K itchen islands used to be a simple affair.

The first were little more than a table, a little uncluttered workspace.

A World War I housewife might wheel a portable table out when she needed some extra room. Kitchen plans published circa 1917 for the Hoosier Manufacturing Co. show small wooden and metal-topped tables with wheels and several layers of shelves. If a housewife didn’t have that, she might use the kitchen table.

Compare that to today’s kitchen island: So loaded with technology it could practically blast into space, so gigantic it should be called a continent.

The sophistication of a contemporary kitchen island reflects its status as command central in the home, said Chandra Sadro, a designer at Emerald Design Inc. in Everett.

That’s where the bills get paid, the homework gets done, the meals get prepared, a quick nosh gets eaten. Everyone stands around the island at parties.

“If the kitchen is the heart of the home, this is the center of the heart,” Sadro said.

Kitchen islands are at the top of most everybody’s wish list, she said. Her customers are asking for more versatility and style. They want prep sinks, extra appliances, wine stewards, space-saving cabinets and bookshelves.

They want quality countertops made of granite, glass, metal or quality laminates. They want multilevel countertops; a raised eating bar would keep the prep area hidden and create a backsplash, for instance. Sometimes they want more than one island.

It’s a sad moment when the designers have to let a client know they can’t have an island. Some kitchens aren’t big enough.

Cabinet doors can’t bump into each other and some kitchens don’t have the clearance for even a tiny island.

“You wouldn’t want to open the oven door and slam into the island,” she said.

The popularity of islands is partly because of the kitchen’s status as a showcase in the home, rather than the utilitarian place it was a century ago, said April Raffensperger, a designer at Emerald.

An island is one more way to showcase the room and a well-designed one can include interesting touches such as using salvaged piano legs.

Islands aren’t limited to rectangles. Homeowners can get wedges, curvy swoop designs and islands that turn on an angle. One customer wanted an island in the shape of a nautilus.

Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.