Hello - Absolute minimum distance between two islands, or an island and a counter will be 36" Based on the two scenarios you describe, if you have two adjacent counter / islands with no appliances to access, we'd reccomend 48" minimum. In the second scenario, with access to the appliances you would want a minimum of 60" between the island / counters. Hope this helps you. Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any other questions.

Thank you, Robin Adams