Caryscott's idea would look something like this:

The cabinets in front of our bay window were built out to keep the line of cabinets even w/the main wall. The granite countertop in the window well rests on top of this structure.

Just be sure to check the specifications on the frig for how much room you need for the frig door to fully open before you decide to build out. (Also how much room you need for the frig door handles because you don't want the handle to bang into the pantry...)

Another thing to consider is the hinges on the pantry doors. A lot of Euro hinges have limited swings, just a few degrees past 90--in the 105-110 degree range. So, you may want to upgrade the pantry hinges also.

I forgot to mention that if you decide to bump out the pantry unit, if the space behind is accessible from the side, you could use that space for stashing a thin profile stepladder, extra oven rack, or other assorted hard to stash uglies.

Just a thought...is the refrigerator on an inside wall? Could you recess it into the back wall or even further and into the room on the other side? Recessing it into the wall at least will gain you a few inches and while it will require some work in the space you're recessing the refrigerator into, you won't have additional drywall work there (but it may necessitate framing out the opening). Recessing into the room behind it will require reframing & drywall work in the other room.

Either of these options could give you a near-counter depth appearance and, IMHO, is better alternative to a CD refrigerator! I only wish we could have done it, but our refrigerator is on an outside wall :-(

BTW...if you have a 4" or larger "filler" b/w the pantry cabinet and refrigerator, as Ci_Lantro mentioned, you can create a small utility closet. See the attached link for making a 4" broom closet! (No, you don't have to have IKEA cabinets to do this!)

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: IKEAFANS: 4'' Broom Closet Modification

I have the exact configuration of a full depth refrigerator (ours is SxS, but the door situation is the same idea) next to a pantry. I was worried. I checked. I measured. I worried. It turned out perfect. The pantry door opens beyond 90 degrees. Actually it opens to its full stop which may be 110 degrees. Here's why. The door is about 19 inches wide, which sticks out WAY past the closed refrigerator door. So the cabinet pull can only hit air and since the door approaches the refrigerator at an angle, it goes past the refrigerator door before it extends as far to the side as the refrigerator.

I don't know if that makes much sense. I'll post a picture if you haven't already decided against it. I do have a 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inch refrigerator side panel instead of 3/4 inch so that helps too. I'm not sure if I can hit the refrigerator with the cabinet door if I try intentionally. I think I can, but my point here was that the cabinet door would open past 90 degrees which is necessary for a pull out. Having the refrigerator stick out past the cabinets (standard depth ref.) has another side benefit. It's harder to hit the cabinets with the refrigerator door too. In my case my refrigerator has a stop BEFORE the cabinets. I can force it further, but it stops automatically before the cabinets. If it were counter depth it would probably be too close to the cabinets when open and might hit them.

- Jim

Can't you just switch the side the pantry door hinges on? We also have a FD refrigerator (not counter depth) in left hand corner of kitchen. Our pantry is right next to it, but the hinges are on the right side so it swings open w/out hitting anything at all.