I'm a form follows function person, so the primary concern is, can you open the fridge doors all the way to get the guts out for cleaning? Many people have found they cannot only after the fridge is installed. It wouldn't bother me to see the handles because, most likely, I wouldn't see them anyway....I would be taking in the whole of the space, not just the edge of the handle showing....

Hi Marcolo Thank you. It did not occur to me to simply eliminate that box and replace it with storage. I just figured we were stuck with it. And you are right: it is just an empty box sitting there taking up space. And, since it is made of uninsulated 3/4" wood, it probably makes the kitchen cold. So either of your ideas -- the bench or the cabinet -- would make that space more useful, and warm it up at the same time. Fiberglass for the door. I will investigate that material. I had asked one carpenter if the door could be remade in Azek, but he thought it would not be rigid enough. So I started thinking about Azek with a backing of plywood, but then I imagined that double layer would again make the door very heavy and difficult for me to open and close which is why I haven't taken pictures of of the headroom yet. I need DH's help for that project, and he has been tied up with a tennis tournament this week. I think we can do it on Sunday. Hi rmtdoug, Good points, all. Although it would squeeze the sink closer to the cooktop, I will ask the carpenter when he next stops by about shortening that wall from the mudroom to the kitchen, I would very much like to do that if it is not too costly, especially after seeing lisa_a's latest design with an expanded mudroom just off that space. When I saw her good idea I realized we would not have to preserve much of that mudroom/kitchen wall at all to maintain the current size of the mudroom since we could just open up the other wall and, until we get a shed built, store a whole lot of necessary gear close to the back door, including a snow shovel in winter and a rake in summer. Hi lisa_a, What an incredible design idea. I absolutely love it and it solves so many of our problems simultaneously. The pocket door between the bath and the shower is a clever solution. The only sticking point is that the maximum opening on that wall (where you have shown the entry to the new mudroom) is only 28" because there is an old chimney on one side. The chimney is shown on the architectural drawing as a funny shaped rectangle protruding into the "shower" area on the plan. That unused chimney is actually a square that sits outside the kitchen on the mudroom-side of the wall. However, I so love your design that I want to use it anyway. If we ripped through some of the trim on that bathroom we could widen the opening to a suitable sized doorway. I realize I need to upload all the dimensions of the mudroom, the BP and the dining room. My design software has arrived and I have used it to outline the kitchen with some gross dimensions, but I need to get all the dimensions on it because you and Jillius have had to guess the measurements of areas outside the kitchen. I see you drew the stairs opening to the living room. Thank you. Now that you have imagined how that will look, do you think the opening to the kitchen from the living room should be closed up and the sink sited there? I ask this in case we can afford to widen the kitchen opening from the mudroom as rmtdoug suggests since doing that would cut down on the length of the sink/cooktop wall. The distance from the inside wall of the kitchen (the one with the mudroom on the other side) to the furthest wall of the BP (with the dining room on the other side) is 181". The distance from that same kitchen wall to the closest-to-the-BP dining room wall is 185.5". Let me know if those measurements are not what you were looking for.

Thanks for the reply @geoffrey_b. I was planning on putting blocking in. I was going to use the current cabinets as a reference for where to put the blocking since we won't be renovating our kitchen for a year or two. We have to reside our house first but I figured since our house is already covered in dust that I mine as well tackle closing this off now.

They have Certified Kitchen designers in Lowe's that can help you. If your Cabinet dealer dosn't have a certified designer on staff I would find a dealer that does. That sould be part of the service they are offering you when you buy the cabinets.