If you moved it all the way to the left (or down, in your bottom picture) would it fit (with appropriate filler against the wall to make sure the doors would still open)?

Can you switch the small cabinet to the left with the larger one to the right, or is that your broom closet? We had the same dilemma--we bought the cabinets BEFORE we gutted. Found out that there were a massive number of wires in the wall that was to be removed. Flirted with the idea of working around them and finally decided that if we were already spending this much, another $1000 to get the openness we wanted was not the end of the world (just our bank account...). Then of course we found that there were plumbing issues that meant I couldn't retain the washer and dryer in the space, and I've designed it totally differently if I'd known that. Moral: Gut first.

Sorry-my short answer is: depends how much it would cost. If you can afford it, get the space you want. Your only other option would be to move the sink closer to the stove and put the fridge on that wall, as far as I can see.

Shorten that 36" wall to a 27" one and move the fridge all the way to the left. That will leave you having some portion of the pantry as "faux" with a boxed out panel around the plumbing duct, but it's a heck of a lot cheaper than moving something that big any problematic.

How attached are you to the idea of the sliders? If you can let them go, I'd think hollyspring's solution would work. We opened up a wall between kitchen and DR, which gives me the same basic layout as yours. I don't have doors across the opening, and I love sitting at the table, where I can look across the island to my sink, and the view beyond (another room, with a borrowed view.)

If you want the sliders (and I think that look in an older home is lovely), then it seems moving plumbing might be the only option. :(

edited to add: I just took a look at your link (which I should have done before posting.) It looks as if you've already scratched the idea of the sliders, and shortened the wall beside the fridge, to make a cased opening. Can you switch the fridge and broom cabinet?

This post was edited by mama_goose on Thu, May 23, 13 at 12:41

Thanks everyone!
Actually mama_goose, we did the opposite--we added in the sliding pocket doors between the 2 rooms, to add to the old house feel, and to to give the DR more of a "room" feel, rather than the eat-in part of our kitchen.
hollysprings, I think you are saying to push the fridge down further, all the way to the wall between the DR and Kitchen, right? But I'm unclear why I'd have to shorten that wall to 27"? And we are planning to use our standard depth FD refrig that we already have. I think this is a possibility, but it just pushes my fridge further away from the rest of the kitchen. Is that ok? I *think* it is.
And for the record, he said to figure around $1000 for the stack to be moved. Not a huge expense, but for day 2 of the project, it's more than I was hoping for :)

I agree, you should be able to slide it all the way to the left and get it on the other side of the stack. It would be more cost effective even if you have to move that wall a couple inches than to move the stack.

I love your plan! If you can... I would pay the bucks to move the plumbing... if possible.

Well, now I'm really confused! JK ;) Will your FD fridge still open past 90ð if it's sitting up against a wall that sticks out past it? Or, do you even need it to open past 90ð, if it has no bins, (such as crispers in the fridge side), to remove for cleaning. I think that's usually the issue when siting a fridge against a wall.

I think the 27" was to make sure the fridge door would open fully -- a consideration that is often overlooked until the fridge in in place and in use.

If that is an upper and lower cabinet where you are talking about utility, I would definitely slide the fridge over and make sure you have both enough space for a full sized fridge and the ability to open the door fully, If you are keeping your fridge, that will be easy enough to test. One step either direction is not going to be huge in the flow of your kitchen

oh, of course, door clearance. duh.
It does have a large drawer that opens, so it needs clearance, I think. But we had it darn close to our wall before, and it was fine. So I don't think it needs all that much clearance, a few inches at most.
And buying a fridge would cost more than moving the stack.
Once it's cleared out today, we can block it out and see exactly what we are dealing with...we'll know the HVAC situation, too.

Here's my before (note the fridge proximity to wall):
{{!gwi}}

And after (note the giant air duct that was inside that wall next to my fridge!)
{{!gwi}}

Only now that green wall is gone, too. That's the old wall between the stairs and the DR, and now it is all OPEN!
This kitchen demo stuff is CRAZY!!!

I feel your pain. But if it's $1,000 and you have it, and you can't find a really good alternative, I'd say move the stack. You're going to have that kitchen for a long time.

In your photo the fridge handle will clear the adjacent wall. So likely if it worked fine before, you will just need to make sure that will still happen. I guess you might have a potential problem with the handle crashing into your sliders?

Even if the stack can be moved, it will take height below the level of the ceiling, perhaps, for it to do an S turn and drop down in the new location, so you will lose the cabinet above the fridge as well--or part of it. Unless you want to move it upstairs, too.

If it has to jump to another joist space, the bend will have to take place below the bottom of the joist, which is below the ceiling level in kitchen. It depends on which way the joists run.

Can you put you sink in the island, and put the fridge in that spot?

Move the drain into the back of the broom closet. It can transition diagonally above the fridge (hidden in the far back of the above-fridge cab or in a concealed chase behind a shortened-depth above-fridge-cab.

Losing a bit of depth to a narrow broom closet and some of the nearly inaccessible space at the farthest reach of an above-fridge cab are not big inconveniences. At worst they will make you become choosier about what you're storing in these two way-back-of-beyond spaces, which are usually catchalls anyway.

Moving the drain will entail some modest cost, but not as much as you may fear. And you can do it without any loss of functionality in your current plan.

Hey, it's just money. Price it before you panic.

L.