I've been through the finished kitchen blog, but don't see many! Maybe because they are disguised! I'm contemplating pull size and placement... Thanks in advance.

We enclosed ours also. We did have room to recess the fridge into the wall, so our panels are the same depth as the adjacent cabinets. As for building the box above. My husband suspended supports from the ceiling the distance we needed. It worked very well. Also, I need to get a picture of the sink for you and I'll take a pic of the fridge, too. We just got back in from a hotel after having the floors refinished and it's a little disorganized right now. I saw your other thread and things are looking good!

As far as I know, the only way to have it flush is to have a pretty wide gap on each side to allow the doors to swing open. The fridges I see on this forum that are made to look built in still have the doors sticking out a little. Here's mine. We framed ours in instead of using cabinetry.

Thanks everyone for the advice and photos--I actually held the handle in my hand and did a version of sue36's test, "Pin the handle on the panel", and we were able to determine a comfortable height for us this way. Marcy, though I didn't think of grip clearance before I ordered my handles, fortunately there is enough space. Pllog, yes, as long as it opens...considering it has been installed and yet panel-less for going on two weeks, opening it will be quite nice! Shanghaimom, how is your Thermador working for you? I remember your kitchen, it is truly lovely!