mama_goose - Thanks so much for the suggestion! If we could afford custom doors with glass for the pantry, I think it would need to be safety glass (since we have a little one), but - I will keep your suggestion in mind for future cabinet projects! Thanks! blfenton - Thank you for your reply! I put a 12" deep piece of furniture there last night, and it does feel a bit cramped. I think we're going to need to go with something smaller, if anything. lavender - I don't think that we can exchange our doors anymore since too much time has passed. But - I am definitely going to keep the glass with shirred fabric idea in mind for future projects. (I hope to one day replace the Ikea doors with more traditionally styled wood Shaker doors, and swap out the countertops for soapstone or granite.) Thanks again for your wonderful ideas! They are giving me so much to look forward to. :) taggie - Thank you for your reply and kind compliment! After living with a 12" piece of furniture there, I think 9" is the max that I want to go for the pantry so it doesn't feel so claustrophobic. DH has plans to put an end panel on the side that opens to the kitchen - but, it is a plain, flat panel - not shaker style. Hopefully it won't look too bad... marcolo - Thanks for your reply! We won't make it flush to the wall. Bellsmom - Thanks so much for the mockup! I'm afraid that DH isn't up for such a big undertaking though. It looks like we're 1eaning toward the 9" deep pantry the whole way across. But, thank you again for your thoughtful suggestion and mockup! dianalo - Thanks for your reply! Option B and sticking with the simple doors now (with perhaps some glass doors in the future), is the direction we are leaning. bmorepanic - Thank you for your thoughtful reply! I'm concerned about 21" wide doors opening into the space too. The only way around it would be to use 3 12" wide doors and lose 6" of space. In order to line up with the fridge cabinets, the max amount of space that we have to work with is 42". I wish it was 45", since then we could have done 3 15" doors. Sigh. DH isn't willing to lose the 6" of space. If the 21" doors become a huge issue, we could always change it up down the line. Also, I think we're going to stick with a 9" depth all the way across. DH will have to cut wall cabinets down in size. As for dining room usage - that is yet to be seen. We're not using it yet as it's still under construction (and was DH's workshop in the winter). It does have another opening that is much larger, from the foyer. I think biggest problem will be congestion with people using the garage entrance. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Another mini update - After trying out a 12" deep piece of furniture where the pantry will go - we're going to aim for a 9" depth. It will let the space breathe a bit more, and should allow for 7.5" wide shelves once the full overlay doors and fridge end panel are taken into consideration. The plan is for the pantry to house seldomly used things - like duplicates of food items, cans of soup and veggies, that type of thing. We don't want it to be a place where people linger or use frequently (to avoid traffic jams). Cereal and snacks will go to the right of the fridge (nice and out of the way of people using the sink and stove) - and frequently used cooking supplies will go in the cabinetry by the stove. The doors will stay simple for now - with the hope of adding some glass in the future. Thank you taggie and marcolo for the warning about bringing the cabinetry flush to the wall. I'm embarrassed to admit that we DID in fact make this amateur mistake in other areas of our kitchen (it was either that, or we would of had to lose 6" of cabinetry or do major construction to the wall). DH is comfortable with it flush; he believes in function over form, and the doorway openings are straight (he said that if the walls weren't straight, he would have stopped the cabinetry a few inches from the wall). Being a perfectionist, I'm bummed that we made such a rookie mistake, but I'm going to have to let it go. Thank you all, again!!!

Thank you All for your help and advice!! It looks like I'm getting a mini crown after all! Now we just need to pick either #5 or #7. Can't wait for DH to mock them up tonight! :) oldhouse1: Thanks for your reply and vote! You're right, the Ogee crown is not paint matched yet; I agree that it will look better when it is. I just saw pics of your kitchen - it is Gorgeous!! I wanted to paint Tidaholm too (it's my favorite Shaker look - lovely, elegant stiles and rails), but we're on a shoestring budget. Love your cabinets' furniture feet, shelves with brackets and your ironstone collection (furniture feet and brackets under the cabinet ends have been on my wish list for DH, and I'm just starting my ironstone collection - I have one pitcher and creamer so far). In some places it looks like you did not use a side cover panel. How did you handle that? Did you leave the side as is, or maybe paint it and hide the space against the wall somehow? kmmh: Thank you for your reply! I'm leaning towards those two as well. Actually, more than leaning - it's officially down to just those two! :) chiefy76: #5 is one of my favorites! (It looks like DH has his work cut out for him - we're getting a crown, hooray!) Thanks so much for your vote!

We have given thoughtful consideration to all suggestions - thank you. I would like to ask another question - not sure of Houzz protocol about starting new thread so forgive me if I err here. We have a beautiful elk antler chandelier and thinking about where to install in the new house ... great room is obvious choice. We could hang it from the middle beam in the room - other opinions? Here is a pic. Size is approx. 42" side-to-side and it is about 28" high ... without the chain. In this picture we don't have a very high ceiling in the entry so had to squish it close to the beam.. PS To give you all an idea of our aesthetic, my husband is a bow hunter and ranch/hunting style house is naturally where we lean ...

Leave both the cabinets and the brick. Yours looks better than the picture with the white. If you are determined to do something with the brick, then, no solid color paint, use a paint wash, so it still looks like brick, not flat painted brick.