Island layouts

[Brakie]

While round the walls is all the rage these days there are several things one must remember..One being are you or your wife or perhaps your landlord comfortable with drilling holes in the walls and these will be needed unless you build modulars?

You could build it freestanding with legs so no holes have to be drilled in the walls. Being claustrophobic, I have concerns with egress if doors or windows are blocked. Some places may even have laws against this or it may violate an insurance policy rule, but nobody would know unless you have to have your house inspected for some reason. Personally, I don't feel comfortable having to lift anything out or duck under anything in the event of an emergency. And, i don't want to make it more difficult for someone to get to me if I somehow get trapped. My layout room is a spare bedroom with one entrance plus a window. Suppose I completely blocked the window by the layout, and then I had a hosue fire while I was in the layout room. I would have to remove a section of layout and backdrop before I could exit through the window.

Kevin,I have had ISLs that pass by windows and it was no big deal since I never use a back drop cross a window..In fact I perfer natural light over artificial light when I am working on or operating my layout...

I have never worried about fire per se but,as a warning I always installed a smoke detector in each room and hallway.That should give me enough time to escape through one of my preplanned escape routes-including skimming over the layout and through the window which may be the last resort if there is a sufficient drop to the ground.