Why not consider something like Metro Shelving (or one of the many other brands of similar shelving). This is the heavy wire shelving used in many commercial kitchens. It's available in numerous sizes, many different finishes, you can configure the shelves to suit your needs, there are tons of optional specialty storage accessories available, and it'll save you a bundle over the cost of custom shelving built-ins. I initially put Metro in my walk-in pantry as a temporary solution until I figured out what I really wanted. I liked it so well, I kept it and just modified some of the configuration and added some accessories. I keep groups of things that I'm likely to use at the same time in pull-out plastic baskets. Baking supplies, for instance, are kept in one basket that I just lift out and bring to my work area when I'm baking. The same for other similar groups of items. Works great. If you have one of those "storage container" stores or a restaurant supply store in your area, they usually have a good selection of sizes and accessories. If you don't like the wire shelves, you can get clear plastic liners that fit on top of each shelf, giving you a nice smooth surface. Also, if you shop around on line, you can often save even more. Quite a few places discount quite heavily. Here is a link that might be useful: Metro Shelving

I'm wondering what different people here mean by "wire shelving." The comments about it being "cheaper" suggests folks are talking about something different that what I think of for "wire shelving." Mine are several hundred dollars a bay, which is certainly not "cheap", or "cheaper than wood." I suspect people who don't like them have some sort of low-quality shelving, like I've seen for sale in a hardware store around here. I have "Metro" shelving, and it's great. "Cleaning" isn't an issue--it stays clean with having to do any cleaning*. It is rare for there to be a problem with things falling over. Light comes through the shelves, which makes it much easier to see what is there than if they were solid. (I note that I run a lot of it quite close together--like one 14-oz. can high, so that I can pack of lot of stuff in not very much space.) I've attached a link to the kind of shelving I have, except that I have about 8 shelves in the same space as their illustration shows 4 shelves. * Regarding cleaning: I've done some work in a Class 10 cleanroom, and all the shelving there was exactly the same stuff (though the stainless steel version rather than the chrome version, because all the metal in the cleanroom is required to be stainless steel). It's there because it's the cleanest shelving available. To give you some idea of what is expected there, people have to be in bunny suits, wear gloves, and go through and air shower before entering. Here is a link that might be useful: Metro shelving

sayde, that's an interesting thought about deepening and extending a few of the shelves on the back wall. I had also considered a small wall hung cabinet similar to my spice cabinet beside my stove. rhome, no the shelves wouldn't protrude into the doorway. It's hard to tell from the photos I posted, but 5 inch shelves would just be flush with the left side of the door opening. I might think about some kind of upward lip on the shallow shelves to ensure things don't fall off. And yes, the shallow shelves would make the back shelves 29" (the 5" would still be there, it would just be blind). The doorway into the pantry is 30" wide, and the buffet on the right is shallower than the doorway by 10", so with my 5" shelves on the left, I'd still have 40" of width in which to navigate. That sounds like plenty to me, but I guess I don't know until I see it. The back shelves are 12" deep now. They work great for some things like the toaster oven and boxes of cereal, but I'm not crazy about how they work for canned goods when I only have one or two of something. If I have a dozen cans of the same thing, they're great because I know that all the cans front to back are the same thing. I keep wishing for more shelf frontage. I keep all the things I use frequently on the shelves I can reach easily, and extra inventory or ingredients I use less on the high shelves. The top shelf I've reserved for my vintage enameled fish poacher. Not my most practical purchase ever, but I like seeing it there.

I am just now reading all these amazing comments. We were going to sell our 5 bedroom house and build a “smaller” 2B2B barndominium, but plans changed due to my dad getting sick and not wanting us to move away from me. So we have decided to renovate what we have and incorporate the things I wanted into this house but I have no clue where to start. This house had NO storage. We have extra rooms I want to make one a butlers pantry that connects to my kitchen and the other I want to make a master closet. Any ideas would be appreciated