Pictures would be best, but from what I'm imagining, I think taking to the end of the wall would be better. If you have 2-3 inches (or even 5) between the cabinets and the wall, I envision things falling down there, being hard to get out, etc.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say an "end wall" so my comments may not apply if this is not what you're talking about. We have 2 places in our kitchen where cabinets run to a doorway. In both places we left several inches of wall space. We did not use a KD but I did tons of research and looked at houzz and all the finished kitchens on here. Also doing a layout on one of the online kitchen design programs helped me visualize it. When I ran the cabinets all the way to the door way it looked really odd. You should also consider whether there will be wood trim work around the doorways.

If too close to a doorway, the countertop corners will be hip bruisers. Location of switches/outlets also impact where the backsplash ends so takethat into consideration also

If you are talking about each end abutting a wall that is a different story. Cabinets should run the entire length of the wall.

Okay, here is a picture using my very basic home design program skills. :-) The cabinet run wall turns a corner into the family room, so it is open. There is about 5" inches from the end of the cabinets to the corner right now.
The other wall ends w/ just the uppers, and the base goes on in a peninsula.

I just went & looked at my kitchen. We have 2 areas where the wall ends & there is not a corner. The space between the cabinets & the wall in each area are different. Here's the first. The actual cabinet is 3.25" inches the wall, countertop 2.25". The bottom trim, about 2.75". The opposite end of this run of cabinets dies into the wall.

with the added picture, I think it looks fine to have a few inches - as someone else said, it prevents the counter from being as much of a hip-bruiser for someone rounding that corner.

(I thought you were talking about cabinets abutting a wall - or close to a wall)

In this one, the countertop extends all the way to the end of the wall.
Edit: just saw you posted a pic of your room. I'm not sure either of my pics help except to see that your countertops, base molding & crown may extend beyond your cabinets.

This post was edited by romy718 on Tue, Apr 15, 14 at 10:02

kitchen-reno, good point about countertop protruding and hip bruising.
And Romy718, also good point about crown molding and base molding sticking out. Maybe 2-3 inches would be optimal, less than the 5-6 that is in the plans now.

And may I hijack my own thread to say I adore your kitchen, Romy718! The wall color, the cabinets, the countertop, and backsplash, all coordinate so beautifully! Do you by chance remember your wall color and backsplash tile? I am thinking of doing something similar as your color scheme, and if mine turned out 1/2 as nice I'd be a happy camper. :-)

You NEED space between the end of the cabinet run and the end of the wall to allow for the crown molding projection. Otherwise, you end up with awkward little returns. Take the projection of the crown outwards, and add a couple of inches. That usually works out to between 4"-6".

See the projection of the crown clearly in this pic?

See the awkward molding return on this? That's what happens if the molding can't die into the wall (or the staggered height cabinet doesn't have a staggered depth also, as in that pic.)

Thanks Skyangel. The paint color is BM 1551, La Paloma Gray & the tile is Encore Silver Crackle. We're really happy with the paint color as it extends into our family room.

Thank you, Romy. I have that color and the tile in my inspiration folder now. :-)