If you make the cabinet under the window deeper than standard, the fridge won't stick out so far.

Oh trust me - My friends would never notice! It's me! But you are so right! A vacay is in order after all this!

It's never about what other people notice- they are so much nicer than we are to ourselves. I would absolutely spend the money. It would drive be bonkers after all the money spent of the kitchen, that little flaw would stick out like a sore thumb. You know yourself best. Will it spoil the investment you've made in your eyes or will you gloss over it?

We did it. Nobody died. My goal was to minimize the stainless finish in our vintage house rather than to fake a built-in fridge.

Only built-in's are actually flush with counters. "Counter depth" is not really, when you add the handles and maybe the panels?

Maybe you can make the cabinets over the fridge and the side filler the same depth as the fridge to minimize the "protrusions".

If you insist on spending the $5K, give me the money and I will come over everyday to ooh and ahhh over your wonderfully beautiful new kitchen. :-)

Spend the 5K redesigning to bump out all of the base cabinets on that wall run, and get rid of the wall cabinets there entirely. There, just got back the 5K spent.

Also get rid of the hutch on the counter next to the sink. It will be a soggy mess of water damage in two months time. It also restricts the needed landing space around the sink.

Yes, we did that :-) no soggy mess for me! My contractor gave me the heads up on that design flaw! Thanks - any other ideas?....feel free to share!

Move the prep sink closer to the fridge.

It's fine as is minus the hutch, which was already being changed.

I wouldn't bump out the bases right of fridge on this layout, because the space for the lazy susan will be lost & it will put your stove area more in a corner.

Build the space for for fridge now. & prep for the future fridge change later.

If space needs to be changed to less deep later. Just cut the panels, the crown & get extra cabinet material fillers & scribe to finish the cut edges. Wrap & store the extra material in a climate control space for future change when updating fridge.

Plan for today, prepare for the future.

Have your cake & eat, too. ;)

The 24" refrigerator panel on the right side of the fridge can be custom made to go out to 30" or so. Just pull the other cabinets forward after it is installed. You can do this for less than the 5k you were talking about.