mama_goose - Thanks so much for the suggestion! If we could afford custom doors with glass for the pantry, I think it would need to be safety glass (since we have a little one), but - I will keep your suggestion in mind for future cabinet projects! Thanks! blfenton - Thank you for your reply! I put a 12" deep piece of furniture there last night, and it does feel a bit cramped. I think we're going to need to go with something smaller, if anything. lavender - I don't think that we can exchange our doors anymore since too much time has passed. But - I am definitely going to keep the glass with shirred fabric idea in mind for future projects. (I hope to one day replace the Ikea doors with more traditionally styled wood Shaker doors, and swap out the countertops for soapstone or granite.) Thanks again for your wonderful ideas! They are giving me so much to look forward to. :) taggie - Thank you for your reply and kind compliment! After living with a 12" piece of furniture there, I think 9" is the max that I want to go for the pantry so it doesn't feel so claustrophobic. DH has plans to put an end panel on the side that opens to the kitchen - but, it is a plain, flat panel - not shaker style. Hopefully it won't look too bad... marcolo - Thanks for your reply! We won't make it flush to the wall. Bellsmom - Thanks so much for the mockup! I'm afraid that DH isn't up for such a big undertaking though. It looks like we're 1eaning toward the 9" deep pantry the whole way across. But, thank you again for your thoughtful suggestion and mockup! dianalo - Thanks for your reply! Option B and sticking with the simple doors now (with perhaps some glass doors in the future), is the direction we are leaning. bmorepanic - Thank you for your thoughtful reply! I'm concerned about 21" wide doors opening into the space too. The only way around it would be to use 3 12" wide doors and lose 6" of space. In order to line up with the fridge cabinets, the max amount of space that we have to work with is 42". I wish it was 45", since then we could have done 3 15" doors. Sigh. DH isn't willing to lose the 6" of space. If the 21" doors become a huge issue, we could always change it up down the line. Also, I think we're going to stick with a 9" depth all the way across. DH will have to cut wall cabinets down in size. As for dining room usage - that is yet to be seen. We're not using it yet as it's still under construction (and was DH's workshop in the winter). It does have another opening that is much larger, from the foyer. I think biggest problem will be congestion with people using the garage entrance. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Another mini update - After trying out a 12" deep piece of furniture where the pantry will go - we're going to aim for a 9" depth. It will let the space breathe a bit more, and should allow for 7.5" wide shelves once the full overlay doors and fridge end panel are taken into consideration. The plan is for the pantry to house seldomly used things - like duplicates of food items, cans of soup and veggies, that type of thing. We don't want it to be a place where people linger or use frequently (to avoid traffic jams). Cereal and snacks will go to the right of the fridge (nice and out of the way of people using the sink and stove) - and frequently used cooking supplies will go in the cabinetry by the stove. The doors will stay simple for now - with the hope of adding some glass in the future. Thank you taggie and marcolo for the warning about bringing the cabinetry flush to the wall. I'm embarrassed to admit that we DID in fact make this amateur mistake in other areas of our kitchen (it was either that, or we would of had to lose 6" of cabinetry or do major construction to the wall). DH is comfortable with it flush; he believes in function over form, and the doorway openings are straight (he said that if the walls weren't straight, he would have stopped the cabinetry a few inches from the wall). Being a perfectionist, I'm bummed that we made such a rookie mistake, but I'm going to have to let it go. Thank you all, again!!!

Hello, i was hoping someone can help me with a delimma i am having with my Ikea Sektion cabinets. As you can see in my picture, the drawer front on the left does not come all the way down to cover the rest of the base cabinet like the other two beside. The runner is all the way to the bottom, I’ve tried turning the little screw in the drawer but it doesn’t lower it enough to cover that white part at the bottom and I have installed the fronts according to the instructions. I did call Ikea trying to explain the issue and they said it could be a ”quality” thing and nothing can be done. But why would other cabinets in the series not be like this?? if anyone can help that would be greatly appreciated!! i am getting very frustrated and just want that little white patch covered.

@jellytoast and others who point out that basically I’m not qualified to act as my own GC and am not saving money by trying to do so: There’s truth to that. Ultimately I’m responsible for not verifying the install was plumb and square, and you have a valid point. I knew the installation itself was critical, and I knew the cabinets need to be square. I totally dropped the ball on verifying that they were. On the other hand, as Sammy pointed out, some GC’s are no better than what I wound up with. This could have ended up a non-issue, or the same way – or even worse. In any event we’re dependent on (1) our own knowledge + information from the GC or (2) our own knowledge + information from the installers/tradesmen. When we bought the house 2 years ago we hired a GC to install hardwood floors (in ½ the house) and to handle what was going to be a much larger kitchen remodel (bump into the garage and tear down another wall instead of keeping the same footprint). It was a really bad experience. First, we paid a premium for sub-par hardwood floor install/finish. Had I learned more on my own about HW floor install and finishes rather than relying on information from the GC and his sub we would have done the floors differently. It was a disappointing and costly mistake. I learned there are risks with a GC as well as without a GC, and that hiring a GC doesn’t guarantee desired results. We did get a bid from another GC to handle the scaled-down kitchen redo this year. Ultimately we weighed the risks vs costs in either scenario (GC vs no GC) and decided to GC ourselves. This isn’t the right decision for everyone, but I still believe it was the right decision for us despite the situation we’re dealing with. The KD came out yesterday along with one of the original installers and an install project manager. The project manager recommended tearing out the counter that has ½” shim, and install the cabinets correctly. Also tear out the crown moulding where it’s bad/ugly and re-do. All doors that have cosmetic imperfections will be replaced. At this point we are satisfied with the proposed solution, although it’s certainly not over. I can’t say how much I appreciate all your comments and help! Thank you!!

For some reason two of the post you wrote yesterday did not show up on my computer till today - this included the one with your inspiration pic:) I noticed a plate rail cabinet in your inspiration pic. I converted one of my cabinets with a kit: https://www.houzz.com/photos/my-pics-work-in-progress-phvw-vp~109854029 I used my microwave cabinet since as I mentioned I am short, and I decided I did not like the microwave up high. However, I have seen others retrofit plate rails into regular cabinets. By using the microwave cabinet I was able to keep the doors to the upper part, but some convert the space to an area of open shelving. One aspect of a retrofit into a wood cabinet is making sure the inside of the cabinet looks good. Many cabinets have a lighter panel in the inside. I had to cover the back and sides of my inner cabinet with a wood look beadboard panel. It is also possible to have the center panel of a cabinet removed and replaced with glass. Like my kitchen you have one in the corner, and may not want to add more, but it can be done. If you don't want to mess with a cabinet, you can get a wall hung plate rail or wall hutch if you have the wall space: I have to admit that the plates in my plate rail are not frequently uses - just some pretty plates I had hiding in a cabinet and I keep my depression glass platters and a pie dish there too.