If you want a peninsula, refrigerator and pantry for a small space, I would go for a smaller refrigerator to add in the panty. Or not do the peninsula and do a large refrigerator and panty. At the end of the day, you can always switch out refrigerators, however the peninsula is a fixed item in your kitchen. You don't want a cramped kitchen or one where two people have to wait to pass each other.

I think you need a decent sized kitchen refrigerator for a family of 8.

I came to say large fridge (especially with big family), but then I see that you have an extra fridge in the garage, so that takes a lot of pressure off. In general an extra foot of peninsula isn't a huge deal, but with your brood, you can probably use the space to wedge in more stools -- 6 feet makes three pretty feasible. I think that, given all that, you may be best with a counter-depth fridge and moving the pantry down. There's only the one water line for the fridge, and your walls are completely wide open, so I would expect the cost of moving it over a few studs to be nearly trivial.

While as a kitchen designer, I love counter depth refrigerators in a design, I am also very practical. You need a larger R.F.!

Good Luck!

Are your cabinets on order already? I would rethink the peninsula with the fridge where it's located - thats a bottleneck that will be always hung up when the fridge door is open. If you post the floor plan we can give you recommendations. Based on the size of your family that room will see a lot of action and now is the time to get it right.

And I am saying this because our last house had this exact same condition and with a family of 4 that entertains a lot we saw this as a problem.

So......if you can't change anything based on where you are at in the process, I would vote for shorter peninsula AND fridge to give you as much breathing/working space as possible.

The cabinets haven't been ordered yet, will do at end of the week. Yes, totally agree, edwards4four, this is the time to get it right! I so appreciate everybody's advice. Please keep your words of wisdom coming! Here are our house plans (will also post separately for general advice)

I would opt for the cabinet depth refrigerator because it will make the kitchen look and feel larger. I'm mixed on the peninsula for several reasons. The pros are for countertop sitting with kids it would be great. The cons are that 42" is optimal for a walkway which will affect the length of the peninsula and the peninsula would also create the need for a lazy Susan or blind cupboard in the corner which is harder to access and will store less than a traditional cupboard.

Thank you for the overall floor plan. I think the peninsula made more sense when you had the fridge away from it as your house plan shows. It makes less sense when the fridge placement causes a bottleneck. I still vote for counter depth fridge and very minimal peninsula if you have to have it.

Thank you for all your advice...they were helpful in weighing the pros and cons. I made the decision to...do both! Thanks to mama goose's advice, we switched the fridge with the pantry, and recessed the fridge into the studs so now we can get the larger fridge and have a longer peninsula. Problem solved, thanks to you all!! Will close this thread and pick up on the other thread where mama goose gave me this advice. To end, here's a pic of the 10-inch deep recess where my big honkin' fridge will go!