour schemes, tones, patterns and shades to choose from. Whether you opt for opulent marble or even engineered stone, the potential for creating something beautiful and bold is nearly limitless.

Having said that, kitchen islands do offer more design versatility than peninsulas. Being attached to the rest of the kitchen, your kitchen peninsula needs to match in terms of material and colour. Otherwise it could look disjointed. A kitchen island, on the other hand, stands apart. This gives you the creative space to either choose a complementary colour and style or to design something bold and different as an independent feature.

 What is your budget?

Price is a pain point for just about every construction and renovation process. While the size, material and design of your kitchen benchtop is going to be hugely influential in the end, generally a kitchen peninsula is the more cost effective option. With less structural work needed, often less material, and probably less labour, you can save more by opting for a peninsula.

Kitchen islands, depending on your application, can require significant work and structural construction. This is especially true if you’re adding sinks, cooktops, dishwashers or even internal storage to your kitchen island. 

 Are you hoping to resell your home?

Thinking about your long term plans and goals for your home is another smart way to approach the choice between a kitchen island or peninsula. Kitchen remodels and renovations can drastically increase the resale value of a home, when done cleverly and right.

To that end both a peninsula and an island in a kitchen can offer a strong long term return on your investment. As mentioned above, the choice will ultimately come down to the size, layout and overall style of your kitchen. The more complementary and suitable your end decision, the better its impact on the appeal and value of your house will be.

Want to discuss your kitchen? Call Euro Marble today!

Still not sure whether to choose a kitchen with a peninsula or an island?

Need some professional advice regarding your particular kitchen?

The Euro Marble team can help! Why not give us a call on (02) 8585 2999 or come on into our showroom. We’d be happy to talk about all things kitchen peninsulas, natural stone and more.

Modern Wall Cladding for an Elegant Touch

wall cladding

Interior wall cladding offers a lot of scope and opportunity for infusing elegance, warmth and personality into your home.

Whether you’re planning a renovation on a budget or just looking for a simple way to reinvigorate the style and aesthetic of your living room, there are many ways in which modern wall cladding can be utilised to great effect.

What is Wall Cladding?

Cladding, in construction, refers to attaching a material to the exterior or outer skin of a wall. Cladding can be made from a variety of different materials, including natural stone or wood. Even metal and fibre cement have been used in wall cladding applications.

In essence, it can be considered as a form of ‘skin’ placed over the existing walls. 

Understanding Interior Wall Cladding

Interior wall cladding is applied to the internal walls of one’s home. Whether it’s the bathroom or living room, using cladding on the walls of your home can change the entire look of a space. Generally, it is used purely for aesthetic purposes but there are occasions where there can be a functional element to its installation as well. 

While some home renovators opt to rather paint a wall (or walls), wall cladding offers a greater opportunity to infuse elegance, warmth and homeliness. By attaching a new material to the wall itself, it’s not just the colour scheme that can be transformed, but the texture, style and overall visual appeal of the entire room too. 

Benefits of Wall Cladding

Affordable

Renovations can get expensive! If you’re working on a tight budget or just looking for ways in which you can save some extra dollars, opting for wall cladding is a smart way to go. Instead of replacing a wall completely and requiring materials for rebuilding the structure from scratch, wall cladding simply adds a veneer of material over the existing walls. Less material and less labour translates into money saved!

Effective

Adding cladding to your interior walls is an effective way to painlessly achieve a whole new look in your home. By carefully choosing the right material and aesthetic, wall cladding allows you to overhaul the style of your home without making structural or extensive changes. Whether you’re wanting to merely refresh the overall look or achieve something more substantial, cladding is a highly effective way of going about it.

Practical

Many of the benefits of wall cladding revolve around the aesthetic visuals of adding a new material to an existing wall. But there can also be significant practical value. If you’re looking to add better or new insulation to a wall or wanting to add a protective outer layer to an interior wall, cladding can be just the solution.

From a maintenance perspective also, well chosen and professionally installed wall cladding doesn’t require extensive tender love and care to keep it looking and functioning beautifully. 

Living Room Modern Wall Cladding

The living room is a popular space in the house to add some wall cladding. As its name suggests, a lot of time is spent in living rooms simply living! That’s why it’s important that you absolutely love the look and feel of the space itself. If it needs a bit of a refresh or even a top-to-toe redo, wall cladding can be an excellent option.

So how do you infuse a touch of elegance through modern interior wall cladding? Two words: Natural stone. 

Stone Wall Cladding

At Euro Marble, we specialise in all things natural stone, including wall cladding. We’ve been involved firsthand in transforming living rooms by using stone cladding.

While some customers make the mistake of assuming that there is a single visual aesthetic to natural stone, the truth is there is a ton of variety in shade, tone, colour and patterns. From the classic look of white and grey to blues, reds, golds, greens and pinks, there’s truly something for everyone. 

When it comes to elegant interior cladding, however, we highly recommend two different options:

  1. Marble Cladding
  2. Limestone Cladding

Marble Cladding

Nothing symbolises elegance and opulence quite like marble stone. There’s still plenty of variety in terms of colour and shade. While we, and many of our customers, absolutely love the iconic milky white/grey veining visual of classic marble, there are many other options as well.

Marble is a highly durable natural stone, which makes it perfect for interior wall cladding as it’s both fashionable and functional. Thanks to its timeless aesthetic, marble is great for application in both traditionally-styled and modern living rooms.

Limestone Cladding

Limestone is another excellent choice of natural stone. The unique way in which this stone is formed at the bottom of water repositories endows it with a visual style that simply can’t be matched. The earthy and natural shades and tones make for an excellent choice of modern interior wall cladding.

Much like marble, limestone is durable and hard wearing with the right maintenance and care. While the range of colour options available is not as wide as with other stones, there are still a number of different shades of limestone ranging from beige to grey and brown.

Euro Marble – the elegant touch!

For over 30 years, Euro Marble has been using our craftsmanship and passion for all things marble and natural stone to achieve wonders for our customers.

Over this time, we’ve developed a reputation for delivering high-end products and services, on time, on budget and on point! If you’re considering options for your modern interior wall cladding, or need that elegant touch to achieve something truly spectacular, reach out to our team today.

Our 15 natural stone experts are more than happy to talk and walk you through different modern wall cladding options for your living room!

12 Modern Bathroom Tiling Ideas

bathroom with tiles

There are many ways in which you can easily and affordably create the modern bathroom of your dreams. Bathrooms need to be functional as well as stylish, and one of the best ways to achieve the best of both worlds is through tiling.

To help you on your journey to achieving a bathroom that will excite and delight you day in and day out, we’ve put together some modern bathroom tile ideas.

Stick to a Colour Tone

Keeping to a single colour tone makes a lot of your bathroom design easier. Apart from the fact that light colours in a bathroom add a sense of visual space, it also allows you to keep the design both modern and timeless. Of course, there’s no reason for your entire bathroom to be devoid of other colours. But with a single colour tone for your tiles, it’s easier to achieve that modern look. When it comes to infusing other colours elsewhere, keep reading our other modern bathroom tiling ideas. 

Use Simple Colour Contrasts

Colour can be really effectively used to create a sense of visual depth to a space without cluttering the room. For a bathroom, this is invaluable. That’s why we love the modern design style of using white or off-white tiling across the floor and walls juxtaposed with dark or black accents, tapware and cabinet handles. This simple and minimalist contrast achieves a lot with a little in a modern bathroom aesthetic. 

Tile the Shower with Stone

Perfect for those of you on a tight budget, tiling just your bathroom shower with beautiful natural stone can actually bring your entire bathroom to life. As it is likely the largest section of your bathroom, the shower offers plenty of scope to work as an independent design feature, and the gorgeousness and practicality of stone tiling is the perfect answer. 

Subway Tiles

There are a lot of fantastic ways in which you can utilise tiles in your modern bathroom, but if you’re looking for something that strikes a delicate balance between modern and classic subway tiling is a safe bet. This standard tile style is clean and minimalist to look at but offers enough complexity and depth to infuse your bathroom with personality. 

Herringbone Tiling

Subway tiling might not be for everyone. If you like your tile design to be a little funkier without jumping off the deep end, herringbone floor tiles are an excellent option. While you certainly can opt for bold and strong colour schemes, we do recommend sticking to neutrals if you really want to achieve that timeless yet modern bathroom style. 

Marble

We just love marble. This classic stone tile really does look great anywhere in the house, your modern bathroom included! Stunning to look at and durable for an environment exposed to a lot of water, moisture and steam, marble stone is as practical as it is beautiful. Importantly, the classic white-toned with grey/silver veined aesthetic of marble is an excellent way of creating a bathroom that is simultaneously classic and modern. 

For those of you who love marble but want to utilise this amazing natural stone in new and interesting ways, you can consider hexagonal tile designs. 

Marble Hexagonal Tiles

As far as modern bathroom tile ideas go, this one is among the more bold… And beautiful. Marble stone makes for an exquisite choice of tiling material to turn any bathroom into something luxurious and modern. While you can choose more generic rectangular, square or larger slabbed tiling, hexagonal tiles are a modern design trend that can really do wonders to a space. Whether you opt to tile the entire bathroom floor or just the area around your bathtub and/or vanity is up to you and your budget.

Mix and Match Styles

For modern bathrooms, we often recommend sticking to neutral and minimalist tones. However, that doesn’t mean your aesthetic needs to be boring! One excellent tile idea is to actually use different tiling styles across different sections of the bathrooms. This keeps a sense of motion and complexity to the space without actually causing a headache. It gives you plenty of opportunity to mix and match different layering styles you like and highlight certain sections of your bathroom.

Feature Walls

In contrast to our very first tip in this list, if you’re feeling bold and want your bathroom to reflect that you can always consider putting in a feature wall. (Sometimes referred to as a statement wall as well.) This provides an opportunity to express a little creativity by choosing alternate colours or patterns of tiling that will contrast but also complement the rest of the bathroom space. Carefully consider which wall is best in your bathroom. For example, the wall behind a bathtub is an excellent place for a feature wall.

Grey and White Tiling

A delicate mix of grey and white floor tiling might not sound exciting, but it can look utterly stunning in a modern bathroom context. This minimalist colour palette keeps your overall tone consistent but allows for a bit of visual depth and interest without becoming overpowering or overwhelming. 

Natural Stone

While both stone (in your shower) and marble have appeared on this list a few times already, we think natural stone deserves an entry of its own. Hard wearing, long lasting and utterly beautiful there is still plenty of scope to choose material, style, shade and colour with natural stone. As far as modern bathrooms go, nothing brings classy and contemporary styling to a space better than stone. 

Play To Your Bathroom’s Strengths

Every bathroom is different. When thinking about how to incorporate tiling, think about what your bathroom’s strengths are. For example, high ceilings should be capitalised on with floor to ceiling wall tiling. Bathrooms with a lot of natural light and windows can be brought to life with brighter coloured tiling. Simply put, make sure to play to the strengths of your bathroom.

For More Tile Ideas, Give Us A Call!

As the leading supplier and fabricator of marble and stone throughout Sydney, we know a thing or two about putting together modern bathrooms! 

So, if you’d like more custom advice about how to incorporate modern bathroom tiles into your home, make sure to give the Euro Marble team a call.Â