mountainbasketmaker, you linked us to the main photobucket page, not your individual page, I think. Go to your photos, copy that URL and paste it into your link. You might also have to do something to make your pictures public, too. gardenwebber, you could look into rope lighting. I love the idea of putting the light switch on the door latch so it comes on when you open it. The rope light is low wattage and you could run it vertically down the wall in front of the shelves. Maybe you could put a piece of molding in front of the rope light so that it does not shine in your eyes, but is shielded so you do not look into the light as you look at the pantry contents. It would light up one side of each open shelf area and give you fewer shadows than a single light at the top of the pantry. My pantry was here when we bought the house. It is 30" wide and 40" deep. That is not a very usable space! It is too wide for retrofitting those sliding tray-shelves that would make best use of the depth. We cannot do as Youngdeb did and have perimeter shelves because the pantry is in a space above the basement stairs. The bottom of the pantry floor slopes - you cannot step into the pantry! So I have three 30" x 40" MDF shelves (the plywood in there when we bought the house had bowed significantly). I use a lot of little wire shelves I had in a previous house to make layers of storage on each level. Using bins for categories of foods (dog treats, rices, nutrition bars, pastas) means I can pull out a whole bin, rifle though it, and replace it. The neatness of the bins means I can easily shuffle them around to get to everything even if it is very deep on the shelves. Our first winter here we had mice, and I made sure everything got sealed into bins so the mice would not be attracted to the pantry and it worked, none ever got into the food. Speaking of pantry pests, here is some advice: never bring birdseed into the house. Some of it has webworms (moth larvae) and those darn things can infest your pantry if you let them in. I had moths from birdseed go crazy in an attached garage. They got into the house when we used the door from the garage to the house and we'd see them flying in the evening. Somehow, I kept them out of the kitchen!

;) The "base cabinet" on the plans isn't set in stone. Really the only things unmovable at this point are the washer/dryer and electric panel behind the exterior door (on the same wall as pocket door). I'm leaning towards cabinets above w/d, a handing rod with bench below, and a broom/vacuum closet next to it with shelves or cabinet above. Maybe a retractable drying rack above the bench? What do you think's a comfortable width for the bench? 18" doesn't seem wide enough--though only one person will sit at a time.

I have never heard of a building code that would allow for removing the half walls on a porch - someone could fall off. I agree that you need someone to create plans that comply with building codes.

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking, but I'll give you some thoughts since I had a mudroom very similar. The most used spaces are likely the washer/dryer area and the bench area, which is also the walkway to the garage. Your towers on the sides of the bench stick out into the walkway. I would also want the sink further from the washer/dryer so you have more clear countertop space. Consider including an area for hanging damp clothes, or at least a pull down drying rack. If you stick with your current plan, I would move the pantry to the window wall corner , and then use the empty space in the corner by the door for the dog bed. Next to the bench, you could save money by using open shelves and hooks instead of cabinets. That was more useful for my kid's sports paraphernalia and shoes, for air flow.