I agree that it's a personal preference. For the space between a patio door and cabinets, I'd prefer not to see a narrow 1" strip of wall space. I'd rather have either 3-4" (more if you have the space). When we planned ours, we also took into account how big the cabinets could be when we played around with that wall space. We have about 4" between the door molding and the cabinet, which gave us a 30" upper cabinet. I didn't want the upper cabinet to be any smaller than 30" wide because I felt that was a good width for our everyday dishes. The same goes for the wall space between the window and cabinets...I just don't like a super thin (1" or so) strip of wall. To me it almost looks like a mistake. There again we have about 4" from the window molding to upper cabinets. Just don't forget to take into account how wide you'd like your upper cabinets to be for what you're storing there. I would work on that first, and then determine how much wall space you'll end up with. You can then adjust cabinet width by a few inches either way to end up with the best combination. Re: hood. It's my understanding that if you have a 36" hood over a 36" range, then you should allow 3" of open space on both sides of the hood. We have a 36" range with a 42" hood. Because the hood is already wider than the range, the hood will be flush against the upper cabinets. A knowledgeable appliance salesperson will be able to explain this better than I am.

I think you should quit worrying so much about screening your work spaces from view. A kitchen is a work space. People expect to see work and the tools and other items needed to perform that work there. If you do a deep, single sink, any dirty dishes waiting for the DW can fit in it and be hidden without cluttering your counters. If you have hand-washed some dishes, they can drip dry in the rack in the sink still hidden from view. However, if you nix the prep sink in the island and just do the one sink, this won't work as well as you might need to do prep work while dishes are waiting in the sink and, thus, you have now created a wee bit of chaos needing to move dirty dishes onto the counter in order to prep. Also, while your kitchen isn't huge, it is still a bit of a trek to the sink on the perimeter from the fridge. More steps means less efficiency. If it was my kitchen, I'd want the prep sink on the island but might sometimes use the space between the range and main sink for secondary prep. Best of both worlds, imho.

I'd think about convenience and usability first. If you are going to be bringing bags of groceries, countertop appliances like a toaster or food processor, bags of bulk food items, packages of paper towels, etc. through the door you might want something that is full width and will be easy to open (and stay open). You also want something that will stand up to being opened and closed many times per day over a course of decades. Along those lines I'd go with a door designed to be used to pass between rooms rather than one designed as a cabinet door (like in the first photo). I'd also avoid bifold doors. A well built pocket door, a swinging door that can easily be held open, or even a standard door would be my choices. Glass can be added to any of those for more visual variety. The design question for your layout is whether you'd want the door to the pantry flush with the front or back of the fridge/adjacent counters. If you do a swinging or regular door you could make it flush with the front; it would be flush with the back if you want to do a pocket door.

Stupid I know but I just breathed a huge sigh of relief! My guys came to work today said their hello's and got right after it. Called me in the kitchen to show me how they had fixed the drywall that was bowed behind sink and is now flush and level with cabinets installed. Great! Close to templating! Woo hoo! The head guy says what's the blue tape on the doors? I said "I see there is another ding in the cabinet here now from the work on Friday. These dings are really bothering me and I don't want any dings in my new cabinets. I said had it been down low or inconspicuous maybe it would be ok but I need these doors replaced." He said OK. I kept going with my spiel saying "I'm happy to help do what I can to protect the others going forward" Wait what did he just say?! He said OK! That was easy! He then says no problem. I want you to be happy. :) I smile he smiles even tho he probably wants to kill me ;) Geez, I'm really going to be a nervous wreck when counter tops go in. Just thought I'd share for anyone else going thru the same issue. Hope this helps.