Slab doors are all painted, veneered, or laminate over MDF, for durability. That is standard. You really need a custom cabinet maker to create what you want. All of the cabinets. Everything. Not a carpenter.

Potatoes and onions need more ventilation that a hand hold cutout will provide. Also, you touching the cabinets via the hand hold will ruin the finish there. Hand oils ruin cabinet finishes, which is why most manufacturers require decorative hardware pulls be used.

If this was not a slab door, but a shaker, would the hack work?

Are you sure that’s a cut-out? It looks like a black finger pull (handle) to me, but the photo is pretty grainy. You can do something like this to give breathing room in a pantry. You don’t need to modify the drawer fronts.

Thank you and sorry about the grainy photo. How did they do that in your photo? Is it just some deliberate empty space left while installing the drawers?

@The Kitchen Place is the resident Shiloh expert, maybe she can help you.

Just to add, I am inclined towards frameless, but can go inset if this is easier to achieve for inset.

What about that attracts you to the idea? Because a step in or walk in pantry will give you more and better storage, at less than a third of the cost of the ”larder” fad.

^^Agree 100%. The OP photo looks like such an inefficent use of a large area. If it were to be installed in the OP’s kitchen, just as pictured, which is more like idealized or fantasy kitchen cabinetry, I am betting that in a month or so the OP would be frustrated with it.

I would not have space for a walk-in pantry and DH wants ventilated storage for fruits and some veggies. I had thought that was a simple solution, but looks like it isn’t. Any other easier ideas for such storage? And spending time and money on something very custom and then being frustrated with it later is exactly what I am trying to avoid. Thank you for all the expert help 🙂.

Yes, you just leave space between the drawers. You also pair drawer box sizes with different size drawer fronts depending on what your storage needs are so the spacing is consistent. And wire baskets are great for vegetable storage.

What about getting the drawer fronts prepped for glass and then stick some mesh in there?

(Also, oh the horror. I have some walnut fronted pullouts in a pantry cabinet that do not have handles and we have been using our filthy hands to open them for a few years now! Oh. Wait. The finish still looks fine. :P )

Unless it's a very simple hack, having a cabinetmaker alter a door is rarely a good idea.