I haven't chosen any of the hardware yet, so I am open to suggestions. But these are pretty cheapo 1980's cabinets, not as nice as any posted here :) The first picture posted is very nice, but those shaker cabinets have more to them than ours. I don't want a very modern look, I like it in other people's kitchens but it's not what fits in my house. Here's the kitchen shortly after we moved in - the paint job the PO did on the cabinets is horrible and needs to be stripped and re-done. The countertops are now concrete, the dishwasher is a new white one, and I'm putting in white subway tile backsplash... so lots of white I love a bright kitchen. Our home is decorated in traditional-transitional style.

Good question! There are SO many things to think about, that really by the end sometimes I think many of us end up aware of so many details...way more than the average person, even your average contractor...etc. I just measured my pullouts. As cyycdm stated, my drawers are only 22" long, but DH installed them (we did most of the kitchen DIY), and he placed them further back (than you see in her photo). They are full extension, so you can still access every square inch, but being a bit further back allows for extra stuffing overflow of bags, etc on shelves! LOL My frameless doors don't completely clear the sides of the cabinet frame, so the carpenter had to supply 1" bumpers for the side where the door is attached, so the drawer can clear the door, I'm sure you need the same thing, only in framed, you will need those bumpers on both sides, so a loss of 2" there. My slides only take up 1/4", so there is a total of 1 1/2" wasted space, my pullouts are 15 1/2" wide for an 18" pantry. Believe it or not these had to be built 3 times before they fit...no wonder my kitchen company went bankrupt (the day my new granite was to be installed, BTW) I would question why so much space needs to be lost, that seems wasteful to me.

It really depends on how you work and whether you have room in the main working part of the kitchen for some of your food items. I had a kitchen with a pantry across a wide aisle from the kitchen itself. There was little cabinetry in the kitchen itself -- more dish storage and such across from the breakfast nook so everything, including a little of this spice or that had to come from the pantry. And it was about 7 or 8 feet deep with narrow shelves on one side. I loved the kitchen when we bought the house and couldn't stand to work in it by the time we left. My corner pantry in this house was an improvement in location, but not organization. I changed it to pantry cabinets with rollouts and a pullout that are actually a bit further form my main work areas (a few steps), but I also use some of the space in my main work area for flour, sugar and other baking supplies in deep drawers, my spices in a top shallow drawer and oils, vinegars and such right at hand above. I don't have to make as many trips to the pantry as I did before and it's not as far. For me, this is working out best of all. I can see either of your design choices working out well, but you need to thing about the type of cooking you do, how you work and how you would use the space -- what you would store in each cabinet and drawer. It's a pain to break everything down that much, but it's necessary to see how it all works for you.

I don't know what finish hardware you are doing, but your choices sound very classic. What color cabinetry are you doing? Sounds to me like you would be most comfortable with a vertically mounted pull. Is this correct? Check out the link below, specifically the Karen Bale kitchen that uses strap hinges as accent pieces on the barn door cabinetry. Would you consider an accent piece--along the lines of Loves2cook's kitchen but keeping with your style? I am not sure of all the elements in your kitchen, but how about an iron forged grip--bold yet traditional: iron grip Here is a link that might be useful: karen bale kitchen