overlyoptimistic: Yes, I think you answered my question. Yours is like the whole island is on a pedestal, right? Leon said we could leave a toe kick all around or we could treat it like furniture and they could do something special but I wasn't sure what my options were. I've been trying to look at pics of islands but most, including the one of mine below, don't show the toe kick area of the island. I saw a couple that didn't seem to have any toekick and only one that I remember with the toekick all around. When you say you used end panels, do you mean that you attached a fake door panel to the end, or just a plain wood panel? I've heard of people putting "skins" on the ends but I wasn't sure how that worked with frameless cabinets since the box is the side and there's no frame to cover any added wood panel that went to the floor. It sounds like that's what Morton5 did. I am more worried about how that works on an end run, especially at the desk/oven area. Here's a pic of my current kitchen. I used a 21" deep, vanity height drawer base for the desk area so it's set back a few inches from the oven cabinet on one side and open on the other side. I think I like that change in depth. The cabinets have a side that goes down to the floor and is notched at the toe kick. It seems like it would look weird to have the toe kick wrap around the corner there. Morton5: Thanks for the pics. Very nice kitchen! So the normal base sides have a notch for the toekick in them like what I've got now? Are the end panels the same thickness as the cabinet sides? With frameless cabinets the doors and drawer fronts are full overlay so when you add the end panel do you make that panel flush with the front of the box (recessed from the door) or do you make it flush with the door? I can't tell for sure by your picture.

This old thread was just linked in another post. Yet another thing on my mind today... Our KD currently has no toe kick on our island. I think it will get used on one side or both for prep, so I don't think this is necessarily a good idea. It initially had something to do with the end panel, since we're having two back to back cabinets on the island. But I think most people do, so that shouldn't be an issue. One end will be seating and the other can be flush. But the two long edges should have toe kicks, I think. I began to question this once I saw that not having a toe kick cost an extra $55 per cabinet x 4. Plus, I believe with this look that molding is run around the entire perimeter, and THAT's the stuff that adds up cost-wise. As we've been considering this, DH and I have both tried prepping at the end of our existing peninsula, and I don't think not having a toe kick would be bad. And we have two, exploding Australian Shepherds that make me think less toe kicks could be a good thing overall. So many decisions...

"I can't think of any possible way to install the runners into the cabinet sides with the cabinets in place." You do not use the cabinet sides to mount the runners, but a box with a thin top (and bottom if you want) and about 1/2 inch thick sides. Slide the whole thing under the cabinet and fasten in place. Depending on how the cabinets originally where installed it can be a real chore to gain access. 2x lumber has been used to make up a level floor frame to then rest cabinets on for many years in many places. Cutting though it in the toe kick space is a real chore (drill large holes and use a narrow sawzall blade).

Thank you everyone. I really do appreciate--and take to heart--the advice to just replace the door. It's clearly wise counsel and I'm currently looking for doors. But I also think the heart of the original question is being lost in the door-replacing zeal. Even if I do replace the door, I still need to find a way to heat that part of the kitchen. That door is on the kitchen's exposed wall, so whatever form of heat I ultimately place in the kitchen ought to be near that door and that wall. Right now I am just trying to find the most energy-efficient form of electric heat for the kitchen in that spot. So, all things being equal (and assuming I get a nice new heat-tight door), what's the most thermodynamically efficient approach for that spot--toe kick, floor insert convection fan, or caddy-corner baseboard? Thank you very much.