Breakfast bars: how to make one work in your kitchen

To help you embrace this trendy kitchen must-have, KBB magazine journo Charlotte Luxford has asked the experts about how this design feature can really make difference in your kitchen… “Make sure it’s close enough to enable socialising while respecting the working triangle of the kitchen and health and safety of anyone using it.”

Alice Pasteau, retail support manager at Schmidt UK, advises a 1m to 1.5m clearance around any breakfast bar.

Epicerie collection in Coral from Schmidt’s Loft range; the worktop is Nero Assoluto Ceramic. Kevin Buchanan, design director of Kitchens International, says: “One option is to arrange the seating to face one another. “The alternative, and possibly more common, is where the breakfast bar faces a certain part of the room, often adjacent to the cooking zone, so family and friends can communicate with the chef,” suggests Kevin.

A popular way to incorporate a breakfast bar is to create an overhang at one end of a kitchen island or peninsula. “Quartz is a resilient surface that’s smooth and easy to clean, while also being largely scratch and stain resistant.” Don’t forget the smaller details, such as dimmable lighting, sockets, and USB charging points.

The Caesarstone Frosty Carrina quartz worktop provides an overhang in this kitchen by Brandt Design, from £25,000.