Pantry next to a wall, pull-out or roll-out?

12 years ago

I will have a either 15" or 18" pantry right next to a wall, and the other side is a fridge. Went to couple cabinet makers and got mix ideas about roll out and pull out option.

It seems I will lose some space if using pull out. Yet will be heavy for using roll out if fully loaded.

Would you please share your experience?

Featured Answer

plllog

12 years ago

Just to prevent any confusion (I don't care -- this is just for information): "Pullout" is often used for anything that one pulls except a drawer because a drawer already has a name. Therefore there are pullout shelves, pullout pantries, and pullout spice racks. There are pullout cutting boards and pullout tray racks. The only use I personally have seen in my four years of being TKO of "rollout" is in the phrase "Roll Out Tray Shelves (ROTS)", which Buehl taught us to say awhile back. Since it looks like opposite definitions are being used here, I just wanted to clarify.

That said, I think door-attached pullouts (or whatever you want to call them) are great for areas that are too small to usefully make a cabinet. That's a maximum of 15" wide, and more like 8"-12". For a pantry, even at 15", I prefer individual pullout/rollout shelves to either a door mounted unit or drawers. You can see from the front, you can see from above, you can see from the side(s). I have an undercounter pullout with two door mounted levels that holds bread, cereal and other breakfast/snack stuff. Love that. Too narrow a space for anything else (tray storage elsewhere). You can see and get to everything, but there's no need to reach across much. Only two packages, if they're narrow, sit side by side. Good stuff!

Two doors don't bother me given the ability to see into a pantry (that's what I have), and I like wider than narrower, though that isn't at issue here. You can get a single door with 15"-18". One member--Circuspeanut? I forget--has narrow pullout trays but no doors. Looks cool in her kitchen. :)

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Comments (7)

marcydc
12 years ago
I've had both - my current is 16.5". I'm assuming the rollout means the whole thing comes out and the pull out just one self does.

I really prefer the one shelf pulling out. I can see from the top. Makes a big difference for the bottom items. I don't have to get on my knees to grab the stuff there.
kawh707
12 years ago
i have been studying this issue, too. i just know this-- i find the one set of pullout shelves we have to be so annoying because we have 2 doors on the cabinet. have to open both to roll it out. just annoys me every time.

i am pretty sure that i will only do pullout shelves if i can manage it with a single door opening, rather than a double door opening. if the pantry shelf is too wide for single door, i will have to go with a couple of rollouts.
(hope that make sense...)
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If I understand correctly, your current 48" wide pantry has 16" deep shelves, but the new 36" wide pantry would have full-depth (24") roll-out shelves? I currently have a 24" wide x 24" deep pantry w/ roll out shelves. Although you may well be able to fit the same amount of foodstuffs in the new one, I find that I struggle WAY more trying to keep my pantry organized--MUCH more so than when I had a walk-in closet w/ 14" deep shelves. Yes, I can fill this deeper one very full, BUT I CAN'T SEE WHAT'S IN IT EASILY!! In my former house/pantry, I knew-and could see--for example, that I had 4 cans of green beans (lined up from front to back of shelf). And next to that was a row w/ only 2 cans of corn. Ok, time to buy more corn. It was SO much easier to organize and stay organized w/ the shallow depth pantry. But in my current, deep one, the corn may have to be placed farther back, behind the green beans, to begin w/. Then things get lost and shifted around out of place ALL the time b/c you cannot see at a glance what is in there. The item you're looking for can just get buried by all the other stuff! Never had that problem before--and not planning on having it again, after our planned kitchen remodel at the end of this year--I'm going to have a 6' wide x 15" deep pantry built for that very reason. Can't wait :-)
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It really depends on how you work and whether you have room in the main working part of the kitchen for some of your food items. I had a kitchen with a pantry across a wide aisle from the kitchen itself. There was little cabinetry in the kitchen itself -- more dish storage and such across from the breakfast nook so everything, including a little of this spice or that had to come from the pantry. And it was about 7 or 8 feet deep with narrow shelves on one side. I loved the kitchen when we bought the house and couldn't stand to work in it by the time we left. My corner pantry in this house was an improvement in location, but not organization. I changed it to pantry cabinets with rollouts and a pullout that are actually a bit further form my main work areas (a few steps), but I also use some of the space in my main work area for flour, sugar and other baking supplies in deep drawers, my spices in a top shallow drawer and oils, vinegars and such right at hand above. I don't have to make as many trips to the pantry as I did before and it's not as far. For me, this is working out best of all. I can see either of your design choices working out well, but you need to thing about the type of cooking you do, how you work and how you would use the space -- what you would store in each cabinet and drawer. It's a pain to break everything down that much, but it's necessary to see how it all works for you.
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I would reconsider putting counter top appliances in the pantry unless you absolutely must have empty counter. If you have a Kitchen Aid mixer or something equally heavy it will be very annoying to have to drag it out to use and will therefore get much less use. You have two deep corners where it would fit perfectly and be out of the way yet easy to pull out and use. I feel the same about the food processor but perhaps it and the blender are not used as often. In any case, things that are heavy and/or bulky should be at waist height so that you are not bending to pick them up. The plastic containers can go on the bottom, perhaps in a basket or large container to keep them corralled and your two year old will love to play with them. Have fun organizing, it means you are almost at the end of the process and you may end up moving things as you actually begin using the kitchen. Linda
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davidro1
12 years ago
does roll out mean that there are wheels or casters on the floor?
TxMarti
12 years ago
I got some good opinions on this thread & pics too.
tanem
12 years ago
I have a 24" by 80" pullout pantry. I actually chose this option for the ease of one motion (similar to drawers vs. rollouts). The only items I do not store in it are canned and jar goods. This is because it's large and it did get too heavy for the kids to use.
At least three shelves are for kids items (cereal, granola bars, nuts etc.) I wanted them to have easy access so they wouldn't ask me for everything.
nutherokie_gw
12 years ago
Don't know if this is what you're referring to, but here's mine:

The maple will be painted.

Pantry next to a wall, pull-out or roll-out?

plllog

Comments (7)

marcydc

kawh707

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davidro1

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tanem

nutherokie_gw

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