PANTRY IDEAS
Pro: Storage is more accessible. Having your pantry smack dab in the middle of your kitchen will cut down on the time you spend walking to and from your pantry. Placing it next to your refrigerator and across from your range will create hyperefficient workstations. Inside features can also increase your cabinet pantry’s accessibility. Pullout drawers, for instance, allow you to see every snack and ingredient at once, which reduces the amount of time you’ll spend rummaging. They’re easy on your back too.
Cabinet Pantries Pro: Storage space is more centralized. Whereas walk-in pantries feature several walls of shelves, cabinet pantries confine all of your snacks, ingredients and small appliances to a single space. You don’t have to spend time searching through several walls of shelves to find what you need. Less time looking means more time cooking.
Pro: They can store bigger appliances with ease. Cabinet pantries can house toasters, coffee makers and mixers too, but it’s usually at the expense of valuable storage space. Walk-in pantries can comfortably fit larger appliances like microwaves, slow cookers, juicers and deep fryers, freeing up kitchen counter space and ensuring they’re ready to grab when you need them. Some pantries may even have enough space for a second refrigerator.
Pro: They can be better organized. Cabinet pantries aren’t inefficient by any means, but walk-in pantries let you get a little more creative with your organization techniques. You can sort your items by row or column, by food group and so on. Consider dedicating a column of shelves to nonrefrigerated fruits and veggies or your most-used oils and spices. You may even have room to house your baking sheets with built-in tray dividers.
Walk-In Pantries Pro: They have more storage capacity. Walk-in pantries are a home chef’s best friend. They take the cake when it comes to sheer volume of storage space. With multiple walls of floor-to-ceiling shelves, they’re big enough to store dozens of ingredients, cookbooks, snacks, pots, pans, medium to large cooking appliances and more.
In a Door This fun final idea isn’t commonly seen, but it certainly adds a unique twist to a home and makes smart use of space too. Instead of a typical door, a deeper door with built-in shelving steals a little extra storage from a completely unexpected place and disguises a hidden passage to a top-secret room for a little sense of intrigue.
For a simpler solution, a standard shelf cabinet will provide lots of storage, especially for bulky pieces like small kitchen appliances or seasonal serveware, which aren’t accessed as often. Moving these out of the main kitchen cabinets will give you more room for small pantry goods right in the main space.
So often the cavity under a staircase goes unused, and with its odd shape it can be hard to access. Slim and tall pull-out drawers allow you to access the storage without having to crouch and root around inside a crawl space. This sort of storage works for small containers, so a pantry is a natural fit.
In the Laundry Room A dream laundry room is big and breezy enough to have ample space to work in and alleviate some of the drudgery of washing and folding with a little natural light or fresh air. However, even the most covetable laundry rooms only need so much storage for laundry supplies. Double up on functionality by adding pantry storage. It makes for a good use of space and gives you a great excuse to make your laundry room bigger than the bare minimum.
Rather than adding an actual cabinet, you can convert a closet into a pantry by adding a variety of shelves or drawers to allow for storage of smaller items. Baskets are useful for storing some items, but for frequently accessed goods and tools, investing in a few proper drawers will give better functionality.
. Pantry with rollouts. For pantry cabinets wider than 15 inches, I prefer rollouts. That means you’re pulling out only the shelf you need, not the whole pantry. Also, consider the projection of the hardware of any cabinet next to the wall. Make the filler (a matching strip of wood that fills the gap between the cabinet and wall) at least 1½ inches wide to keep the hardware from hitting the wall and possibly restricting the usability of a cabinet with a rollout.
Last But Not Least: Regularly Scheduled Maintenance Make mini clear-outs part of your routine. While planning what to have for dinner in the week ahead, it’s natural to take a peek in the pantry to check if you have the necessary ingredients. Take advantage of this by using the time to do a quick clearing out of used-up and stale items, and to straighten up the shelves.
now when to decant (and when to let it go). Smart items to decant include ingredients bought in the bulk bins, as well as items that you want to keep fresh for longer. And if you have problems with pests like ants or moths, it’s safest to keep pantry staples like sugar and flour in airtight jars. But decanting just for looks? Do it if you like to. Otherwise, keep things simple and save your energy.
Nicholson Builders Save Email Put walls to work with vertical storage. The one-deep rule for spice storage works well for other items too: Give it a try on a blank pantry wall where there isn’t enough room for standard-depth shelves. Frequently used items (like olive oil, favorite seasonings and broths) are good bets for storing on wall shelves like the ones shown here.
ArchiBlox Save Email User-Friendly Organizing Corral snacks and ingredients with easy-to-grab bins. Avoid toppling piles and make finding what you need easier by gathering frequently used items in easy-to-grab bins. The bins don’t need to be fancy, but they should be lightweight and easy to clean in case of spills (plastic works well).
Smart Sorting Divide and conquer with categories. Keeping snacks and ingredients organized by category is such a big help in the pantry; if this is the only change you make, you’ll still get big benefits. Designate a shelf (or portion of a shelf) to each category, and you’ll be able to find what you need faster. It’s as simple as that. The following categories are a good place to start, but sort in a way that makes sense for how you use your pantry: Dried pasta, rice and grains Oils and vinegars Canned goods Baking and sweet ingredients Savory ingredients and spices Children’s snacks and lunchbox items Coffee and teas
Pro: They don’t take up a lot of space. Cabinet pantries are on the smaller side compared with walk-in pantries, which require a large footprint. Most measure 24 to 36 inches wide. They’re an efficient storage solution for small or medium-size kitchens, providing a little extra shelf and drawer space without giving up too much in return.
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