I don't know how close this is, but I HATE this stuff. Everything leans and not much sits flat. Then mine has the downward supports that the shelf sits on, so I lose space there as well. One good thing is that you can hang more wire baskets from them, but that too takes up tall space.

There are mats that you can buy and those were an improvement, however, if you put something heavy on one end it kind of rattles the mat and everything falls over, especially if you're using it for small stuff that would fall through or tip, like extracts and such. Daily...I want to remove mine. Only one thing I can think of that is nice....dirt falls through. That's it...no other redeeming qualities. Stacking cans and such is a joke, because it's too tippy. I'd stear clear of them.

Annellis,

Thanks for the reply.

Closetmaid makes a pantry model that has narrower 5/8" spaces vs the 1" spaces for the closet or linen shelves. I didn't think of the brackets interfering w/ storage space, as they are fairly large.

Mmmm... I'd almost take a few things with you if you're still considering it...have someone hold up a shelf and see how tippy things would be on them. Personally, I wouldn't buy them.

As far as the brackets, I have to straddle cereal boxes around them or anything high. The lowest shelf, towards the floor, limits big stuff on the floor that I can put there as well, as I have to straddle the bracket. Since I have big dog food bins, it's rather difficult. I loose a lot of space.

Personally I think you'd be better off buying laminate shelving and installing that.

Annellis,

You sound rather adamant about the shortcomings of the system, which I appreciate your opinion.

Is yours the Closetmaid Shelf Track system, which uses a 3" metal bar the spans the top of the pantry & vertical metal standards are attached to it & the wall, then the shelf brackets are attached to the standards

You'll have the "brackets" problem no matter what other components make up the design--vertical standards, 3" metal bar that spans the top, or brackets screwed directly to the wall--and EVEN if you use laminate shelves.

I have that "straddle the brackets" problem on the plywood bookshelves and toy shelves we've installed in 3 spots in our house. (they don't have that 3" metal bar, but they have vertical metal standard screwed directly to the wall; It's my impression that *my* standards are shallower than the ones that are designed to slip over the 3" metal bar; my standards jut out from the wall only about3/4").

Never again w/ the brackets in the kids' rooms. I end up w/ lots of headroom because I have to leave room for the bracket itself to fit over the box on the shelf, and then stuff just gets stuffed into the headroom space, which makes it hard to take stuff out and messy looking.

I have the same problem for the books w/ books being laid on their sides on top of the row of books; what I want to do there is to make a "fake book" (cover a short block of foam w/ wallpaper, or something) to slide into the spot under the bracket and hold the books up); then I can space the shelves much more closely so there's no headroom to put anything up there.

THAT SAID, you'll have to "straddle" SOME sort of shelf support. You could have solid sides (like bookcases), which would eliminate the brackets, but then you'd have the maneuver around the sides of the entire shelf, and you can't slide stuff from one section of shelf to the other, and you CAN'T straddle the bracket.

Most pantries are just too wide to have shelves w/ no center support. You can apply a brace to stiffen the front edge of the shelf, but it'll need to be about 1.5 or 2 inches wide, so that'll cut into your maneuverability, too.

The one advantage I see to the kind like you describe, w/ the metal bar across the top that the standards hang from, is that you can reposition the standards. You can say, "wow, that bracket is in the way; I'll slide it over to the left to it's RIGHT at the end of the shelves, and then it'll bother me less."

gsjazz1, you sound sort of determined to buy these; I think you should follow Ann's suggestion to take some pantry goods to the store, and set them on a stretch of shelving.

Take cans, boxes, cereal stuff, the vanilla bottle, spice bottles, etc. See how it works.

I agree w/ you that the 5/8" ought to work better than the 1", but I can see that even the 5" might be awkward. If you really want to be sure, try it out.