Hmm. It looks nice.

I have a couple of (probably minor) concerns... At least from my own point of view, but feel free to ignore if you don't share them. I'm trying to pick this apart, not to be negative, but so you can think of every possible negative and adjust ahead of time if you want to.

- Will the fridge door open without conflicting with the oven handle?

- I don't think it'll fool anyone as to furniture vs built-in cabinetry, so unless you are really sold on the idea, I'm not sure I'd do the bump-out. I wouldn't have said anything about it, but as baking workspace, I think the variation in countertop and cabinet fronts might annoy me.

- 22" drawers are pretty modestly sized for that type of storage, but could work, depending on your specific needs. I'd map it out to scale (even life-size) and make sure it'll do what you want it to, and fit what you need. Remember that drawer insides are smaller than the cabinet.

- The doored cabinets flanking the center drawers are narrow... Do you have planned uses for those cabinets? I first thought they could be for tray storage, but then saw you have that above the oven. They make a nice break between the under-oven drawers and that section of cabinetry, so if you don't need them too much, or you have specific plans, they can work. If you are limited in storage and every inch is needed, I'd think about those some more. -- I left some cabinets like that in my island, because I thought the look was more important than what I'd gain by having drawers, but I ended up having my dh change them out for drawers later. Function was more important and the drawers look good anyway. :)

Thanks, Rhome. I welcome all your comments--honest feedback is why I'm here!
--I hear you about the bump out. The architect came up with that, I think as a way to add some interest to that big, rather boring wall. I don't expect to use that counter much for baking--I'll probably do that at the island--but I hadn't thought about feeling annoyed while trying to stand or do any kind of work there. I expect it will come into use mostly when we entertain in the dining room (which is only a few times a year). Something to think about it. . .
--I appreciate your comments on the drawers. Would it be better if I made one wider (30" or 32") bank of drawers in the center and then widened the side cabinets to to make up the difference? If the cabinets were wider, it would create much better storage. I'm just a little concerned about the center drawers getting too heavy (storing pyrex, corning ware, etc.). How wide is too wide for a drawer?
--Excellent point about the possible interference between the fridge and the wall oven. I'll have to ask the appliance people. If that is a problem, I could consider a left hinged single door.

Thanks so much. More to think about! I will also be posting a new drawing of the china cabinet on the opposite wall with the architects ideas.

I thought I'd remembered from previous posts that it would be your baking counter... Like for the mixer, etc. Although rolling and kneading and loading pans are done on our island, we use the mixer on the side counter, so I was envisioning your space that way. Sorry if that was wrong, which it sounds like it was.

My drawers in my baking center are something like 30-32". I keep my food processor and all its parts and pieces, including extra bowl, the mini food processor and parts, plus the extra mixer pieces in one drawer. The bottom drawer has cake pans, pie plates, etc. etc. So definitely a mixture of heavy and lighter things.

If you changed the center drawers to 32", you could have 22" drawers on each side to divide things into if you got concerned about weight. I think that 22"-32"-22" combo might be more useful than 16"-22"-22"-16", but think about what you have to go in those cabinets and see if you can determine what will work best.

My baking area drawers, in case it helps:

Seeing your photo helps me a lot-I think wider drawers are a must. As you said, I now need to think about what I would store in cabinets vs. drawers.

Despite dedicating space to "baking", I don't actually bake much! Mostly Stonewall Kitchen mixes, pies at the holidays and occasional cookies. But the baking stuff still consumes lots of my space : )

I am certainly not a kitchen design expert and still learning, but I wanted to give you some quick feedback on my personal experience with a double door refrigerator next to a wall oven... my fridge has dents. Unfortunately it seems inevitably every time we entertain, someone needs/wants to get into the fridge at the same time that I am pulling something out of or putting something into the oven. If the fridge door on the side of the oven is open too far then the two collide. I would consider a single door that has the hinge on the left if you have enough room for it to open. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

If you want to break up the look a little bit without affecting the functionality, I'd suggest bumping a few of the cabinets on top out deeper. So it could be a 13" in the middle flanked by a pair of 15" or a 15" in the middle flanked by shallower cabinets. Then you could leave the bottom ones all one depth.

Another idea is to make the center top cab shorter with an open shelf (could hold jars of goodies like salt, baking powder, cocoa, etc.) below, or a plate rack below. Or maybe even an area for cookbooks, if you are so inclined.

Here is a link that might be useful: Some ideas from when I was trying to design a baking center

Thanks for sharing your experience, Spartans. I can visualize that happening here. The good thing is that I liked the 36" SZ single door. I just need to be sure there will be enough room to open it comfortably.

Thanks for your thoughts, Laughable. I looked at your thread--love your style!

This forum is great--I could never get this type of advice anywhere else.