MAn Sue, you have some real hack contractors there. We all know that panels get put into kitchen cabinets. This DOES NOT make it a good idea and IS quite illegal. Whether some inspector on the take will let it go is another issue. To even suggest leaving off the original cover is STUPID at best and criminal at worst! The panel WOULD NOT be covered. I don't care what you think or what the GC tells you. Any "cladding" you might want to put inside the cabinet will do squat! The ORIGINAL cover MUST be in place on the panel and ANY open holes MUST be closed. This is a serious code and more importantly common sense. Ever see a panel that failed and had a bolted fault inside???? I have. It is NOT pretty. Sorry if I seem rude about this but the whole concept has me AMAZED!

I decided to forgo the pulling through the EMT pipe because I didn't have a helper. The spare wire is still sitting in the emt conduit. The Breaker is dead in the panel and labelled Spare - no wire attached. Problem with Inspection: Floating wall on 2nd floor (6ft. length, 8ft. tall, open on all sides but beam on top that we can not drill through by code). Inspector says I need one outlet on each side AFCI protected and I can not use the laundry circuit which is directly below it b/c (a) it is on gfci (b) not code. What I ended up doing was running 12G romex through the bottom 2x4 plate into the Garage ceiling. I punched a couple holes in the garage drywall ceiling, then fished romex 10ft. through garage ceiling to an 8"x4" Junction box. I then joined it up with an existing 20amp AFCI circuit line that was feeding a 2nd floor Bedroom plugs & lights. Basically, we now have 2 outlets in a small 2nd floor living room partition wall that is powered by a 20amp AFCI circuit which also supplies power to one 2nd floor bedroom plugs & lights. All outlets to both rooms have all 12g romex. From the junction box to the service panel is 12g THHN black & white going to the service panel AFCI breaker. I can not find anywhere in the Code that would not allow 2 different rooms not adjacent to share the AFCI circuit. Unless there is something I am missing - can anyone confirm? I only see where Laundry & Baths can not share circuits with non-laundry or non-bath rooms, but it seems like you could share circuits with any other rooms in a house. Even rooms on different floors? Is this a correct reading? thanks

Hi all, very much appreciate the responses. I have been reading and thinking them over. itsallaboutthefood - yes, you are correct, if I make the right wall shorter then I can slide the fridge over a tad and build a panel on the left. However... do I really want to go to all this work for my current fridge? Shorter wall I think will mean the black is even more visible. camphappy - thank you for the measurements. I do not have 3" to spare. Regarding the French door(s), where do you put things you take out of the fridge? Beyond the French doors or behind you? Thanks for the compliment, the view is very nice but as I've said before, I am now the ultimate nosy neighbor :) Hi buehl, your pictures were extrememly helpful, thanks. I do see how to build it now. (Love your cabinetry btw). Motherof3sons - you definitely identified my hesitation/quandry. Yes, building and paneling existing fridge would be an improvement but if if I had my druthers and the budget to match, what would I do with this space? Is it really worth the expense to order panels and build a structure around a temporary fridge? EAM44 - it is all about the fridge, thanks for the reminder about the free-standing fridge vs. integrated fridge different requirements. I think that's part of why I am struggling - I can't design the space until I know what fridge I'm using, old or new. The island makes it hard to pull the fridge forward enough and still get the door open. Glad you like seeing the wall colored grey again, I am quite pleased too... Still, I want Rome, now! hags00 - great description and I do follow. We do have an overhang on the side of the counter, your solution makes sense. Off to put the kiddos to bed. Thanks to all. I am still thinking about solutions and what I would do for a long term solution, with all the money in the world. Oh I know this answer!! Take out wall, insert fabulous, paneled Thermador (not white, definitely contrasting color, maybe match island but probably wonderful pop of new color) fridge. One of the ones which looks like a huge piece of lovely furniture. I should probably start a new thread to ask this but - does anyone use all drawers for a fridge/freezer solution? Leaping in yet another direction, I do also like the idea of a glass fronted fridge. Best, wafflingOldbat2be

Sorry to hear about your moms hip but kinda happy that you're going away for awhile. Use that time to ponder suggestions. And really pay close heed to the suggestions regarding point-of-use, accessible storage and the tasks you normally do, the space you need to do them, etc. I feel like I'm Jillius's biggest cheerleader but I really agree with her layout. I've never heard anyone say that they wish they had less counter! And, yeah, go with more depth if you can so coffeemaker and such can sit toward the back and still give you good space to work on your counter. That said, YOU work in your kitchen, not us. YOU have your own style of food prep and clean-up that may not match the way we all do things. We can make suggestions based on how we do things but not on how you do things. Sure, there are some basics of how good kitchen flow works and some are standard and should be heeded. But then we all have our own individual quirks. And then we need to assess those quirks to determine if they are simply accommodations we've made due to working in a poorly planned space. Or do we like those quirks and want to incorporate them into our space. I suggest you take your drawings, measurements, etc., with you. While at your mom's, use large sheets of paper or cardboard, cardboard boxes and furniture, whatever you can grab, to mock up a pretend kitchen to play in. When you have breaks from caring for your mom, play in your pretend kitchen. Really think through just where you need that spatula, knife, bowl, whatever. Pretend you're making a meal for company as well as the simple, daily meals you make yourself. Even if you can't mock-up with boxes/furniture, your pretend kitchen, you can still define an area at your mom's that is roughly the same space, the same distance counter-to-counter, and then walk through the motions. I think this is critical to getting a good layout that will work for you. All the tweaking on paper and with drawings can only get you so far, role-playing is critical to getting you the rest of the way there. Seriously, my DH rolls his eyes each time I tell him "OK, now pretend I'm making a salad while you're making a stir-fry." Or "pretend I'm making a roast and side dishes while you're making a sandwich to tide you over until dinner". Every scenario I can think of, we've role-played. This has been key to helping me define what I really need, what compromises I can live with and what I can't, etc. And I'm not talking about just pretending you're doing the last step of the cooking. I'm talking start-to-finish. I'm talking getting out the food, bowls, any gadgets/tools you need, washing, prepping, disposal, cooking, transfer to plate, clean-up, and then putting the stuff away. Every single step. We're not done yet with our planning but we're ever so much closer. Between GW suggestions and the role-playing, I'm feeling increasingly confident in my layout. DD will be home for a few days next week and I'm going to corral everyone into the "three people working in the kitchen scenarios". OK, that's rarely an issue but I still want it to flow as smooth as possible for the few times a year it happens. Last tip: spend a few days away from GW. Heck, a week even. This place is great but you can get overloaded with all the wonderful suggestions from the creative, knowledgeable people here. It's overwhelming....in a good way, but still. During those days away, really play in your pretend kitchen. Sorry to ramble on so long but I really get the sense that you haven't totally defined your own needs and working-style as well as you could before finalizing your plan. Once you understand all that better, you will be better able to just know that "yes, I need more counter space on fridge wall" or "no, I need that pantry". Hope this helps a bit.