Kitchen Pantry Designs
Create, remodel, organize and use your pantry
Kitchen Pantry Storage Can Save You Money
How can your kitchen pantry storage save you money? Well, it all depends on how you use it…
Having pantry storage available allows you to buy food and other household essentials in bulk. If you have a large walk-in pantry you can take this to the limit and buy as much in bulk as possible, but if, like most of us, your pantry storage is limited in size, you’ll have to pick and choose what you buy in bulk. Take these factors into account:
- How much of this item do you use?
- How quickly will you use it up and free up the space?
- How much money will you save by buying in bulk, compared to the storage space used? $1 off on a 12-pack of toilet paper is not as good a use of storage space as $1 off a packet of spices.
- Will any of the bulk buy go bad before you can use it? This can wipe out any bulk buying savings.
More Ways A Pantry can Save Money
- You have a better chance of using the food before it goes bad if it’s in front of your face on a pantry shelf rather than stuffed in the back of a base cabinet because that’s the only space available. Less waste means less money spent.
- You can reduce the number of shopping strips you take – reducing time aqnd gas costs for the travel, but also reducing the opportunity for impulse buys at the supermarket.
- You can organize your coupons inside the pantry so you see them and use them when you see stocks getting low
- A pantry helps you cook from scratch instead of buying processed meals
- You can eat from the pantry instead of ordering out.
- You have plenty of storage space for home-processed foods (e.g. dried or canned) which are cheaper and better than industrial versions bought at the store
- The pantry provides storage space for equipment that saves you money: canner, dehydrator, vacuum bagger… and supplies for the equipment like jars and lids.
- Having food stored evens out price variations – if something spikes in price you can usually avoid buying it till it goes down again, and you can buy more when the price is low.
- You spend less on fancy kitchen cabinets – pantry storage space is often cheaper and is easy to build yourself.
- A large pantry can provide space for long term processes that can save you money – making your own vinegar, wine and beer; rising bread, or drying foods, for example.
Incoming search terms:
Pantry Designs Dos and Don’ts
Pantry designs are like most things – others have been there before you and made mistakes, and you can learn from them. Check out these do’s and don’t's before you go ahead with your pantry:
Do…
- allow for more shelf space than you will currently use. Once you have a pantry, you’ll find new uses for it and more things you need to store there!
- use simple fittings and fixtures which will improve storage access. Wire baskets running on rails under a shelf are a good example.
- critter-proof your pantry. Cover all ventilation openings with metal mesh which will keep out both insects and rodents.
- use your pantry! Don’t let the contents sit there unused, and make sure you go in there regularly.
- bulk buy when you see a great deal on something you eat normally – now you have somewhere to store it!
- transfer food from the bags or boxes it came from into better containers once you’ve opened the original container. Glass or plastic jars are often more airtight and critter or moistureproof than the original packaging.
- use overhead space for hanging items
- store heavy things where you can get at them easily: that means, on a shelf about hip level ideally. Or, don’t lift the heavy things at all – use a appliance lift, or move heavy bulk food into smaller containers.
Don’t…
- make all your shelves the same distance apart. You’ll need some shelves for large boxes with plenty of headspace, and others for very small things which can be close together.
- store newer food in front of older food. Tuck the new purchases in behind so that the older food gets used first
- keep things indefinitely. Unless something is intended for multi-year storage, like emergency food, if you haven’t used it in a year then maybe you never will, and you should get rid of it and use the space for something more yummy.
- use your pantry as catchall storage space. Once the detritus of baseball bats, old plastic shopping bags, hats and shoes builds up in front of the food, you won’t be able to use your pantry properly as a pantry.
- close off ventilation completely – stored food needs some air and heat transfer.
- waste the door space – if you have a solid door you can hang racks, shelves, clipboards, chalkboard etc on it
- waste wall space where there’s no room for shelves – pegboard with hooks, hooks in the wall, spice racks, or pot lid racks may fit.
- make all your shelves the same depth, front to back. Higher shelves should be narrower so you can see what’s on them.
Incoming search terms:
Troubleshooting Pantry Ideas: When Pantry Designs Go Wrong
Food packages are “double parked” on the shelves, with things stuffed behind or on front of other things, so you can’t see the ones in back.
How to fix:
- use shallower shelves that only take one item deep
- space shelves closer together vertically so you can fit in more shelves and have more shelf space
- use wire organizers to double-deck your shelves
- continue to double park but only put identical items behind each other
You can’t walk in to your walk in pantry because there’s so much stuff on the floor!
How to fix:
- Pull out anything that shouldn’t be in the pantry at all, and store elsewhere
- Add bins to the pantry for bulk foods which come in large sacks, if that’s what is blocking the floor
- Move small packets from large bulk boxes and store on shelves or in baskets
- Add a rolling cart, store the floor stuff on that, and move it out when you want to go in the pantry
Shelves are sticky or dusty
How to fix:
first clean them, then…
- Place drippy containers on a tray or saucer which can be easily removed or cleaned
- Screen oprnings to stop house dust getting in, and weather strip doors
- Make sure ceiling is clean and not dropping dust
- If you have wire sheves and spliis migrate downwards, line them with plastic, hardboard, wood, even cardboard.
Lighting is too dim to see what you’ve got.
How to fix:
- Install a higher wattage bulb (if your fixture supports it)
- Install a new double-bulb fixture
- Install a track fixture which allws you to direct light in several directions
Your pull-out pantry sticks and won’t pull out
How to fix:
- If food packages are jamming the operation of your pull-out, pull it out a little way and use something which will fit through the gap (coat hanger wire, chopstick, knitting needle, etc.) to reach in, find the obstruction, and un-hook it. Then de-clutter the shelves so there’s not so much stuffed into them.
- If the mechanism itself is jammed, WD40 in strategic locations may help. Once you’ve got it out, remove all the contents and check for rollers not on their tracks, obstructions in the tracks, or the cabinet or mechanism itself being out of square or not level. If something is broken, check your warranty or call the installer to get it fixed.
Food gets lost in the back of the pantry, goes out of date and has to be thrown away
How to fix:
- Rotate duplicate food packages: e.g. when you buy more jars of pasta sauce before finishing all the old ones, put the new ones in the back and pull the old ones to the front
- Use a clipboard and list to check items in and out, noting the date bought and the use-by date.
7. There isn’t enough space for all the items you want to store
How to fix:
- Pull out anything that shouldn’t be in the pantry at all, and store elsewhere
- Use the fixes listed above under “double parking” to increase the shelf space available.
- Use a rolling cart to add storage space and pull it out when you need to walk into the pantry
8. Tiny packets fall through cracks in wire shelving
How to fix:
- Store the small packets in baskets, bins or boxes
- Add a rack on the door to hold small items
- Line the wire shelves with something solid like plastic, masonite, or thin plywood.
The best pantry designs in the world won’t help much if you don’t use the pantry in an organized way, or if you have more to store in there than can fit.
Pantry Shelving
Pantry shelving doesn’t need to be as pretty as that in the main kitchen, but it does need to be strong, durable, easy to clean, and safe to use. It also needs to be reachable by everyone who will use it, even if that means access by ladder or step-stool.
There are a number of different options to consider for the shelves themselves and the support brackets. You can also use free-standing shelf units if your space lends itself to that, althouigh any kind of odd-shaped pantry will do better with built-in shelves to make the most of the space.
Shelves
Solid wood or plywood, painted or varnished. Thickness requirement depends on how far apart your brackets will be: this information is readily available for bookshelves, which carry a lot of weight, so unless you are planning to store huge heavy cases or glass carboys on your shelves you can probably use those figures. Edge banding may be needed for plywood to cover voids and pretty it up: you may also choose to edge shelves with a strip which does double duty as extra support and an edge finish.
Here’s a tool for calculating the amount of sag in wood shelves given the type of wood, thickness, span, and load. You can use it to decide how thick your shelves need to be to carry the required load.
Melamine-coated MDF or particleboard. This is the white plastic coated shelving available at most home centres or lumberyards, and while it is crisp looking and easy to clean it’s neither strong nor hardwearing in the long term. The commonly-available kind is only 1/2″ thick: if you can find a thicker type, that would be a good thing. You’ll need closer bracket spacing than for solid wood of the same thickness.
Wire, chrome plated or plastic coated. These shelves are similar to (or even the same as) those used in closet systems, so you’ll have a variety of shapes and accessories to pick from. Chrome plated wire can come as restaurant-style shelves or racks, and be very stylish.
The plastic coated wire types are often not made to carry heavy loads – sweaters are a lot lighter than cans of food! – so increase the number of supports or plan to store light items only. Supports are made to fit a specific shelf system. There are pantry-specific wire shelf systems which have closer wire spacing than closet shelves, which reduces the problem of small items falling over (or even right through the gaps!). Spills can also pass through the gaps and a spill on the top shelf may extend itself all the way to the floor, making a mess on every shelf on the way down. This can be solved by using shelf liners or clear sheets of plexiglass, which has the advantage that you can still see through the shelf from underneath to find high items. Plexiglass liners are expensive, though.
Occasionally you will see people recommend glass shelves in the pantry. While the occasional decorative glass shelf may be OK, for regular food storage you would need very thick, well supported glass shelves which would be much more expensive than wood.
Supports and Brackets
All supports and brackets require very solid fixings into the wall structure – that means framing studs, posts or beans, never drywall or other weak paneling. Drywall anchors are not strong enough to do this job!
Some support systems come with a horizontal bar which is attached to multiple studs, then the vertical tracks which hold the brackets are hung from the horizontal bar. This makes it easy to screw into studs. Vertical support tracks alone, and individual brackets, need to land right on studs to take the weight of food-laden shelves.
Metal track and bracket systems are very good for creating adjustable shelf systems and are available everywhere in several different grades of strength and sizes. Realistically though, adjustable shelf systems seldom get adjusted after they are first set up! You can use these systems with wood or particleboard shelves.
Wood brackets are much larger than metal but this can be a plus point as they can also be decoratively shaped and look very charming. Once they are attached to the wall you aren’t going to want to move them, so they are not very adjustable.
Single metal brackets come as basic utility brackets (which blend with the wall if you paint over them) or decorative brackets in curly, swoopy or streamlined shapes. They all need to be attached direct to studs.
Alternatives to brackets
If you don’t want to or can’t attach things directly to the wall, or there’s no framing to screw into, what can you do? You can hang things from the ceiling or support them off the floor.
Ceiling support involves hanging ropes, chains, or metal rods from a very strong ceiling attachment point (preferably THROUGH a beam or joist, not just screwed into it), and then supporting the shelves from them using nuts and washers or crossbars. Rope and chain systems tend to be rather flexible, but rods can be quite rigid.
Floor support can involve rods or posts which extend from floor to ceiling. Better systems attach directly to the floor and ceiling using screws, but expansion rods which hold in place by spring pressure also exist. I would not want to rely on these for holding heavy food items.
Freestanding shelf units
If your room or pantry space is fairly straighforward and regular in shape, simple shelf units in wood, metal or plastic can work very well. There are many utility systems intended for basements and garages which can also do sterling service in the pantry.
Movable shelves
Rolling carts in metal, wood or plastic can be used as storage in the pantry which can move out to the kitchen or dining room at a moment’s notice. These can even be used to entirely fill the floor space in a step-in or closet pantry if you are really short on space: you’ll have to move the cart every time you want to get at the other shelves, but this may be an acceptable trade-off to get the extra storage space.
Your options in pantry shelving are quite wide, and your decision depends on what you need from your pantry in the way of looks and function, and also on your budget.
Incoming search terms:
Pantry Ideas for Your Kitchen
If you’re thinking about including a pantry in your new or remodeled kitchen, you’re not alone. While pantries were out of fashion for many years, lately their usefulness has been rediscovered and pantry ideas are in all the shelter magazines.
Finding Space for a Pantry
If you don’t already have a pantry, and you want one, the first question is probably where to put it. First, let’s think about possible locations for a walk-in pantry:
- Steal space from a closet that backs on to your kitchen, and add a door from the kitchen
- Stack the washer and dryer to make space in a laundry room
- Shrink your breakfast area or dining room into a nook or eating bar and use the rest as a pantry
- Construct a bump-out from the kitchen or other service room
- Use part of a mud room
- Build a small room for the pantry in a corner of the garage near a door to the kitchen
- Use part of a spare bedroom closet
- Build one in a corner of the kitchen or eating area, either alone or integrated into a run of cabinets
- Use part of the basement
“Walk-in” in pantry terms doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be able to walk in and walk around: it can mean that you step through the door and are surrounded by storage, all within arms reach: more of a “step-in” pantry.
If you absolutely have no room for a walk-in pantry, then a pantry cabinet is probably the solution for you. There are many designs or swing-out, fold-out or pull-out pantries made to fit in full-height cabinets, base cabinets or wall cabinets, from large to small.
Inside Your Pantry
Inside your pantry, once you’ve found the space, you have a long list of choices for the storage structures you choose to build. Many of them depend on the type of things you want to store in the pantry.
Shelves – narrow so you don’t lose things at the back, easily cleanable, labelable if you want to have specific areas of your pantry for specific types of goods. The vertical space between shelves can be customized to the height of your stored objects. Adjustable shelving is a great idea if you think you’ll change your mind about heights, but in reality most people find that they never change their adjustable shelves once they’ve initially been set up.
Baskets – these can be hung under shelves, stacked on shelves, placed or stacked on the floor, racked up in rolling carts, and made of natural materials like wicker or seagrass, or of wire (chrome or plastic coated). Plastic baskets are also available, and cheap, but they tend not to last very long unless they are seriously heavy duty.
Bins – made of metal, wood or plastic, with or without lids, stackable, with open, glass or solid fronts or lids, placed on shelves, the floor, or in drawers.
Drawers: can be solid or open (wire); wood, plastic, basketry or metal; compartmented or otherwise organized or subdivided inside; large and deep or small and shallow, with or without label holders, full extension, or removable to carry to a work area.
Hooks – to hold bags, aprons, clipboards, strings of onions or garlic, etc
Barrels, clean garbage bins, or sacks for holding seriously large quantities of bulk foods
Racks on walls or the inside of door(s) can hold smaller packages, pots and pans, kitchen utensils, etc. Pegboard racks are especially useful for walls or spaces where you can’t stick out into the room much and so don’t have space for shelves. A plate rail at the top of the wall can decorate your pantry while storing extra plates or platters.
You might also consider including these other items in your pantry:
- Lighting on an automatic switch which goes off when the door closes
- Yellow sticky cards to warn of insect infestation
- Small appliances and gadgets (for example a can opener, lid gripper)
- A notepad and pen for lists – perhaps on the door or wall outside the pantry, or right by the door inside: maybe on a clipboard
- Labels and a pen or pencil for noting dates on foods, and labeling containers
- A basket for carrying things back and forth to other storage areas or the main kitchen
- Spare empty containers
- Scissors and a knife for opening recalcitrant packaging
Safety in the Pantry
If you live in an earthquake zone, your pantry ideas should take that into acount. Breakables need to be held in place, and heavy items like canned goods should be stored so that they can’t fall, break other things, block the door closed, or hurt people.
Your pantry contents would be part of your emergency food supply if an earthquake happened, so you want them to be in usable condition and accessible.
What to Keep in Your Pantry
- bulk foods
- home canned foods
- home dried foods
- pet foods
- people foods
- soft drinks
- emergency supplies – water, candles, flashlights, matches,
More Pantry Ideas
- Paint the inside bright white with semi-gloss or gloss paint so you can wash it down and keep it clean
- use a smooth, easy-clean flooring such as sheet vinyl so spilled food can’t hide in cracks
- caulk all gaps so insects can’t get inside
- make it rodent-proof
- use a solid door and hang racks on the inside, clipboard with lists and notes on the outside, or paint with chalkboard paint.
- use a glass door and leave a LED light on inside to look decorative, especially frosted glass with patterns on or the word “pantry”
- If you have too many doors leading off the kitchen, disguise the door so it blends into the wall