Wow, that depends on how you store/buy food and what you plan to put in the pantry. Are you a Cosco shopper or prefer to buy in bulk, or do you eat out a lot and the pantry is for a few staples? How many people in the household? Size of the rest of the kitchen? Are you using the pantry to store (say) baking equipment? Just a few of the things to consider. :)

Hey Rubyfig-

2 people and a Dog that eats like a person :-)

We do shop at Costco but we usually by meats and perishables, not much dry food. We don't keep a ton of dry food on hand now, mainly because my current food storage area is limited to one shelf in a upper cabinet, 4x1.

The Pantry will only be for dry food, no storage of kitchen gadgets.

The kitchen is 16 x 14.

Can you take a measurement of the cabinets you are currently using to store food and then determine the approx sq footage you would need? We sort of did that to see if our pantry would be large enough, though we really didn't have much choice. Do you use your pantry to store things other than food like paper products, appliances (blenders, coffeemaker, etc), large platters and bowls you use occasionally or is it strictly for food? Our pantry is a built in cabinet that is 36" wide x 96" high x 24" deep. It has doors 3/4 of the way up with roll out shelves and that is the area where we keep all of our food (for 4 people) such as pasta, bread, cereal, canned good, paper plates, cups, napkins, some baking goods (I have a set of canisters on the counters but keep extra bags of flour sugar in there), mixes, chips, and all of the other dry goods and canned goods we use frequently. The top 1/4 of the cupboard holds my large tupperware items like my cake holder, other baking items like my bundt pans and other cake pans, plus some platters, trays and other oddly shaped items. It also keeps all of our vitamins and meds for easy access. I have two smaller cupboards on either side of my range hood where I keep all of my spices (baking on one side and cooking spices on the other) so they don't take up room in the pantry.

I really like the roll out shelves, even though you do lose some space because of them. With a 24" deep cabinet it really helps to be able to pull them out to access items in the back of the cabinet and to put items away after shopping.

HTH

Kat :)

Cabinet.

Something similar to the link below. It will be next to my fridge. I'm going to have a pull out spice rack next to the cook top, so spices will not be stored in the pantry.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pantry

You know, this is how I figured it out: I listed everything I wanted to keep in the cabinet(s) and then drew them to scale (not every can, mind you, but the general place I would keep everything). This sounds obsessive, but it also meant that when the cabinets were in, all I had to do was put stuff away :).

The main part of my pantry has 2x 90"tallx12"deepx18"wide cabinets, but the dog food is kept elsewhere.

Your current storage (if I did this right) is 4 linear feet, your new proposed 3x2 would give you 6 feet. Is 2 extra feet enough?

By "built-in", I meant will it be a walk- or step-in pantry vs a pantry cabinet. I prefer a walk- or step-in pantry...you can use the entire floor-to-ceiling space and you can have as many or as few shelves as you want and placed wherever you want. However, I do think 24" is too deep for pantry shelves...things get lost in the back. [That's one reason why pantry cabinets really have to have pull out shelves, preferably full-extension...doesn't help too much for the upper shelves, though. So, full height pullouts are probably better in the long run...and those work better if they're narrower...no more than 36" and probably narrower would be even better.]

"3x2?" Does that mean full height (like the picture), three feet wide, two feet deep? Or does it really mean three feet wide and two feet high?

As others have said, it depends on what you have to store. The first sounds possible, the second sounds less so.

If you have two places it could be, would two pantries work for you? One for dry foods, the other for papergoods, etc., or whatever? Just curious...

I spent the better part of a year cooking up a storm in a tiny kitchen abroad. It had one of those small euro style fridges, a double gas ring set on a tea cart, three small lower cabinets with a marble top and sink, and a few shelves. There must have been a drawer, but I don't remember. Cleaning supplies went under the sink. Dishes went in one cupboard and bottles and cans went in the other. Pots went on the teacart under the gas ring, and spices and staples went on the shelves. We had a dishdrainer next to the sink, and a few canisters and a utensil holder on the other side.

But we didn't have much. Not many pots. Not many dishes. Only a couple of containers. A two quart pot and a wooden spoon served as a mixer for baking. The same pot was our company salad bowl. We shopped constantly, and there was a store on the corner for pick-up items. And we still sometimes ran out of bread, milk or eggs on weekends.

If you have a pantry you can keep a couple cans of milk for baking, a box of crackers for if you run out of bread, etc. Only you know how big that pantry has to be, however.

Unlike Buehl, I don't like small walk-in/step-in pantries, because I can't make them hold enough stuff. I got rid of mine. Instead, I'm putting in 6 feet of full depth butler's pantry for dishes, trays, etc., with 7' of one deep stemware, and glasses storage, 2 large, full height pantry cabinets, each 29.5" across by 18" deep, more than 5' of full height, 18" deep storage in the laundry room, plus several other cupboards throughout the kitchen that could be construed as "pantry".

But, then, I don't have other storage. This is it. All papergoods, food items, service ware, appliances, etc., including seasonal and little used things, all have to go in the kitchen.

Wow. Great responses! Thanks!

lesmis, The current food storage area is the *only* the bottom shelf of a upper cabinet. I measured 4 x 1. The new pantry would be 3x2 but floor to ceiling. The pantry will only be for food. Thanks for detailing what your pantry holds! I am looking at the same dimensions for the pantry in question.

Rubyfig, Great idea to list and draw everything. How many people are in your family? Is the pantry your only food storage area?

Buehl, I would die for a walk in or step in pantry! Sadly, I don't think it's going to be possible given the restrictions of my very odd space. I'm asking the Architect how much it would cost to bump out a section in the back of the kitchen to make the pantry at least step in. I have a feeling we are not going to like the number, considering our budget just keeps growing! I'm not a huge fan of the full height pull outs, I would prefer to have large pull out shelves *full extension*.

To clarify the pantry in question will be 3 feet wide x 2 feet deep x full height approx 9ft.

I currently have a pantry that is 4 feet wide and full depth and height. I HATE it! It does not have a good organizing system in it (which makes a huge difference) but what I find is that things get lost and I tend to have too much stuff. My old kitchen had a pantry the same width but only 1 foot deep and it was great. I could see and organize everything, even the stuff in the top part.

My new kitchen will have a pull-out pantry that is only 15 inches wide and about 6 feet high and I look forward to having a more concise and well organized area. The only thing that makes this workable is all of the extra cabinets the new layout will give me. The pantry will likely only be home to things the kids need regularly (e.g. cereal boxes, lunch box snacks, etc.) Dry goods used for cooking (e.g. pasta, hamburger helper, oils etc.) will be in the upper cabinets near the prep and cooking areas.

So the answer to your question is - it depends on where else you can store what you need and how close your pantry is to your main prep area. I think it would be plenty if it is in a reasonably sized kitchen and doesn't have to hold everything but the kitchen sink (LOL! - couldn't resist the pun)

I have a family of 7, and 3 pantry areas: a 30" wide x 24" deep x 88" high unit, a 15" wide x 24" deep x 88" high tower pullout, and a 36" drawer base. Plus I keep my spices in an 18" shallow drawer, so maybe that makes 4 pantry areas. It is plenty of pantry space for our us, and I shop at warehouse clubs for our family and entertain frequently. I love having my pantry space broken up-- I keep things I need to grab during meal prep or everyday baking in the tower pantry (which is in my prep area) and stuff I less urgently need and the kids' items in the 30" wide, 24" deep pantry. I don't think having a deep pantry is a problem at all if you have drawers and pullouts on the lower levels. I use my lower level drawers to store stuff that would get lost (canned goods, onions in a basket, kids' snack foods) and the upper, deep shelves to store cases of warehouse stuff (paper towels, giant chip variety bags, cases of soft drinks). The shelves are all completely adjustable. The 36" drawer stack holds club-sized boxes of plastic baggies, lunch boxes, thermoses and more canned goods.

I've had both carpentry and cabinetry pantries, and IMO cabinetry is better because you can completely use the depth of the space, and you have the option of pullouts or better yet drawers on the lower levels. I can see the advantage of seeing everything at once in a walk-in, but I don't like to walk away from the cooking scene to grab what I need. In the end it's a personal choice.

I've given a lot of info about our set-up but here's my verdict: I think you will be fine with a 36"x24"x96" unit for a family of 4, living in the city. And, you don't want the pantry off in Siberia, so that you sigh every time you have to go fetch an ingredient. Egads, 96"? Are you working in storage for a step ladder in your plan? The top rollout on the unit you linked looks a bit high to me, but maybe you are tall enough to comfortably see the contents. On the upper level of my tower pantry I have a wire basket rollout, which is nice because I can see the contents from underneath.

Plus the woofer of course.

My kitchen that is being remodeled right now is about the same size as yours and my new pantry is 3X2 and 93" high. We are 2 adults and 2 cats! This will be at least a foot wider than we had before.

We are 2 with a hungry dog as well ;).

We are in a small space (about 1300 square feet total), and I have tried to tuck in storage wherever I can. We have a small shallow closet at the end of the kitchen that stores the paper goods, brooms, ironing board and the laundry stuff (my washer/dryer is also in the kitchen). Dog food goes in a large bucket with a lid and into a shed (which is off one of the terraces), and we bring it up in smaller quantities (into a tupperware container kept under the sink).

We have organized the food in a slightly unconventional way, but it works pretty well (for us). The 2 tall cabinets are full--it stores most, but not all the food (one separate shelf for the canned goods, and a deep drawer for onions sneak into the rest of the space). Having said that, it would have been nice to have 18" deep tall cabinets instead of the 12" ones. I can see and access everything, but some things (like 10 lb bags of rice, large tins of olive oil, and drinks) take up a lot more room than you would think.

Thank you all for all of the advice and personal stories.

The pantry will have to be full depth so it doesn't look strange, it will be next to the fridge, but I plan on full extension pull out shelves. I was thinking of having them all the way up. The top ones will be easier for me to use if they pull out.

I plan on having a step stool, not sure where it is going to live, but I'm a 'mini-human' and can barely reach the second shelf in our upper cabinets. I was thinking of a toe-kick one, but I don't think it will give me enough height.

I agree that a larger pantry in Siberia would be a waste, so I'm going to keep with my plan of the 36' wide next to my fridge!

Thanks Again for helping me get this figured out!

I am just getting my kitchen redone and I took out my walk in pantry and replaced it with a cabinet pantry. They call it a food file, it measures 9'tall x 38" w x 22 1/2 deep. I have not used it yet, but plan to put most canned items in the door and moveable shelves. The stationary shelves in the rear will have wider items and things I don't use that often. There are two roll out shelves on the bottom. I don't know for sure how I will like it, but I am hoping it will be easier to find things!

Here is a link that might be useful:

As usual I am having trouble posting multiple pictures, I will try again.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Morton5,

I see that you have a 15 inch wide, 24 inch deep tall pantry pullout. How wide are the interior pullouts? I'm wondering if I would be able to store large cereal boxes parallel to the cabinet front? How about heigth as well? How tall of a (cereal) box can fit and easily be removed?

my pantry to be is 4x18" and 7 or 8' high. for my 'family' of 3 (1 people human and 2 canine humans) I think this will be plenty of space to store our food supply. I do store up some food items - not for 6 months or anything tho. I will probably only use 2 shelves for food stuff. a lower shelf will be for water jug, juice and pop storage. a few of the higher shelves will be for small appliance, punch bowl type thing storage.

the 2 food stuff/canned good shelves will probably be shortened in depth to not more than 12".

canine food storage will be 40 lbs at a time in either the pantry or the base corner cab. a few cans of their food will be on the shelf with my canned goods. I usually buy enough for them to last 2 wks (canned).

I will have only 1 cabinet shelf in the kitchen for food stuff like oil, PNB, syrup, cereal.

My pantry is 9 X 6 (not quite sure) But it is a beautiful space. I used marble and gray cabinets. I installed pull outs, Appliance garages, file drawers, etc. It functions as an old fashioned butlers pantry and office. Here are photos.

Here is a link that might be useful: Marble Pantry