Please provide diagram of area in question, with measurements, to start. (How much space do you have for doors and pullouts?) Can you go deeper by any chance? I'm nearing the end on our pantry build, which is around 60" wide x 45" deep. Ventilation was a big concern, so we ended up with pocket doors - which will usually be open. If you like open, I'd say go with a U shape. Linking here to a couple of my threads :)

Nobody liked the apothecary look but I still do

Our build

Pictures & layouts please! :-)

Unfortunately, I can't go deeper. This is how it looks today.

We're going to extend the kitchen to the left and incorporate the nook area. That space has never really worked for us. Our project will involve tearing out the two load bearing columns which will FINALLY open up the kitchen fully to the family room and a wall separating the family room and formal dining room is coming down too. We'll create a new dining area in this great room space.

We are eliminating the window above the sink and will move the sink & DW into the island. This will allow us to move the range to the left and get it out of the corner.

We'll eliminate the inside corner where the open shelving is now. We're building shelves that will be accessed from the back side which is our laundry room. It will be 24" x 24". We're planning to slide the refrigerator to the far right where the oven cabinet is now. The rest of the space between the fridge and inside corner build out will be about 60" wide.

I don't know if this will get bumped, the site has changed so much since I started my kitchen 6+ years ago. I have an update. The walls came down and we've lived with the openness for a week now. It's funny how that can change your perspective. We really love how open and spacious our home feels.

DH and I have discussed building out the fridge/pantry wall to accommodate a deeper refrigerator. We have a counter depth now that's 10-11 yrs old. It's time to think of replacement. The deeper refrigerators are roughly 34" + deep. This means the pantry space could be closer to 3' deep x 6' wide. DH loves the pullouts. We had them in 2 houses. We've had 2 fixed shelf reach in's in 2 houses, which I hated, and a fixed shelf walk in that was almost too big. My kids were babies at the time. If we'd lived there longer, I definitely would have done a flexible shelving system. But I digress.

Is there a happy medium? Some incredible hybrid that maximizes the space?