Oh Boxer! Those pantries are simply stunning, especially the first with the french doors. I wish I could do that. >>sighTinycastles--I had thought about the in-swing double pantry doors, but I don't have enough depth for them to fit inside the pantry. It's only 24" deep and the shelves are 12" deep. That leaves only 12" of wall space on the sides for a door to rest when pushed in. It's a great idea though! I'm not sure I can go there with the Viking for cost and their issues. Please report back on your satisfaction with it. I'm curious to see. Thanks. LL--I'm considering two brands of wall ovens. One is about 23.75" deep and the other is 24.25" deep. Whew! Glad I checked on that. I'll have to go to the house and see how the fireplace feels moved over towards the door. We've got it mocked up with ladders and old interior doors now and there's definetly not too much there now, but maybe somewhere in that area something can be fudged. Thank you. Laughable--what a great idea! If I was going with a single-door, I probably would have done solid wood. If french doors, definetly glass. The fabric attached to the back of the door idea is genius! (I don't think an actual fabric panel itself swinging loosely is a good idea in my kitchen.) My wheels are turning! Thanks!

Becky -- yup; that's em. I don't have that many but I do have maybe one section's worth. They were an investment but completely worth it, IMO. Zelmar, that's one handsome kitchen! Gosh I love that. I think I've seen yours before and been completely blown away. It would have been an inspiration-kitchen if I'd known what that was or how to use one. I posted my plans in a thread I'll link below and paste the pantry here. There is a layout and elevations of the rest of the kitchen in the photobucket file you can follow, I think, if you click on the link below? I didn't post it again because I was sure everyone was sick of it already. Changes I've made that may or may not show up in these plans are: no glass in cabs flanking passthru. I've scrubbed the pretty light-colored fossiliferous limestone; we'll do rainforest green instead. And I've bowed to everyone's gentle chiding about mixing colors and materials; we'll do it all in a soft cherry shaker style. No hardship, just less interesting, maybe - safer too. The colors don't really reflect my latest thoughts either. Going safer the countertop would all be the dark wild zigzaged rainforest granite and as light as we can go cherry cabinets for all woodwork despite what the coloring suggests. The floor is slightly 'toasted' bamboo. This picture of the pantry isn't drawn well because I don't know how to depict it flat. But the idea was to have a high counter with many deep drawers beneath and open rimmed U-shaped shelves in the space above for the glass jars of staples. By "rim" I mean a wire or something -- something to secure the glass as we're in earthquake country. And I thought of having a cabinet up top, though I'm not so sure of that now, it just seemed to finish things. Though how the doors would open is a problem. Latest thought is sliding sideways along a rail, glass doors, just 12"d. I'm not sure if I mentioned above - I think I did - that rev-a-shelf's folding pantry shelving seems pretty neat too, though probably way-expensive. They have basically open shelves on piano hinges that sit inside the front part of a double cabinet and can fold to the other side revealing its back and the depth of the cabinet within. Then they stick metal shelves on the door insides too. It's pretty nifty. And I'm wondering whether that might be more expedient? Waste of money? Just roll-out shelves?? But I like the way the piano-hinged shelf pulls around and then there can be a deep cabinet (flour bins!) behind.... They make these in just 25" high versions too which would still permit a drawer above....: http://www.rev-a-shelf.com/Common/ProductSeries.aspx?Class=Sink%20&%20Base%20Accessories&Family=Wood%20Accessories&Category=Pantries&Series=4WP%20Series Help? Thanks for any thoughts... Thanks all! Here is a link that might be useful: elevations and layout of kitchen attached to this pantry

Apologies for the delay in response, the past 4 weeks have been terrible for me. DH diagnosed with a sarcoma, favorite dog I've had since college nearly died of heart failure (fortunately meds and subsequent Addison's disease diagnosis and more meds have fixed him right up, at least for another year or so). So kitchen redesign went on backburner. And to add to the angst, we've experienced lots of engineering delays with the load bearing wall removal. I had to fight my contractor to go with column-free design, then wait for the PE to re-do everything the way I originaly asked. This is all going down AFTER they completely demo'ed the kitchen. Going on 4 weeks of bare studs. But now the huge, column free LVLs are going in, I need to be ready to order cabs the moment they are done! And happy to say that after the surgery to remove the tumor, biopsy revealed DH had a schwalloma and not a sarcoma, which is very good news. So, after long-winded story, back to layout. Overall concept stays the same but I've juggled a few things around. Bmorepanic - the fridge will now be a 27" all fridge column with hinges on the left. Sub Zero somewhat cantilevers in, so all we'll need is a 2" spacer to ensure plumb with wall and handle clearance. Intend to use the island as landing for stuff coming out of fridge. There is a very nice forested view out of the bay window over the primary sink, so we're leaving that in place. Fireplace is also fixed. We will play around with hearth room furniture once the kitchen is complete. I am actually very happy with where everything is now, thanks to everyone's suggestions, the one HUGE concern I have is symmetry around the door into the dining room. Due to the joist design from the kitchen that "juts" out past the dining room on the exterior wall, we can't widen the right side of the door between the two rooms without more expense. And potential functionality impact to DR. But at the same time I am not sure if the bigger space on the right side of the door with drive me crazy. I would give up landing space on either side of the range if I shorten the cabinet run to the left, which I would really like to avoid. Would the larger expanse of bare wall on the right side of the door be acceptable? One of those things that looks off in the schematics but in real life wouldn't be so noticeable? Or do I need to redesign the cabs on the RH side? Our cabs are completely custom, so anything is technically possible. Please excuse the disaster of finishes on my design program, all I am using it for is sizing / spacing. Thanks!

Just getting back to GW -- b/w family & work, my time was limited this past weekend. . "How big of a kitchen sink should I get?" I would try for at least a 30" sink base cabinet. It should fit a sink b/w 27" and 28.5". That size should fit just about anything. If a 33" or 36" works in the layout, then go ahead and get a larger one. If you were getting a two-bowl sink, I'd say at least 36" - even with a 60/40 or 70/30 split. But with a single bowl, a minimum of 30" is probably enough. . "How big of an overhang do we need for comfortable seating..." That depends on the height of the counter. The minimum recommended overhangs are below. Note that these overhangs are for short to average heights/leg lengths. If you or anyone in your family is tall (say, 6' or more) or have long legs, then I would go with a deeper overhang (maybe another 3" depth). Table-height seating (30" off the floor)...18" of clear leg/knee space Counter-height seating (36" off the floor)...15" of clear leg/knee space Bar-height seating (42" off the floor)...12" of clear leg/knee space. However, if you plan to eat meals at this height, you need at least 18" of depth for plate + glass. For all three heights, a minimum of 24" of linear space is needed per seat. Note that there have been some rumblings in the Kitchen Design world that for table-height it should more like 30" of linear space per seat -- but I have not seen that "officially" stated anywhere and based on my experience, I think 24" is fine for table-height seating for most people. . Regarding a hood...have you considered building out the wall another 9" or so and then the soffit the same. Then, run the hood duct up inside the new depth and into the new part of the soffit and then out to the outside? From the pictures, it looks like the soffit goes across the Kitchen to the outside wall. Is that correct? (Or, is the soffit really just the ceiling?) I have a blank slate that I'll post. I haven't had time to work up a layout, but I do like Sena's layouts. Let me know if the blank slate is correct, please. Blank Slate: . Possible soffit location? Or, just ceiling?? .