Not sure if the wire shelving doesnt work because of the uneven surface? In case it helps, last month I noticed a very economical assortment of plastic or plastic-like shelf liners in Storables. All different sizes, clear, opaque, black options. I thought they'd work as a perfect solution to some wire / metal shelves we have as it drives me nuts when I can't set things steady on them, or smaller stuff falls through.

I've never seen anything comparable in The Container Store, but doesn't mean they don't carry it. (Those are the 2 organization stores around here.)

Ace Hardware sells something called Plast-o-Mat to fix the tipping problem. Haven't tried it, but plan to eventually.

Although using the shelf-liner thingies defeats the purpose of ventilated shelving, I use that, too. Hate the unevenness.

I have these 1) because the neighbor pulled miles of them out of his house, 2) the reuse centers have miles of it, and 3) it's what I got right now, even though I've only built one, tiny closet.

With that "nominal" fee, I'd make certain he makes the shelves adjustable. "Nominal could be really affordable, or just ridiculous. Frustrating.

I used Ikea's Broder shelving system. The shelves are just 1x12 painted pine. I liked it better than the ventilated stuff and it probably was cheaper.

I forgot to address the pantry shelves during our reno. The day we moved back into the house I asked my carpenter about options. I wanted something more custom or built-in than hardware store options, but the HD off-the-shelf melamine shelving was what I settled on for time, convenience, and low pricing.

(Geez, I sure had a lot of processed soups and sauces back then. I guess thats what a reno can do to you. And please excuse the mess. DH had just "organized" the goods for me after I had everything just perfect because he wanted to jam all his Christmas junk food in there. Ggrrrr.)

The standards and supports are HD Rubbermaid white metal stuff. The shelves are 12" deep, but also come in other pre-finished depths. It's even sturdy enough for me. The adjustability factor was handy when I organized the space, but I doubt I'll be moving them around now that I've found spacing that works.

DH just used this same system with deeper shelves for our office closet. Very easy to install if you are at all handy. Side note, wire shelves would drive me nuts also.

The Container Store sells solid shelving with their Elfa systems. I was thinking of using Elfa in my washer/dryer area (which is essentially in a closet at the end of my kitchen) to hold detergent, oxiclean, paper towels and other larger non-food items. I thought that the wire Elfa would be ok? What do you all think? Are the wire shelves annoying for small items or just annoying period?

Nyc--to me, wire shelves are annoying regardless. Small items don't sit evenly or level. You need bins to hold smaller items. It's certainly better than not having shelves, but I would (and did) put in cheap wood-like shelves before I'd do wire.

annoying period

Thanks for all these tips! I'm glad to learn that there are good inexpensive options out there.

Does anyone use drawers in their pantry? (Or is a kitchen full of base drawer cabinets enough? Lol??? Not sure if DH would laugh or sigh if I were to inform him I need MORE drawers.)

Does your pantry look like lightlystarched or breezygirl's? If it's like that, I'm not sure how you would put in drawers. Even roll outs would be difficult. I have roll outs in a non-walk-in pantry, but you can see that in a walk-in the drawers/roll outs would bang into each other and leave a dead corner.

Maybe you could do a pair of roll outs per shelf and put largish things in the corner between roll outs? Actually, I think you might be better just replacing the wire racks with actual shelving and use this sort of thing (Copco kitchen organizers) to contain small stuff like partial packages of pasta and packets of taco seasoning, and this sort of thing (Oxo Good Grips Pop containers) for sugar and flour and M and M's and such:

My pantry is a about 6 x6 or so. I priced out ikea (which I thought was a good savings), elfa at the container store and then talked to our finishing people who were doing the rest of the house. I thought about using elfa with those plastic mats on top that they sell.

By the way, the lady at the container store said in aug or sept they are having 25% - 30% (can't remember exact amount) off elfa shelving. I finally used the finishing people to do a built in pantry but none of the shelves are adjustable, and I wish I had thought about function more rather than look. But I may still use elfa in other closets to save money when they have their sale because I like the little wooden face fronts they have that dress it up.

I think I would do the melamine from HD or ikea because they are solid and adjustable, I think Breezygirls look great!

It will be like lightlystarched's pantry. I always struggle with little packages, like the ones you mentioned. That's why I was thinking about a drawer, but I'm sure some well placed bins and containers would work too. I'm absolutely amazed at the clever ideas so many people have here, so I thought I'd ask.

We used ELFA because we had a small space to work with and wanted flexibility in how we used it.

ELFA makes mats you can lay on the shelves. Despite the advice of my ELFA design consultant, I went with 20" deep shelves and I'm glad I did.

If you are going to install them yourself, ELFA is idiot-proof. You install the top rail (they have really easy-to-use wall anchors) and everything just hangs off it.

They are not cheap, but they do have a sale around Christmas. For me, the ease of installation was worth the extra cost.

I have Elfa ventilated shelves (and some drawers) in my pantry and laundry room both. I love them BUT I use liners so I don't have the wobbly issue going on. That would drive me crazy. Elfa's ventilated shelves, unlike what you can find at Lowe's, HD or Ikea, have the wires a lot closer together. They also "lock" into place so the wire part is sitting really firmly in the bracket - not just a piece of wood sitting on top of the shelf bracket. As far as organizing little things, Elfa has "shelf baskets" that you can put dividers in and stack stuff in if need be. In the pic below, I have one of those on the immediate left (3 shelves up) and above the counter top oven in the back. I use it for bags of baking stuff like chocolate chips, coconut, etc on the left and treats in the back. And I absolutely love their big drawers. Container Store's return policy is great too - anytime with a receipt and the best Elfa sales is 30% off all Elfa products. It starts Dec. 24th and goes through the end of January typically. There is one in the fall that isn't as good - 25% of Elfa Shelving. (No, I don't work for Container Store, I am just a big fan and will be buying some more Elfa stuff during their Dec. sale.)
Here's a picture of our new pantry.

I can't figure out how to shelve a pantry that's 42" square. Deep shelves, I guess.
It's got to hold brooms and vacuum, too.

I feel like I need a closet organizer for that little space!