If you are pulling out a shelves to look at contents from above, isn't that the same as a drawer?

I don't have a pantry either, so most of our food goes in upper cabinets. I do have a drawer for dry goods - canisters of sugar, flour, pasta, oats, rice, etc. I got square canisters with white lids, and wrote the contents of each on on the lid. It works great!

It looks like the cabinet over the fridge is the same depth as the other wall cabinets. Make that one full-depth - you won't regret it. Many people use that space for vertical storage of cookie sheets and cake pans. I had my cabinet maker build pullouts over the fridge - we use one side for cereal boxes, the other for stock pots and paper towels. They are accessed from the side, and at 5'4", I can still reach.

The rollouts can be cut lower in front, so I thought that food might be more easily identified...in addition, they can be vertically adjusted. I don't want the extra door-opening step, but am not the type to put labels on top of cans or containers.

The over-fridge cabinet will be full depth (I drew it wrong) but I hadn't considered adding pullouts up there, thanks for the suggestion!

Have you considered squaring up the corner instead of that awkward angle where the sink is?

Cpartist, I like that idea but I'm not sure how to do it, or where the trash drawer would go--in the left corner? And how would an L-shaped bar look? I wouldn't want to close it in any more than it is now.

Blue222q

i love my full height pantry without pullouts. I don't like the 2 step drawer door thing, I feel like they take up more space and I feel like they are a little wimpy compared to a solid shelf (no tracks etc.) with that said I feel like it depends on what you store there. it works well for us because I can really stock it up with my big stuff ... it's like my after Costco shopping place :)

big box stuff like cereals, chips, snacks, bars, paper goods, extra case of drinks, and large container items.

I would think if you plan to put a lot of cans, jars, bottles in there then maybe yes rollouts. You won't be able to see that kind of small stuff very well without it. I use both my lazy suzans for that kind of stuff easy to see and spin around.

I like your layout. My mom had that angled counter with sink like you have, but her's was bar height so you couldn't the see sink from great room but it was always a big hangout spot to grab a stool and visit with people working in the kitchen.

Blue,

Have you read the thread on designing a kitchen? Since this is a gut remodel, the design can become more efficient. The odd angle may not be necessary in your kitchen. Review the thread and post your layout for some feedback. Since you have not ordere cabinets yet, this is a good time to make changes on paper rather than later on.

Personally I love drawers. My tall pantry cabinets have all drawers on the base and pullout drawers all the way to the top. The pullouts are because the pantry is 24" deep.

Good luck!

Thanks for the comments! I think I'll change the ROTS to drawers. As for making the kitchen more efficient, I'm not sure what else to do. I'm familiar with kitchen design and this seems like it will work pretty well, and the cost will be reasonable.

I'd move the fridge to the opposite wall and move the range down a bit for more counter space in the prep area where you need it most.

I find that the lazy/super susan is most useful for large stuff like the large soup pot, food processor, colanders, wok, that sort of thing. It has to be so annoying to accidentally knock over the lightweight box of pasta into the the Deep Beyond in back of the shelves!

I keep most of my food (minus spices, oils, vinegars, etc.) in the pantry. The bottom section of a full pantry is just roll-out shelving. Your question caused me to actually go over and contemplate my food storage to see if it made a difference if I used a roll out or if the same items were in a drawer. I think it does. It would be easier to both see what was what and to lift it out of a roll-out than a full drawer. I have all lower drawers and I love them, but for this use, I think the roll-out work better.

Cpartist and homepro, unfortunately we can't obtain the additional floor tiles that would be needed to square off the kitchen. (We aren't redoing the floor.)

townlakecakes, the fridge would block the partial view from the dining area (we eliminated the full-height pantry for that reason).

Suzanne, your photo is very helpful! I need to plan where everything will go before committing to that lower cabinet setup.

It's too bad about the tiles - squaring off the corner would have given you more workspace where you need it most (b/w the sink and range) as well as better counter frontage & floor space in a small Kitchen. Corner sinks (and appliances) are notorious as "space eaters".

If you squared off the corner, you could install a tile "rug" to fill in the gap left in the current floor.

3z, a coordinating tile border is something we hadn't considered. If we take out the angle, I suppose the sink should go on the dishwasher wall, but that side of the bar faces a hallway and wall (nothing to look at). I guess I could add an upper cabinet above it. However, I'd much rather face the living area while at the sink. Any ideas for a revised layout?