Low Country Kitchen Center Island Ideas

Low Country Style

• Low country style embodies a long history, casual hospitality, and a topography of tidal marshes, estuaries and the ocean. No matter how old or new your house is, these are expressed in its decor, a blending of the old with the new in a beach cottage ambiance. Colors are important, like dark hardwood floors and light colored walls and woodwork.

Kitchen Island Functions

• Some kitchen center islands are equipped with sinks for washing vegetables, some with a lowered area for eating, and some with stovetops and grills. Others, in smaller cottages, are used as the dining table. In a low country cottage, space is usually at a premium, so you want to have a lot of storage under your island.

Turn an Antique Into an Island

• If you have or can find an antique workbench, buffet, butcher table, or sideboard, use it as the island for your kitchen. Either refinish it and replace the hardware, or keep it just the way you found it to blend with your other pieces from the past. Adding plumbing and a sink or a stovetop to it can be accomplished by yourself or a craftsman.

Other Details

• Some very common elements found in low country style are white beadboard and light-colored wood, such as maple and oak, so if you will buy or build your island, ensure that it has these. If your island has a cooktop, hang either a copper or tin hood over it. Also add pendant lighting that reflects the natural colors that abound among the marshes or that are antiqued or reminiscent of the sea for just the right finish.