We've had two motion detectors in our laundry area in the basement and both have stopped working after about a year or so of use. I don't know why, I just know that the last one stopped working at night when I had no light at all in the laundry area and boy was I irritated! I had to go upstairs to get a flashlight and then get on a chair to take the motion activation insert out of the socket & replace it w/a bulb b/f I could get any light in the area! I hope the door-activated idea works for you. Right now I plan to have a regular switch...we haven't had problems in the past w/the pantry light being left on so I doubt it will start to be a problem now. If the door activated switch dies, is there an easy way to convert it to a regular switch and/or get to it to fix or replace it?

Since I read and worked on this thread years ago, I've lived with a new pantry closet that is now overstuffed. Things I never expected to store in this pantry but which are now resident there: table leaves and pads [dining table leaves used to live under a bed; leaves are now slid into padded pajamas and then into a built-in wooden sleeve on one side of pantry but new pads--needed since our dog is no longer trustworthy--are stored willy nilly, if I take them off my table]; second set of leaves for kitchen table, also stored willy nilly at back of closet. dog food bin; dog pills, etc [I have an underslung add-on for the wire shelving that holds the dog meds] extension cords, including my wind-up outdoor cord folding two-step ladder stool with support hoop at top, replacing smaller folding step [hey, I'm old now] two dehydrators [no longer operate them inside closet--humidity problem] ironing board and iron [holder is mounted on wall] booze, beer--okay, so we are retired and recreationally we try exotic stuff that isn't in everyday use, but we don't want to truck it to the basement for some reason or other, so it ends up here, esp. a tote bag of speciality rums and DH's collection of Scotch in fancy boxes specialty foods and beverages for my [new] digestive condition [anyone else buying ginger products, wheatless crackers, no-fructose beverages, tinned meats in bulk?] canning jars in boxes, for jelly making paper bags offseason tins for holiday baking [yes, I have too many but they're cute and it's hard to find Scandinavian theme ones when you need them] two large Ikea trays for toting stuff to and from deck, etc. that don't fit into my kitchen vertical storage cabinet offseason storage of materials associated with offset deck umbrella offseason storage of some summer deck stuff attachments caddy for vacuum cleaner; I always knew we'd store a vacuum in the closet but who knew the new model would have so much stuff associated with it? new, larger crock pot (oval) as well as old crock pot food mill [hangs on a hook]; mandoline; sausage making equipment and supplies more than one thermos bottle [well, actually four thermoses on average, they come and they go] broom holder [is mounted on the inside of the door--holds regular broom, faux mop, and stiff broom; waste pans clip to the brooms] We mounted a light on the inside of the door wall, shining into the closet. We had to install a vent at top of the closet [feeds into stairwell] to allow air passage. There is a cold air return at bottom of closet wall. Door of the closet is louvered for air passage. All are necessary. Don't neglect air passage in a place that has potatoes, onions, stinky brooms and dog food! --Florantha

Definitely walk in if you have the space in your floorplan (especially for new construction). With the walkin or reduced depth pantries with doors everything is visible and you can plan space for brooms, infrequently used appliances, and bulk storage. Walkin pantries have standard household doors which will last for decades. Downsides of pullouts are that they can move abruptly, which can cause items to shift or tip over. They are also are more fragile since the glides bear a lot of weight even with reinforcement. I can certainly imagine restless kids or grandkids slamming the pullout pantry closed or trying to climb up the shelves like a ladder.

pal - thank you, love those. Paired inswing is a nice compromise. Sivalleysteph - that is gorgeous, I'd like very much to see more pictures of the interior, if you have any. Will you please weigh in on ventilation and aisle space when the door is open? Jennifer - lots of discussion on ventilation on other pantry threads. If the door swings in (or you have pocket doors which can stay open), then you can keep them open (as long as you don't have a light switch which goes on, when the door opens).