Peninsula kitchens in Tenerife

Peninsula kitchens are the alternative to an island when the space will not stretch any further. Tenerife has plenty of flats and apartments with a mid-sized open kitchen, both in Santa Cruz and in the south, where an island would leave 70 centimetre walkways and simply get in the way. A peninsula gives you the same breakfast bar and the same open-plan feel while taking up far less floor space.

The difference between an island and a peninsula

The difference is that an island stands free, with clearance on all four sides, while a peninsula is joined at one end to the wall or to one of the runs of the kitchen. That connection has three practical consequences:

• You only need clearance on one side, not two.
• Power and water come in from the wall, without lifting the floor to run pipes or cables.
• You move around in a U or G shape, with a single way into the work area.

That last point is an advantage if you have children or if you would rather nobody walked through the kitchen while you cook, and a drawback if two people cook at once and keep bumping into each other at the entrance.

Peninsula sizes

A peninsula needs a depth of 60 centimetres as a working worktop and at least 90 centimetres of clearance to the units opposite. These are the reference measurements:

• Depth: 60 centimetres if it is only a worktop; 90 to 100 if it has a breakfast bar with an overhang for knees.
• Bar overhang: 25 to 30 centimetres to sit comfortably.
• Clearance between the peninsula and the units opposite: at least 90 centimetres, 100 to 120 if the appliances open into that walkway.
• Length: there is no strict minimum, but under 1.2 metres a peninsula adds hardly any worktop or seating.

Because the peninsula forms a U with the rest of the kitchen, check that the base unit doors on both sides do not clash when they open.

When a peninsula beats an island

A peninsula is a better choice than an island in these cases:

• When the kitchen has less than about 3.5 metres of clear width, the point at which an island starts to fit comfortably (we explain it on our island kitchens page).
• When you open a closed kitchen onto the living room and use the stub of the wall you knock down to anchor the peninsula.
• When the floor is a solid slab with no void and taking services to the middle of the room means breaking it up.
• When you want a clear divide between kitchen and living room, without the kitchen becoming a through route.

The island wins when there is space to spare, when several people cook at once or when you want the kitchen to be the heart of the home.

What to put in the peninsula

A peninsula can take a hob or a sink, but the most practical approach is to keep it as a worktop with storage underneath and a breakfast bar facing the living room. If you put the hob there, the extractor ends up in the middle of the open-plan space and splashes reach whoever is sitting at the bar. A sink works better, as long as there is some clear worktop either side.

On the side facing the living room, the peninsula can have open shelves, a shallow unit or simply a panel in the same finish as the kitchen. It is the usual arrangement in open-plan kitchens, and it is often fitted as a continuation of an L-shaped kitchen.