I think I would put the false drawer fronts on. I think it would look more finished. I also think I would put hardware them or it might look like you ran out of pulls. Besides it would be fun to see people try to open those drawers!

I would put the panels on as well as hardware so it looks finished. I regret that in my current kitchen. We will have two islands in our new build and I will finish them with false panels where needed.

Will that end stay empty like that? Is that the seating area? Why does that piece of wood just float out there? My first vote would be to do without the extension piece of wood as it is now and end the wood at the actual drawer stack. Failing that, I think false drawers wouldn't look right. No fooling anyone with that. If you can't just end at the drawers, put on a panel. MHO.

I guess I don't really understand either. Is that a door opened at the end - where you have 'drawer' lines drawn on it?

I agree that the "seating for one" end doesn't need a panel at all. Most practical would be a couple supports mounted under the countertop--this would allow the seated person(s) to wind around the corner and sit slightly facing the other seated persons. Otherwise, that person on the end will always be uncomfortable--knees will need to clear the side panel all the time and the sitter will tend toward the other corner of the peninsula end. Even a cabinet leg on the corner would be preferable to a panel. Although it will always do battle with the person's legs and the stool, at least it will allow more flexibility and it's easier to sweep around it.

Remember--this person will be facing the wall and will have back to the walkpath. Will be "in the way" if the stool goes out very far. Do you need this seating? We put a wine bin and storage shelves into this space. Great place for Kleenex, pills, dog meds, etc. Ours is about a foot deep plus 2 inch overhang. Even with someone standing there we have 5 feet between the end of peninsula and the refrig opposite it.

That's a LONG peninsula. Fake drawers aren't going to do you any favors. Who will see it--only the cook(s), yes?

What will the inner side of the panel look like? Finished? It will always show from the outside of the peninsula.
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I very much like the look of these cabs. Have fun stormin' the castle!

Thanks all--

The counter (measured yesterday, yay!) will extend over that end cabinet. We have a good 40" between the end of the counter and the fridge wall, so I'm not overly concerned about it being an obstruction. The panel is there in large part for support --and looks.

There's a small 15" x 15" corner cabinet with drawer and a couple shelfs for cookbooks etc) that will support the 16" counter overhang. We might need one steel bar for support halfway along the counter run, but that's about it. The seated width is about 28" at the end. We'll see how it goes. Originally I was going to just have a run of 4 seats in a row but through many comments on GW a few months ago decided on adding a seat at the end as shown below.

The main point of this post was whether to "finish out" the look with false panels or not.

Secondary question is whether to add wood strips to the inside corner like below or leave the reveal:

Common practice would say "yes" to both false panels and inside corner, but I kind of like the look of the "raised panel" look of drawer bank + sink base cabinet + drawer bank.

BTW the uppers you see will all use the Aventos HF bifold stay-lift system. Bottom sections of those will be aluminum frame with translucent glass panels.

Unfair to criticize at this point, but I'd put the storage unit next to wall to left of the first sitter and let the entire countertop float on supports without legs. That first seating slot next to wall won't be a popular place to sit so that defines it as catch-all spot for junk anyway.

No false fronts is my vote. I'd also caution you about sweeping and keeping the floors clean with the barrier wall as shown. I'd rather a metal support pole in whatever finish works with the kitchen. It would be more comfortable for those seated there. You have a modern look and that would work with more floating type counters...
I'd also consider Florantha's point....

I agree that cleaning would be easier and the space would be a bit more flexible if the panel were removed.

Regarding the shelfs and drawer-- I don't see that as a heavy use drawer. Rather a spot for pens, checkbook, keys.We did consider legs at the end but didn't really like the look.

With one kid off to college and the second a year and a half away from this, in general we won't be at capacity with seating--just DW and me.

You have to work around your preferences, but visually I think I think the biggest issue is ending the toe kick line. I have an end cabinet on the peninsula (with doors opening out from the end) where the toe kick wraps around and the side you are showing does have a false panel.

Florantha's idea sounds best, but if you really want that drawer and shelf unit at that end, could you nudge it to the right side (with toe kick on the right side that will line up with the other cabinets and false panel) then have wrap around seating at the left corner)?

This is completely off topic, but what kind of wood did you use for your cabs? It's very pretty! (And which company?)

Back on topic, I don't love false fronts--no reason, just don't like them.

Thanks sjerin-- the wood is mdf with a white-oak rift-cut veneer. We wanted clean lines in the finish. Considered premade manufacturer-built cabinets but lead-time constraints, cost, fit options and finish options all led us to go with a cabinet shop.

Our architect had a similar peninsula with corner support book case + drawer and finds it really useful, which led us down that path.

Florantha--the inner side of the panel is finished. Yes it is a long peninsula, but what I like is that while our old kitchen was essentially a 1-cook kitchen (efficiently laid out) -- we wanted a 2 and sometimes 3 (when my mom comes over) cook kitchen. So there will be 3 areas that are next to one or another sink and 2 of those near the range.

I'll bring a chair over this evening with DW and we'll double-check the seating. We could change things a bit at this point but at some expense and this project is hopelessly over budget.

Four most expensive words in the english language: "while we're at it".

I do appreciate comments, even if they are hindsight. Glad to know that I'm not crazy for not being crazy about false fronts. My thought is -- why camouflage the drawers?

While I'm not loving the panel, either, I think it's damaging to the design to veer off now into other directions based on random philosophical thoughts about false panels. The architect clearly feels that the horizontal linearity of the drawers should continue throughout the entire run of cabinets, from the corner to the end. I think I agree.

Part of the reason we put the storage unit for support in the corner as we did was that this would create an intentional physical barrier so the 2 people at 90 degree angles at the end wouldn't be bumping into each other, and the person at the end would be situated a bit away from the other 3 to provide a better angle for conversation to all 3. It is feasible to remove the panel and put a pole there. I don't mind it with the single pole but am not crazy about the dual pole look. Is it a table? Is it a peninsula? If there were a way to float the corner with some sort of steel support then that could be interesting, but probably not very feasible at this time.

FWIW, here are some views per this discussion--

as planned:

with one support pole (easier to clean floor)--

with one support pole, drawer and shelf shifted--

with 2 support poles--more open / least claustrophobic but I'm not thrilled with the look.

In reality the spot may be used most by my mom to sit and help at the end of the counter. or for serving food for parties rather than regular dining.

View from family room, end storage on family room side:

View from family room, end storage on kitchen side:

View from family room, no storage at end--just leg supports:

This has been dormant a couple days while I've been pondering. Our interior design friend suggested going with moving the end cabinet over to the kitchen side, like the next to last image in the previous post. Neither of us were crazy about a 15" overhang at the end (3 cm counter material) from the kitchen side but liked it from the family room side.

He wrote--
"Having a cool leg on the left will give more interest and opens up the approach to the family/ TV room."

DW a bit concerned that shifting the end seat to the left will result in the person at the end kicking the adjacent person.

I'm not sure if by moving the cabinet we can resolve the toe kick issue or not.

If you have kids of an age to kick one another, this is always a possibility, but generally they grow out of that behavior and it shouldn't be too important a factor for planning, any more than kicking is a factor at any other rectangular table. More important is choice of stools if this is an eating area; don't get swivel ones if there's a kicking problem. A different problem is that there is only so much knee space. How deep will your overhang be?

Did you discuss going leg-less with the designer? That is, using supports underneath the countertop instead of legs? I agree that the openness is a virtue. At the very least, I dislike the faux drawers idea you began the thread with. Visually it would be weird to see that panel with the implication of a 3-D back and there be none there--like a flat Hollywood set.

Is that a t.v. behind the peninsula? In that case, I even more strongly suggest that the storage unit go up against the wall and the sitters move down. That inner spot will be the last one taken whenever people sit.

I think you're envisioning someone sitting adjacent to wall and trying to talk to the cook at the range. How often will that actually be the case? More often the cook will be at the peninsula washing & chopping or messing with plates. The splash goes either side of the little sink plus behind it and the seats by it will seem just a bit too close. The end seat(s) will be the premium seating: possible T.V. viewing plus conversation in three directions--toward family room and toward colleagues and cook. And it's the first seating when entering through that door.

One more thing to consider--how likely are you to pull a stool around to the inside of the peninsula? If you're like us, one stool will "live" in there much of the time. So if that happens, where will it go and who will it be facing?

[Your layout is very similar to mine except that your door is my refrig and your wall adjacent to end of peninsula is my hall from another room, but there is no seating until what is your second seat because the peninsula angles out there. I sit to right of the prep sink at the pullout chopping board at the corner and DH sits opposite me when we are there conversing or such. Our little undercab t.v. is over your blind corner.]

Hi florantha-- thanks for your comments.

We have 2 kids--one in college and the other a year and a half away from college. So for the most part in the future it will be DW and I at the island. Overhang depth is 16 1/2" on the family room side (seating for 3) and 15" at the end.

I have done quite a bit of searching on the web and frankly haven't seen all that much in the way of legless 2-sided overhang that I like. It appears "unbalanced" to me. I think because of the materials we are using the kitchen will read more "contemporary" than "modern" FWIW.

What you see that I think you're seeing as a TV is actually just (virtual) artwork. There is a short pony wall with a bookshelf behind the seating area of 3 and this was put there both to extend the wall a foot (for TV) and leave a spot for a speaker on the floor so it will be protected and also define the peninsula seating nook area a bit.

Actually I was trying to envision either of 3 things-- my mom sitting at the counter and helping cook; someone sitting there and being as diagonal as possible to 3 at the counter; and the person sitting at the end not kicking the 3rd person. My 17 yo DS has a big wingspan so we could put him there and he would have plenty of space. So that's why originally we put the 4th spot where we did.

as planned:

storage shift:

Another possibility would be to remove the panel but rather than squaring off the counter on the kitchen side as is putting it on something of an angle.

Hey, thanks for explanation. I had intended to add one more idea but somehow deleted it: that it's not possible to sit very close to a wall--fanny and elbows and spread-out room. That first chair on the outside will always sit a ways away from the wall if it's in use. But same will occur with both of the chairs next to the storage unit in "storage shift" version, but not to the same extent. Nevertheless, that's another reason to choose the "as planned" version.

Also this keeps a little room open for plunk space by sink for refrig items coming and going.

No need to respond to me further--I'll bow out. Clearly you are working to make a good decision that is right for you. Have fun stormin' the castle!