Can You Move a Kitchen Island?

Most rooms in your house are easy to change up on a regular basis, but the kitchen is a whole different story. Moving an island may just be a whim, but it can also improve the flow of your kitchen and make cooking easier for you and your family.

Can you move a kitchen island? Yes, you can move a kitchen island. If your island has a sink, stove, or electrical outlet on it, the move becomes much more complicated, and you will likely need the help of a professional to remove and relocate plumbing, electricity, and possibly gas lines.

In this article, we’ll discuss how difficult it is to move a kitchen island, the specifics of the move, and some alternatives to moving an island that may work better for your space and family.

Is it Easy to Move a Kitchen Island?

Moving a kitchen island can be either a simple weekend project or a major kitchen renovation, depending on the size and features of your island. The easiest islands to move are small kitchen islands with lightweight countertops that are not anchored to the floor.

Here are 10 things that can make your project more complicated:

1. Your gas stove is on your island: Your gas lines will need to be shut off and relocated so that you can continue to use your stove. This is best done by a professional.
2. There is another appliance on your island: If there is an electric stove or another appliance, you will need to shut off power and have an electrician remove and relocate it.
3. There is a sink on your island: If your kitchen sink or dishwasher is on your island, you will need to shut off water supply and have a plumber remove and relocate plumbing pipes.
4. Your island has outlets: That convenient outlet on your island that you use to plug in your Instant Pot won’t seem so convenient when you move your island. You will need to shut off power, remove the electrical devices that power it, and if you still want to use it, have it relocated. This is best done by an electrical professional.
5. You have necessary lighting above your island: Many islands have pendant lights that illuminate the work area. When you move the island, you may also need to move these lights.
6. Your island is large: If your island is large, it is also heavy and more difficult to move in one piece. You may need to disassemble it quite a bit to move it. Smaller islands can usually be slid around.
7. You have heavy countertops: If your countertops are made of heavy stone or concrete, you will need to remove them before moving the island. These things are heavy! Installation usually requires multiple people, and removal can damage them. To avoid this, you should consult a professional countertop installer to remove and reinstall them.
8. Your island is attached to or built around a column: A kitchen island may anchor a floating column in the middle of your kitchen, but it also means you can’t just slide your island to move it. You will need to disassemble and move the island in pieces.
9. The flooring was not installed under the island: You probably haven’t thought about it, but kitchen cabinets are often installed on the subfloor, and the flooring is laid around them. When you move your island, you will need to patch the floor where the island once stood. This isn’t too difficult if your home is relatively new, but it can be a real challenge in older homes.
10. Your island is anchored to the floor: Most islands are anchored to the floor for safety reasons, but some are not. If your builder cut this corner, you will have an easier time moving the island.

As you can see, the question of how easy it is to move a kitchen island depends on the design and features of your island.

How to Move a Kitchen Island

If you’re still up for the challenge of moving your kitchen island, we’ll discuss below all the steps you need to take.

Step One: Determine where you want to place the island

When you go through the trouble of rearranging your kitchen island, you want to make sure you make the best decision on where it should go.

• If you’re relocating the island to a completely different spot, measure your kitchen island and mark with painter’s tape on the floor where it should stand. This will help you get an idea of how much space it will take up.
• You’ll want 36 to 46 inches around the entire kitchen island so that people can walk through, but if your island leads into a dining area or is in a highly-trafficked area, you might want even more. If multiple cooks work in your kitchen, you might also want more space.
• Your kitchen island will be the centerpiece of your kitchen. Pay attention to how it is centered in the room. For example, you might want it centered in front of a window or centered in the entire kitchen, and sometimes these desires contradict each other.
• What do you want to use your island for? If you want to use it for food preparation, you should have it near your stove and refrigerator, but if you want to use it for entertaining purposes, you might want it closer to your dining area.
• Make sure your cabinets and appliances can still fully open before you move your island. You don’t want to accidentally block your dishwasher!
• To increase the functionality of your kitchen, make sure to keep the triangle free. You want the path between the refrigerator, stove, and sink to remain clear.

Have you found the right spot? You’ll want to be sure before you make the big move, and also be sure that moving the island is an improvement. What may seem like a good idea in concept can become problematic in practice. So think carefully about the decision before you dive in.

Step Two: Prepare the island for the move

Preparing the island for the move is one of the most time-consuming and crucial parts of this project, but preparing in advance ensures that everything goes smoothly, so don’t skip this step.

1. Remove items from cabinets and drawers. You may need to store items in boxes or in another room so that you have enough space to work.
2. Remove appliances. These will need to be cleared out of the way as well. You can help protect them by wrapping them in moving blankets. You may want to use a dolly for heavy or awkward appliances.
3. Remove doors, drawers, and shelves and place them in a safe place away from people working in your kitchen. This is an excellent time for a thorough cleaning, painting, or hardware change!
4. Remove trim, if present.
5. If possible, remove the countertop to make the island lighter and easier to move. If you have stone countertops, multiple people will be required. Lightweight laminate countertops can usually be removed by 1 or 2 people, depending on the size, but since they tend to be lighter, you may not need to remove them.

Step Three: Unanchor the island

Next, you’ll need to test if your island is anchored. Give it a good shove in one direction. If it’s not anchored, you can probably move it yourself, especially if you’ve removed your 300-pound countertop.

If the island doesn’t move, you’ll need to locate where it is anchored. Sometimes the base cabinets of the kitchen island are directly anchored to the floor, and sometimes they are anchored to wood cleats and the wood cleats are anchored to the floor.

1. Look inside the cabinet and see if you can locate the anchor screws. Anchors may also be located in or behind the toe kick.
2. Once you’ve found the anchor screws, you can unscrew the cabinet from the floor, and you should now be able to move it.

Step Four: Move the island

Finally! It’s time to move your island to its desired location. You can simply slide the island into place at this point, preferably with the help of some friends.

If your island is large or has multiple base cabinets underneath, you may need to further disassemble the cabinet and move each base cabinet separately. This should be done with care to avoid damaging your cabinets.

Step Five: Reinstall the island

How you proceed with reinstalling the island will depend on everything you had to do to uninstall it in the first place, so we can’t provide exact instructions, but in general, you can expect to do the following:

1. Ensure that all utilities are available, including electricity, gas, and plumbing.
2. Install lighting.
3. Reinstall the wood cleats if your island uses them.
4. Anchor the cabinets to the floor again.
5. Reinstall the countertops.
6. Install appliances.
7. Put shelves and drawers back into the cabinet and reattach the doors.
8. Replace trim.

Step Six: Patch the floor where your island used to be

Once your island is installed in its new location, you’ll need to perform any necessary repairs to its old home. The most common of these repairs are:

• Removing supply lines.
• Patching holes in the floor.
• Replacing flooring where the island used to be if it was subfloor.
• Cleaning up the mess you made and the dust you kicked up with a deep clean of the entire kitchen.

Alternatives to Moving the Island

After all that reading, moving your kitchen island may not sound like the best idea? It’s likely that the original location of your island was carefully thought out, and there are good reasons why it’s where it is. There are some other things you could try instead of moving your kitchen island that may solve your kitchen woes.

We have some ideas for you so you can make your kitchen more functional and comfortable without necessarily moving or removing your island.

Remove the Overhang

If your island is made of natural stone, you can have the overhang removed by a professional, or if you don’t want to remove your countertops, you can have a new countertop installed without an overhang.

Overhangs can be great and functional when you use them, but this largely depends on your personal habits and your family’s needs. If you don’t use that seating at the bar, try getting rid of it. Removing an overhang can create more space for walking and shrink an island that’s not proportionate to your kitchen.

Add an Overhang

While we just talked about getting rid of the overhang, there are situations where adding an overhang makes sense. If you’re repurposing your dining area and want to get rid of your kitchen table, you can create a comfortable eating area by adding an overhang without needing a kitchen table. It can be a great space saver if your home is tight on space.

Remove a Base Cabinet

You could simply remove a portion of the island. You’ll need to recut your countertops or have a new countertop installed. This can help make a cramped kitchen feel more open, but you might want to consult a professional to find out the most effective way to do this.

Dress it Up

If your kitchen island is just an eyesore, you can do so much to beautify it without moving or removing it. Here are some of our favorite ideas:

• Replace or refresh the countertop!
• Paint the base cabinet in a color that stands out from the rest of your kitchen.
• Add molding and trim to create a more substantial look.
• Replace outdated fixtures like sink faucets and lighting.
• When replacing countertops, consider adding a waterfall edge for a clean, modern look.

Replace the Island Completely

If you need to move your island or just need a new look, tearing down and replacing the island is an option. However, a brand new kitchen island will likely cost you thousands of dollars, and if your taste leans towards high-end items, you could easily be looking at $10,000 or more.

If you do replace the island completely, you can also consider using a freestanding island or something similar like a worktable. These can be easier to move in the future if you like to regularly change up your spaces.

Opt for a Peninsula

Instead of moving the island, a peninsula might work better in your kitchen. Peninsulas provide the additional work area that an island does, but you don’t have to worry about having as much clearance on one side, and you can make it as long or short as you like.

If you opt for a peninsula instead of an island, you may need to replace your countertops.

Change the Shape of Your Island

Instead of tearing out your kitchen island, you could complement it. If you have a large kitchen or want to transform your cooking island into an entertainment or dining area, you may want to consider an L-shaped or T-shaped cooking island.

These will certainly be the centerpiece of your kitchen and only work in specific spaces, but they can add a lot of functionality to your space.

If you have a small or oddly-shaped kitchen, you can alternatively add a rounded or octagonal island!

Should You Move a Kitchen Island?

If you’re lucky enough to have an island that can be easily moved without too much hassle, then by all means, tackle this project. It’s pretty straightforward as long as your island is simple.

But if moving your island involves moving utility lines and appliances, it’s probably not worth it unless you’re already doing a major kitchen renovation, and at some point, you’ll want to do one as your kitchen ages.

My advice? Wait until you’re ready to remodel your kitchen and then design the island of your dreams. Otherwise, you could end up doing the work twice. Once when you move the island and another time when you remodel your kitchen. If your island is in a completely unworkable place, then of course, nothing is holding you back as long as you have the money and time!