Good legs are so important
If there’s on thing guaranteed to get a group of kitchen designers all excited, it’s the subject of legs in kitchens and on islands. We all have our favorites and our pet hates. I thought I’d illustrate a few leg problems here – see if you agree.
If you have legs, they should look as if they are supporting the counter, even if they’re not. These legs look as if they’ve been added as an embellishment or an afterthought. They are too flimsy to be supporting anything substantial, and they don’t even reach the floor. Don’t they make you think of an insect, squatting over the cabinets that are doing all the work?
Insect legs
The absence of legs can sometimes be a problem, too. This cantilevered peninsula is very clever - look, no legs! I’d really prefer to see a support here, the diving board effect is just too disconcerting:
Suspended in Space - via Marie Claire Maison
One of my pet peeves is an island or a counter with legs under little “ears.” It is hard to make the ears look substantial enough – I feel certain these would snap off if you took the cabinets away and the legs actually had to support the entire counter:
An island with ears
The legs on this island are handsome and proportional. But I do have doubts about the plain old square at the top, just beneath the counter. You could think that the legs were just a little too short, and that extra piece was added to make up the height:
Molly Frey via House of Turquoise
While these, on the other hand, look as if they are standing on boxes in order to reach the counter:
Legs struggling to reach - K. Franza via Decorati
What do you think – beauty or beast?
Hi Steph – thanks! Good to know I’m not alone on that – love you’re blog by the way – I’m adding Granite Gurus to my links right away
Ah, great post! I HATE the “ears” too, they drive me bonkers!
Pam, yes! I hate those knee knockers even more than superfluous legs!. I think a custom turning for a leg is a risky thing for most of us designers to attempt – too easy to end up with a monstrosity like the last set. Better to study and learn from the proportions of successful examples first, before heading into the unknown.
Hi Marie – you might not be speaking designer but you’ve hit the nail on the head – if the legs don’t harmonize with the style of the kitchen there’s a problem. I actually like the ones in the blue kitchen, but those black ones give me the heebie-jeebies.
Okay, complete non-designer feedback here but those very dramatic ornate looking legs on the final 2 examples above just look completely out of place in what is supposed to be a functional room. I’d expect to see those legs holding up nineteenth century dining tables or beds, not in kitchens where the line normally wants to be cleaner and more functional. The themes of these kitchens are open and modern and the legs just look plain wrong!
Marie
I completely agree with you. One rarely sees legs in kitchens (especially islands) that that are actually supporting a top and are really just embellishment. I would really prefer to see an island top cantilever over a base support such as a trestle or base cabinets to create seating. Legs tend to get in the way just as over-sized support corbels (I like to call knee-knockers).
From an aesthetic standpoint, it is rare that the legs are in good proportion to the rest of the design. This is due mostly to the limitation of the designs of leg styles and turnings offered by the cabinet manufacturer or cabinetmaker. Balance and proportion are basic elements that can determine the harmony and dissonance of a design. I would find the lack of these elements difficult to live with either as poorly made leg choices, or the lack of apparent support (like the cantilevered counter with no obvious support). Just having the knowledge that there is sufficient engineered support that is hidden would not be enough. That sort of reminds me of Paul’s “optical illusion” posts. My mind knows that they are static 2-D images but my eyes refuse to see it.