Fordman,
Like you, I would always recommend a quick walk of the coach interior by putting out say, the dinette slide about a foot. I have pushed off the fascia on nearly every coach I've owned by one of us forgetting to walk the interior first.
Fortunately, with my new demo coach, the Key Largo now has the 84" sofa. This long of a sofa doesn't really allow us to store anything next to. So this means the end of the coach should remain free of trapped items behind the slide fascia.
Now, the front end of the kitchen slide is another matter. If the pantry doors pop open just a bit, the knobs will munch the foam fascia really good. We to use elastic hair ties around the knobs for travel.
As for the barrel cabinets, this is the first coach where I have not had them removed. So we are trying them out. This coach has 2 of them, one on each end of the island. I have spices stored in one and light items stored in the other. Hoping the stock latches hold with this minimal loading. That said, I miss not being able to place my trash can under the end of the counter top where that front barrel is. When we get home, we'll try to find a plastic trash can that fits in the cabinet under the sink.
Jim