It's hard to tell what it going on. Do you know what is behind the drywall and how much space to need to reclaim?

You might be able to replace the drywall with thinner drywall or another material if there is something left to cover. Fridges aren't getting any smaller so you might as well figure something out.

What is on the other side of the fridge? It might make more sense to do your surgery on that side and slide the fridge over.

Thank you for responding! Behind the drywall is the water heater cabinet, I'll have to check how much space is behind there.

The fridge is in a built in, which I am thinking would be more disruptive/look worse to take that wall out and potentially need to remove the cabinets.

That is not a built-in model. It's intended for freestanding placement which is why the doors are presenting a problem. True built-in models have a different door hinge design.

I think "built in" here is being used to describe that it is surrounded by cabinetry.

You can access the upper pantry okay with the fridge pulled out like that? Is it because of the pullouts? Have you looked into joining the doors to the pullout cabinet and opening them as a single door from the other side?

.

if not doable that way, I would see just how disruptive it would be to move the entire refrigerator surround over. I suspect that you'd need to replace the crown molding on the top and add filler and...I think I like your original plan better. :)

If there isn't a stud in that drywall corner so that you can remove enough material to open the door, and you have some skill at prettying things up afterwards, it might be the best plan. It's not a high visibility spot.

Thank you!

If i am able to push the fridge back (ie if i didnt have the corner drywall intereference with the fridge door) then the pantry is about 80% accessible. Its do able. I have also been looking into replacing the cabinet doors, but feel I might need something custome made, that almost pockets into each other. Both feel like  less of an undertaking than moving the whole "surround". 🫣

Sounds like if there isn't a stud in that drywall corner just removing a chunk is a viable option?

Sounds like if there isn't a stud in that drywall corner

There is a stud there.

Don’t forget when pushing the fridge further back that the fridge likely needs at least an inch gap in the back against the wall.

And that stud could be structural. You want to be very careful here.

Other solutions are a slightly smaller fridge, or one with a single door that can be configured to open from the other side.

Are you talking about moving the fridge back as in further recessed into the cabinet and into whatever is behind it? If you do that I don't think you'll be able to open the fridge doors fully..

Depending on how long you're going to be in the house I would do it properly and go to the expense of moving the fridge and it's cabinet and the uppers to the left into the little (6"?) alcove space you have.

Is the door to the right also for that pantry?

Perhaps attaching the two doors together to make a "bifold" door, like you might see on a closet, could work.

I thought of adding a thin finished slab to work as a slider for the one door, but I can't visualize how you could attach the hardware. Perhaps a cabinetmaker would know. So you would open the right door, then slide the left door over to get into that side of the pantry.

Disassemble the refrigerator surround and move it to the left until the crown just reaches the edge of the wall. Then add the required 3-4" of filler to the right. Given these are painted cabinets, it's a relatively "easy" fix. You will need to replace the crown on the face of the refrigerator wall.

^^ Probably could move the over-fridge cabinets along with it.

Drywall is typically 0.5" thick, I believe, which likely wouldn't give you enough for the door to open, if you removed just the drywall.