It is truly a personal preference, but I chose to use end panels on all end cabinets (base and upper). I personally feel that those are part of the bells and whistles that complete a kitchen. good luck with your decision! :)

I have one false panel aove my pantry pullout because it needed to match the fronts of those cabinets. That space is actually an open shelf turned sideways. I have two smooth ends -- one near the side door to the house. It wouldn't be seen and would be more likely to get dinged up there, so that really only left one side that might matter and we left it plain. It does have molding -- a light rail, a rail between stacked cabinets and a deep crown. The cabinets themselves are very simple, so that seems right to me. On my island, I have one open shelf end and the other has a smooth panel with trim added so it ties in with the door panels, but is not a door panel. It's finished, but simpler. I like that better than a huge raised door panel.

We put panels on our island for two reasons:
o It is more visible being in the center of the room and
o The sides and back of our island have cabinets opening on part of them so if we didn't have panels, there would be doors next to flat and that would draw attention to the flat.

We didn't put panels on the side of the wall oven cabinet (it is right at the edge of a door molding so there really isn't room and it is just a spot you walk by so not very visible, fridge enclosure above the base cabinet or the exposed ends of one wall cabinet and the end of the base cabinets.

I put the smooth panels on most (including the refrigerator panels used to "build it in"). The only cabinets I put decorative door panels on were the peninsula ends & the back of the peninsula that has no seating.

The refrigerator is against a wall on one side & a run of base & upper cabinets on the other, so there is no need for them there.

I did not put them on the back of the peninsula w/seats nor did I put them on the sides of the upper cabinets. Originally these were postponed b/c of budget, but I like the "clean" look on the upper cabinets & I think the stools hide the back of the peninsula w/seating...so I don't think I'll be putting them on later after all. Interestingly, my KD said the same thing about the upper cabinets.

I have finished end panels everywhere. From the eating area you can see the end of the pantry/fridge run, the end of the island, and the end of an upper/lower cabinet run. It would have looked odd (to me) to do some and not all. I wanted the finished end, not the applied door, so I had to decide before they were built.

I took end panels out in order to reign in my budget.

Here's where I found the finished kitchen blog very helpful. I think I looked at every kitchen and found that 90% of them did not do end panels.

And, I had to realize that I could not name one kitchen that I had been in where I noticed if they had end panels or not. Of course, now going through this process, I'm much more aware of kitchen details, but on an on-going basis, it's not a detail I notice, so I didn't think it was worth the cost.

Thanks everyone! I'm thinking that as far as uppers, that a very small piece of molding along the bottom to help hide the lights will give it a finished look, and I will strategically do end panels on the bases where needed. I would like to do the side of the fridge, but I'm sure it will be pricey. Lascatx, if you check in again, would be interested in what sort of extra trim you added to finish your ends. In some areas I plan to use baseboard, which I will continue around to the side; perhaps that will be enough to finish it? Did you put trim all around your side or just top/bottom. Like you, I hesitate to put a panel that protrudes as much as a door, so I'd love to look into thinner trim that might give me the finished look I want. Thank you!

I had them make me a matching panel only for the DW at the end of the run. The alternative would have been a plywood end cap covered with beadboard, but as plywood can warp, and it was carrying the weight of the stone, I plunged for the raised panel with applied molding. I don't regret it, even though it is a seldom-seen feature. Everywhere else I installed matching beadboard (individual strips of molding, not veneered plywood)
Casey

I put (will put) finshed decorative panels on the sides of the island, but the only run end is beside the fridge and it will have a slab panel. The wall area next to the fridge will house a narrow (12" deep) cabinet with the TV above so I thought a "paneled" end panel would look odd since it will be partly covered .