Here is the other layout. We have 9' ceilings, so bottom cabinet is still over 6' off the ground...not really accessible for short me!

It's off balance. A smaller refrigerator would make the space more proportionate and be more appropriate to a bar area. 30", to match the 30" built in MW on the other side. If the budget can stand the hit, do a built in with a wood panel. I'd rather see glass fronted standard side hinged cabinets below the flip up cabinets than open shelves. It will be easier to maintain. Unless you feel like dusting every day! Get rid of the too small and awkward wine bottle storage. If you want wine storage, it needs to be a much larger percentage than that little afterthought. I'd also recommend a bar sink. WIth a dedicated setup like this, it needs a sink.

Thanks hollysprings! The bev/wine fridge is standard size, 24" wide. The base cabinets to the left & right of it are 27". I'm ambivalent about a sink...I don't want to lose the bank of drawers, which are probably more functional to me. It's also (of course) a budget issue.

I'm with you on the comment re: dusting! It's a big concern of mine too. Do you think clear glass side-hinged cabs would look ok under the 36" wide frosted glass flip-ups? I would want to see what's in them. I think yes, hubby was more wary.

These are not full custom cabs, so I'm limited in terms of sizing. If I kill the 6" wine cubby, I need to add 6" elsewhere or have to move the fridge over. That'd leave me with some extra wall space to the right of the fridge which might look odd. I can't add 6" to the MW built in, nor can I add 3" to each flip up cabinet. It's been a struggle to design this! I'm also waffling on whether or not I think (like you) wine cubby is awkward looking. With the wine fridge, we're probably ok on storage, but if you think it looks like an "afterthought", that's not good!

Really appreciate your comments, thank you again.

It's not the beverage fridge that I'm recommending the size to change. It's the full size fridge. It's the big awkward player in the pic.

Add a 3" filler to the left of the MW cabinet. That will allow the MW to open without banging the wall. Use a 3" filler overlay on top of it to bring it to the plane of the rest of the doors. Then split a 3" filler to be 1 1/2" on each side of the wall cabinets next to the tall cabinets on each side and 1 1/2" between the drawer bases and the tall cabinets.

Or, if you have a more traditional aesthetic (which the flip up cabinets say you don't) do 3" fluted fullers next to both the tall cabinets with rosette onlays on top of them. Either of the choices would look better than the wine cubby in the middle.