It depends on the cabinet line. Medium grade lines offer an integrated finished paneled side, as well as a side recessed toe kick. Budget lines have much more limited options and can’t do that. They can’t recess a toe kick at all, and can only flush out the side with a skin and then apply fake doors on top. If a cabinet line can’t do that, it’s not a mid grade semi custom line. Full custom can do that and more. Like making that an operable door. Or putting glass there. Lots of options are possible in the right line.

What cabinet line are you using, and what is the budget coming in at? You’d be looking at about $400-$900 upgrade average price per cabinet in a mid grade line to do all of those details that make the difference. And those details need to be done on all solo exposed sides as well. Then the partially exposed sides also have to be detailed as flush finished, etc.

Here are a few pics of white cabinets, with plain sides and no toekick. I think they look fine. As a matter of fact, I post the first one often when trying to illustrate the concept, and I'd never noticed that the side is plain.

The plain side would probably look better with Shaker inset style doors, as in above pics, than with raised panel doors. Added panels or trim, for comparison:

Following.

You aren’t getting that fully finished look in a budget cabinet line. You need to move up to a mid to higher end line. This is why a fully detailed kitchen in a mid grade line averages 20-30K. The details and the customizations that create them are half the cost.

HWlerenga I am doing exactly like your pic but it will be against my double wall ovens and it will look like your pic. How is your designer planning for the side to look, with just a solid wall?

I do not understand why she cannot get you any type of decorative side panel. What cabinet line are you going with? We are using Tedd Wood. Maybe like others suggest, you cannot get this with a certain grade cabinet?

I installed extra doors to the side of a pull-out pantry in my former kitchen, which was visible from the living room. It was an IKEA kitchen, nowhere near $20-30K.

Depends on the line of cabinetry you're using. With 2 of my lines, I simply order "false" doors to the size I want them & they are then field installed onto the flat fridge panel or side of a cabinet as you've shown. Not complicated in the least if your cabinet line has the option. I do it all the time.

The depth of skins plus applied doors has to be factored into the design. Otherwise you end up with those doors protruding beyond the other cabinets. That is worse than being blank with a reveal and no skin. The sideways opening pantry cabinet has to be smaller than 24”, to both account for the applied door depth and the filler needed against the wall. Budget lines don’t have 21” pantry cabinets, only 18”. Now you have an even bigger hack.

In in the end, doing applied doors adds $$ money to the materials, but really adds $$$ money to the install phase for each of those fillers, skins, and doors that have to be field installed and hacked. That’s the secret that you don’t get told. You could just buy the better quality cabinet up front that comes from the factory the way it needs to be, and that needs far less labor to install. You get an overall better quality cabinet for all cabinets result that way instead of a hacked low quality cabinet job with a bunch in labor rather than material.

So what cabinet line would allow this less labor for better quality trade off?^^^^^^^^