Kitchen Design 101: The Kitchen Peninsula

What is a Kitchen Peninsula?

So what exactly makes a kitchen peninsula a ‘peninsula’? The dictionary defines the word peninsula as “a piece of land that is surrounded by water on three sides but remaining connected to the mainland.” In the kitchen, a peninsula has the same concept but refers to the cabinetry and countertops instead of pieces of land. Think of the floor as water and the cabinetry as the land mass. A kitchen peninsula typically contains cabinetry and countertops, surrounded on three sides by open floor space but connected to either the adjacent countertop or a wall on one end. Where a kitchen island gets its name as an island because it is completely disconnected from the ‘mainland’ (the main cabinetry of the kitchen), with floor space on all 4 sides and no connection to the main set of cabinets or a wall.

The History of the Kitchen Peninsula

Today, the kitchen is one of the most beautiful and desirable features of a home, but that wasn’t always the case. For centuries, the kitchen was a less desirable room that had hot uncomfortable fires, was busy, full of bulky equipment, and was not a place where guests would gather. Food prep and dining were very separate tasks. As exciting new cooking technologies became available, food prep became easier, cleaner, less labor-intensive, and more comfortable. We began rethinking the designs of these spaces and these new tools and convenient cooking spaces were seen as luxuries. The kitchen quickly transformed into the welcoming, heart of the home we know it as today.

As these lifestyle evolutions took place, the kitchen began opening up to the rest of the home. Small pass-throughs on kitchen walls started to appear, allowing the cook to communicate and see their family and guests while they prepared meals. Soon followed the removed walls and addition of kitchen peninsulas.

Kitchen Peninsulas of the Past

Early kitchen peninsula designs featured wall cabinets installed above the peninsula bases. Often, they were the same height as the perimeter wall cabinets, creating a little eighteen-inch open space to the dining side, which gave a kind of closed-off from the rest of the room feeling. 

Kitchen Peninsulas of Today

Over time, the peninsula wall cabinets became shorter, and it seems that now they have disappeared completely, leaving just the base cabinets. Today’s modern kitchen peninsula uses primarily base cabinets. The ceiling-hung peninsula cabinets have become a thing of the past.

How to Enhance A Kitchen Layout with a Peninsula

For many years, the kitchen peninsulas have been a popular design element within G-Shaped, L-Shaped, U-Shaped, and even the Galley Kitchen Layout designs. Peninsula cabinet layouts can be either a continuation of the base cabinets along the wall extending the kitchen or creating an L-Shape, or they can be an independent run of cabinets that attach to a wall extending the kitchen layout.

The Benefits of a Kitchen Peninsula

There are countless benefits to adding a peninsula to your kitchen, let’s explore them. 

Extending the Kitchen Floor Plan with a Peninsula

Adding a kitchen peninsula is an easy way to transform or expand the layout of your kitchen. For example, a Galley or a Straight Wall kitchen layout can be extended longer in length or transformed into an L-Shaped layout with the help of a kitchen peninsula.

This kitchen peninsula pictured below provides additional counter space for the kitchen and additional storage for the dining room. It also helps define the kitchen from the dining room as separate spaces while still keeping the room open where a wall would close up the space. 

A kitchen peninsula doesn’t have to be a straight rectangle. Adding some shape to the peninsula cabinets can help restructure the size and shape of the kitchen floor plan. Here are two great examples of kitchen peninsulas that redefine the shape of the kitchen.

This arched kitchen peninsula bumps the kitchen floor plan out a little further to add more storage, seating, and functionality to the room.

The Peninsula Can Be A Beautiful Focal Point

A peninsula doesn’t have to be boring. It can be designed to be a beautiful centerpiece to the design. If you are looking at dressing up your peninsula design consider using a contrasting cabinet finish, style the endcap, add decorative panels or shiplap below the seating area, or add decorative details like columns, corbels, or turned posts.