Hi amfork, I went ahead & put the hob on my island & am delighted I did. I find it really is so much nicer looking out at the kids/my husband & being able to chat to them while I prepare meals as opposed to facing the wall with my back turned on everyone. I put a 4 ring induction hob on the island & put a 5 ring gas hob on counter facing wall. I did this as I have a large extended family & we frequently have get togethers. It’s great for catering for big events. However, I use the 4 ring induction hob on a daily basis. Hope this helps! Best of luck with your project, Claire

The sizes you mentioned for the flooring: 11mm or 8mm are not "widths" of the plank. It is the THICKNESS of the plank. Technically the thicker the laminate the "nicer" the laminate. Small rooms do well with lighter flooring. And please do not use laminate in the kitchen. It won't survive for very long. If you are going to do it, please purchase enough laminate to REMOVE AND REPLACE the kitchen TWICE. That way you can have the same floor throughout the house even if the kitchen is severely damaged....and the potential is VERY high that laminate in a kitchen will NOT survive a rental situation. Remember: in a rental, the life of a floor = 7 years on average. Laminate in a kitchen averages 3 years. That's why you want to buy enough laminate to install the kitchen TWICE....it's the only way you can get it to "live" for the full 7 years. Have fun.

Hi Ed I was struck by the similarity with our new kitchen layout. We recently renovated and I absolutely did not want either an overhead extractor (because I wanted to raise the ceiling), but also did not want to cut expensive quartz for a pop-up extractor which all seem to give trouble eventually and basically don't work! The solution was a German-made Bora induction hob with the downdraft in the middle of the hob. I have to say that it was the best investment we made! Ours could not be ducted outside (which is always the best option) without losing too much efficiency so we went for a filtration system. It works even better than I thought removing all smells and grease! It was really well worth the money. ...and no ugly hood blocking the view out! Watch the videos on the website - it actually does work exactly like that! They also do different options where you have gas on one side and induction hob on the other with the extractor in a panel between the two. Definitely an investment! You really do need extraction though as Fiona said. Strong cooking smells will will be absorbed into your furniture and soft furnishings in an open plan area. The best of luck with your project. I hope you love the end result as much as we love ours.

Hi All, I am trying to decide on a recirculating extractor and the kitchen company I am going with are really selling these Bora basic extractor hobs for the kitchen island. They seem like a good idea and look great but I am finding it very hard to find online reviews from people who actually have them & use them in their homes. Could someone please let me their experiences with this product? https://www.bora.com/en/bora-products/bora-basic/