oldbat2be I don't think a pocket door will work, but also I prefer being able to use the back of the door for a spice rack. Stan Z, good point about future furnace replacement. It's in good shape (we had it inspected recently), but you never know. In the pre-demo layout, there was already two 32" doors between the furnace and main area. The door closest to the furnace is a louvered bifold. The other door was between laundry and wet bar, we've removed that and are putting in a door instead between wet bar and new kitchen, which is along the 90" wall. You can get a rough idea of the new kitchen layout - it'll go pantry door, then refrigerator, then induction stove top, then wall oven/microwave across the 90" wall. With an island across from it with sink and dishwasher. But I think you mean keep the pantry side of the 90" wall free, in case we have to remove the furnace in the future? That was my thought as well -- I am thinking just put in hooks there for hanging mops and brooms. Thanks for the recommendation for the 65" wall. I was thinking deeper shelves on bottom (15-18 inch?) then 12 inch shelves higher up (for canned goods). Or would you go 15-18 inch for all the shelves? Does anyone know of an online closet/pantry design site where I can play around with the layout? Most of the ones I've found won't allow you to design an odd-shaped pantry like this.

Karenseb, I knew what I wanted on the pantry shelves and measured for storage I have a fairly good idea of what I want to store in there, though it's been so long since we had a working kitchen, I may be mis-remembering. I made a list awhile ago: spices -- we have, and will always have, a zillion. I'm thinking I'll hang these on the back of the door, or on the wall to the left as you enter. I do have a drawer across from the cooktop that could possibly work (and would be more convenient), but right now I have that filled with placemats, paper napkins, kitchen linens. I suppose I could move those into the pantry instead. chip bags / snacks canned goods pasta sauce jars peanut butter & jelly jars cereal boxes (not many) oils & vinegars spice packets nuts & dried fruit bags (in basket or in a container) bags of dried beans (in basket or in a container) condiments pasta & other grains cracker boxes coffee station bev fridge diet coke cases bottled water case large bag of rice paper towels napkins coffee, filters extra tin foil extra plastic bags extra trash bags small appliances including: crockpot, rice cooker, food processor, toaster, hand mixer mops & brooms apron -- hanging from hook on wall step ladder (could be tucked away next to the furnace-- there's space.) I don't bake very often so I figure I'll keep flour in the freezer.

Mama and Keith, I would get rid of the cabinet in the upper right side. Symmetry is overrated. Mama's layout is excellent. Here's another idea because I'm a fan of L shaped layouts versus U shaped. I've had both and I dislike having two corner cabinets. The other thing that bothered me in Mama's is I'd prefer the prep sink across from my cooktop. This creates a T shaped island. The arrows on both sides of the island point to the direction the drawers would open up. I think you'd actually have room to extend the island towards the dining room a bit since you only need a 36" path between the end of the island and the corner wall. I would do like I did in my kitchen and make the corner a drawer unit instead of a lazy susan. And of course below the cooktop and on either side all drawers. I LOVE my drawers. The red line would be upper cabinets that die into the wall. I did that in my kitchen and it's great to even have them as glass cabinets for glasses and some pretties.And yes, this is very similar to my layout. The only difference is I put my prep sink along the perimeter and my cleanup sink on the island. I did that because we're getting up there in years and for aging in place, it's easier to slide food stuff along the perimeter than carrying it across the aisle. Plus we don't leave dirty dishes and pots in the sink, so that wasn't an issue to us. (And I apologize to all who are tired of seeing my kitchen over and over again.)Note too I have windows on either side of my cooktop. I would not under any circumstances give up those windows. Also because I have induction and not gas, I could get away with the hood being the same size as the cooktop. Is it ideal and if I had more room, would I have instead done the wider hood? Absolutely, but for me, I prefer my spices in cabinets on either side of the hood, so it frees up space in the drawers for cooking utensils.

I have a small u-shaped kitchen. I prefer it over a galley, because I don't like the way the end wall looks in a galley and I like the proportions of a U better than the long hallway claustrophobic look of a galley. My kitchen has the window, sink and fridge on one leg of the U which is a longer run than the range wall on the opposite leg. I do all my prepping at the back of the U, which gives me lots of continuous counter space between the sink and the range. The advantage of a galley is that there are no corner cabinets to contend with, cheaper cabinet costs and likely no countertop seaming issues. I think small kitchens are cramped regardless if it is U-shaped or galley. Since I prep at the back of the kitchen, another person can utilize all the other parts of the kitchen.