There are few other pieces of furniture in homes that do as many jobs as kitchen islands and kitchen carts. These versatile home furnishings are often used daily as a working surface for home chefs preparing meals within their kitchens. Many kitchen carts and kitchen islands serve as storage space, holding pots, pans, bowls, small kitchen appliances, utensils, kitchen tools and more. With the right design, a kitchen island or a kitchen cart can seat guests for large, special meals or even for daily ones. And kitchen carts and kitchen islands can be used for transporting and serving food to guests.

In order to create kitchen islands and kitchen carts for every purpose and to suit the tastes of every home chef, the top collections of kitchen furnishings contain numerous styles and models of islands and carts from which you can choose. When you're ready to start browsing through kitchen island and kitchen cart lineups, you may even feel overwhelmed and unsure of just where to begin.

One of the features of kitchen islands and kitchen carts that greatly impacts their usefulness is their size. If you buy a piece that is too small, you may not be able to use the island or cart for everything that you had hoped. If it's too large, you won't have enough room in your kitchen, and conditions will feel cramped.

Among the three dimensions used for describing the size of kitchen islands and kitchen carts--length, width and height--the length has one of the largest influences in the functions that a cart or island can serve. Because of this, starting off your search by eliminating all of those islands that are not the right length is an excellent way to begin shopping.

This Buyers' Guide to Shopping for Kitchen Islands and Kitchen Carts by Length will help you quickly determine both the maximum length and the minimum length that a cart or island can be and still function well in your kitchen. After you've finished reading the guide, you'll be ready to hone in on only those carts or islands that are right for you, and shopping will become much simpler.

Background on the Length of Carts and Islands

When you read the descriptions of kitchen carts and kitchen islands provided by retailers, the length will usually be the first measurement that you see. Some merchants will place an "L" after the dimension to identify it further.

The length of a kitchen island or kitchen cart is the distance from its left side to its right side. For square and rectangular carts and islands, this is usually measured across the front or back of the piece, while for the small number of oval-shaped carts and islands available from top designers, this measurement will be taken from the widest point on the left to the widest point on the right.

American manufacturers and retailers will usually provide the length of a kitchen island or kitchen cart in inches, which will be often denoted with either the (") symbol or the abbreviation "in." International manufacturers and retailers are likely to provide the length in centimeters, the abbreviation for which is "cm". There are numerous online calculators available to help you convert from inches to centimeters.

Determining Your Needs for the Maximum Length of Carts and Islands

Finding the ideal maximum length for your kitchen island or kitchen cart is important in making sure that the piece is suited for your space. To determine the maximum available space, go to the location where you will be using your cart or island and envision how it will be situated. Some people find it helpful to make a masking tape outline of the cart or table on the floor.

Once you have determined where the cart or island will be placed, measure the distance available in that area from left to right. To keep traffic flowing freely in the kitchen, if anyone will need to pass by the island or cart on the right or left sides, be sure to leave 30 to 36 inches of empty space on that side to serve as a walkway. If people will pass on both sides, you'll need 60 to 72 inches of empty space with 30 to 36 inches on either end of the cart or island.

If you will be storing your island or cart in a different location from where it will be used, you should also measure the length of the space available in the storage area. If you are shopping for a cart and find that your space is greatly limited, you may want to opt for a folding kitchen cart, which collapses and can be stored in a cupboard or cabinet.

Determining Your Needs for the Minimum Length of Carts and Islands

Just as it's important to ensure that your cart or island is not too big for your working and storage areas in your home, you must also make sure that it is not too small for how you need to use it. Since the length of a kitchen cart or island determines how much space you have from right to left, it will typically have the greatest influence on how much room there is on the counter top or cart top.

To decide the minimum amount of space that will suit your needs, consider how you will need to use your cart or island. Then, you can go through the rest of this guide and see how each of the primary length categories for carts and islands can be used for the major functions of these kitchen furnishings: serving as working surfaces for food preparation, functioning as seating areas and serving food.

Length Category: 25 Inches and Under

Smaller island work centers and many kitchen carts are 25 inches in length or less.

Food Preparation: You will have room to set up one working task on a cart or island that of this size. If the task is compact, you may have a very small amount of space for placing ingredients and tools that are not in use.

Seating: Typically a cart or island that is 25 inches in length or less is not ideal for seating. The largest pieces in this size category could accommodate one guest along one length (or two guests with one seated at the front of the island and one at the back).

Serving: Pieces of this size are very easy to roll due to their compact designs and are great for rolling up to the table to serve food.

Length Category: 26 to 30 Inches

Larger carts and work table style islands are included in the 26 to 30 inch length category.

Food Preparation: A cart or island of this length gives you plenty of room around your single working task to keep ingredients and tools. This size is ideal for smaller kitchens and will enable you to work without having to stop frequently to clear the cart top or island.

Seating: A cart or island that is 26 to 30 inches in length will comfortably seat one guest at the front and one guest at the back of the piece.

Serving: Carts that are 26 to 30 inches in length are still portable enough to move into a dining room and are great for serving at a kitchen table. Both islands and carts in this size category can make excellent serving stations for small, buffet style meals.

Length Category: 31 to 40 Inches

Large barbecue carts, cupboard carts and small traditional kitchen islands are among the many styles that you'll find in this size category.

Food Preparation: If you like to set up two working stations at your island or cart, a piece that is 31 to 40 inches in length is ideal for you. With a counter top or cart top of this size, you can often place even two small kitchen appliances next to one another on the top of your cart or island.

Seating: A cart or island that is 31 to 40 inches in length can usually seat only one adult on each its side; however, there will be enough additional space that a smaller child or a high chair could be comfortably placed next to the adult.

Serving: Carts in this size category are bulky and often used as stationary serving pieces rather than as rolling serving pieces that are brought to the table side. You will have plenty of space on an island or a cart of this size to lay out a buffet meal.

Length Category: Over 40 Inches

Many kitchen islands fall within this size category. Carts that are over 40 inches long are more likely to be rolling islands than a traditional cart.

Food Preparation: An island or a cart that is this size has so much room that you can even have two people working side by side comfortably.

Seating: The longest pieces within this category can seat two adults comfortably across one length or four adults in total at the front and back.

Serving: Islands in this category are excellent for buffet-style serving at very large parties and big holiday dinners.