I would highly recommend putting your everyday dishes in a drawer adjacent to or opposite your dishwasher. Post a drawing of your space so we can see what you have to work with.

Here are my inspiration photos (My layout will be the same)

Another inspirational photo (the wooden countertop and bar area in this photo will be very similar to what will be done after opening up my pass through area). Will not be removing entire wall ( due to it being load bearing, budget and potential storage loss):

Sketch of Remodel ( overpass will be tweaked to look more like the above green kitchen photo). Current sketch has pantry cabinet but I want to switch that out for something that will hold everyday dishes, flatware and would also like a place for toaster, bread and blender that daughter uses for smoothies everyday).

I like a lot of things about your plan and think this could be a nice kitchen to work in, and it's certainly lovely to look at. I especially like how you are separating your work zones. But I do have a couple concerns. I hope you don't mind some questions.

First, how wide are your aisles? Aisles for a single-worker kitchen should be a minimum of 42". For multi-worker kitchens, a minimum of 48". Per NKBA guidelines.

Second, it looks like your prep sink is right up close to the end of the island. You will want at least 15" as a landing space to place items from the fridge before you wash them. I would want at least 18"-21" myself but I believe the minimum NKBA recommendation might be 15", although I could be remembering that one wrong. It is a lot more convenient to have a place for items to be washed grouped together, then wash, then move all washed items to prep area. You could take items you normally cook out of the fridge and place them on the counter to get an idea of how much space works for you. Remember to allow a little extra space so items don't roll off.

Third, how deep is your prep island? It looks like about 26", give or take a tad bit, depending on your overhangs. It is usually recommended that islands and peninsulas be 30" deep because you don't have the wall behind to keep things from falling off the back side. A narrower island can work but be aware that the last couple inches on the back are most unusable for prepping in order to have a buffer for items to not roll off the back. Just something you might want to think about.

Fourth, drawers. You don't have very many. One of the few things we all seem to agree on here is that people should have drawers in their bottoms, not cabinets. Drawers hold so much more, are so much easier to access, no more crawling on your knees to reach in the back, and just plain easier to use. People are storing plates, bowls, glassware, pots/pans and their lids, casseroles, spices/seasonings, oils and sauces (in deeper drawers), and all sorts of other items and find that it is just really much more pleasant to work in a kitchen with lots of drawers. It's certainly something to consider. People find they can store more in drawers than in cabinets (this includes cabinets with roll-out shelves).

Fifth, you have a lot of uppers around your cooktop which makes that area feel a bit crowded, imho. Most people like less uppers around their cooktop so it feels more spacious. And I read a lot of complaints about angled-corner upper cabinets as they become a bit of a black hole and it's hard to access and find everything. You might just want to consider making those uppers a straight run back to the wall.

Now, onto your question about the pantry. You could certainly just have normal uppers/lowers with counter space to the right of the sink. You could then keep your dishes in lower drawers to the right of the DW and have your blender on that counter. You could have an appliance garage there to hide the blender when not in use, if you prefer. This could also be a good place for a coffee/tea center and a place for microwave to heat things from the fridge/freezer.

My question would be: where would you keep your food without the pantry? Do you have ample spaces planned for food so you don't need all that cabinet area for food? If not, I would put drawers to the left of the clean-up sink and store dishes there. Or do you have other intentions for the storage to the left of the sink?

So, really, this comes down to what you have to store, where do you plan to store it, and how much space can you give up for food storage? It's hard to give you a definitive answer without that information. And it's extremely hard for you to decide unless you have spent some time planning your storage needs. You really need to spend some time on that before answering this question.

When planning for storage, you want your storage planned for your different zones with use-in-place storage for all your regularly used items. Items not used regularly can be stored outside this area, if necessary.

Your cooking zone should hold all your pots/pans/lids, cooking tools, seasonings, sauces, oils, and any gadgets you normally use while at your cooktop like hot pads, tongs, yada yada. Next to the ovens would be a good place to store your casseroles, roasting pans, etc. For convenience, things that are used at both cooktop and stove should be stored between the two for easy access.

Your prepping zone should have storage for knives, bowls, colanders, and other gadgets used while prepping. Possibly a salad spinner? And if you plan to use the prep area for baking, you will want your baking supplies in that area as well.

Clean-up zone should have everything used for clean-up and be the place where you store your daily items for eating (plates, bowls, glasses, eating utensils, serving utensils, serving bowls, etc.).

I hope this gives you some things to think about so you can plan your kitchen to work well for you. Please come back with further questions.

Funky camper - thank you for all the wonderful advice. To answer your questions-

1. Aisles are 43" wide (but refrigerator to island 48")

2. Prep Sink - I'm going to move it to the other side ( so easier to move items from fridge to prep area).

3. Prep island is 26" ( to allow proper aisle space). I'm going from a 30" peninsula to a 26" wide island. Island will be longer but skinnier width wise). Trust me I have second guessed this several times.

4. Drawers - agree. Will go back and change to all drawers.

All pots/pans will be stored underneath cooktop, spices and knives will be stored in the side pull outs in each end of cooktop. I have a pantry closet just outside kitchen that will still hold all can goods and all extra dry foods ( with the exception if daily cooking oils, weekly cereal boxes ( currently open/consuming), current consuming snacks, a peanut butter jar and few various teas).

5. Upper Cabinets- I am switching out the cabinet hood for a stainless steel hood to break up the bulk. I agree with not having corners and running cabinets straight (especially with having stacked cabinets- I think just running them straight will look better).

As for replacing pantry cabinet ideas - I want something to be able to store daily dishes, flatware, a pretty good sized blender my daughter uses daily and the toaster plus bread. If I could also squeeze in a microwave then I would switch out combo oven for double oven instead.

Thanks Again for all your advice!