Do a pocket door and it solves your problem

What is the area in the upper right with the sink? Is that the beverage area you're talking about?

You do realize that most people will not walk into a mudroom if it's not right in front of them? Meaning you should walk right into the mudroom from the garage.

Split the door and do saloon style swing doors, where both sides swing both ways. That's what my sister did and its great! You can go in and out with your hands full...

I would also suggest a pocket door. Another question: if you aren't doing shelves along that whole wall, what about a secondary door from the garage straight into the pantry? That would make grocery unloading nice, rather than walking all the way up, around, and back down...

Is it too late for you to get a pocket door? That's how I solved a similar issue with my pantry.

Upper right with the sink is the utility sink (for gardening and garage stuff).

The beverage center is the counter area to the right of the dining room table.

If I have a pocket door, then I can't have my spices on the back of it. I don't really like pocket doors for doors that are usually closed--and I keep my pantry door closed. However, it is not too late to go that route--we're still finalizing drawings. I'll have to keep thinking about it.

A saloon door might be a really good choice, too (although I'm really hung up on the spice rack :-).

I don't want a door from the garage into the pantry. The shelving design in there isn't at all planned yet so I haven't asked the architect to do anything with the drawings. I am considering having an area for a kitchen baking cart in the pantry. I'd keep all of my flour, sugar, primary baking pans on it so when I bake I could just wheel out the cart. If I go that route, I'd probably still have shelves above it, though.

I also don't store that much food in the pantry--75% of the groceries go in the fridge or the freezer. The pantry will store more cooking and entertaining items than food.

cp, the only way into the house from the garage is through the mudroom.

I like the pocket door idea myself, but if you do make it swing out from the pantry into the kitchen, I’d have the hinges on the left side so it swings into the cabinets next to the range. I wouldn’t want to have it swing into the ovens where you’d have to worry about the door knob denting your ovens.

Unless I'm wrong this is the path into the house from the garage? I'm saying people, especially children, take the path of least resistance which means they won't go into the green area, but instead will drop where they are or use the island as a drop zone.

cp, I've had that arrangement for our mudroom for the last 20-some years, in 2 other houses. My kids, their friends, my husband, and I, all detoured and hung coats and stuff up. (We now have to detour and use an inconvenient closet, but we still do it)

Nobody used the kitchen counters as a drop zone--unless you count retraining my college-aged son when he was on break after he'd lived with 4 other college guys :-). But he retrained easily.

I am quite sure my husband will never just drop his stuff--not ever. I never drop my stuff. Some day, we hope to have grandchildren at the house--and we'll teach them where things go. I managed it with my 2 kids, my stepdaughter, a Destination Imagination team, a Girl Scout troop, and many visitors.

I like the saloon door suggestion, where the doors open either way, great for hands-free access. A thought, that opposite wall - attach your spice racks there?

Pocket doors do tend to be left open much of the time. And if that's the placement for your cook top, you don't want the door interfering with its electrical supply.

I don't think you need a third sink for that beverage bar.

I'm not a pocket door fan, as they rarely get closed.
I'd do a double swing butler type door with a push plate. They self close, (most have 90* hold open feature) and can also be open with hands full... Rixson

By the way, this is my current spice rack. This is the one we built for the temporary place we're in now. A pantry door would be wider so we're planning on making a new one.

Spices could go in drawers, but looking at this makes me very happy.

We are planning two pocket doors elsewhere in the house--one between the mudroom and the kitchen area, which will normally be open. Another one for the laundry room, which will normally be open unless the noise bothers us.

But for a pantry, I'd want the door closed most of the time--and pocket doors aren't really good for a door you're going to open/close often.