I see your dh with time for opinions has shown up in your pantry! :-)

18" is pretty deep (the absolute maximum I'd want) and by making the one side shallower, you get more shelf-frontage on the adjacent wall...Does that make any sense? In other words, that might not be any more clear, by making both sides deeper, you gain more corner and less shelf length.

We have 16" deep shelves across the back and 12" deep on one side in a 48" x 45" pantry, and I'm quite happy with the shelf depths.

Besides 'air space' you gain some floor space, which might be valuable for odd things you might want to tuck in or for more step-in space for better access and reach.

Rhome--yes, he is everywhere with his darn opinions! How lucky am I?
I have your pantry saved to my favorites. I love it. I had seen the dimensions earlier--and then lost them. Thanks for putting it back in an easy place for me to find. His new idea is 18" in back and 12" on each side

Maybe talk him down to 12" on only one side for your L configuration, then compromise and stay? :-)

12"on one side is what I started with. Well, actually, in my initial visions, I assumed the closet would be large enough for a U. He keeps bringint that up to me--my own words! Life was easier when he had no opinion about these things. I did find those cansolidator things that someone had mentioned earlier--from Costco. Has anybody else been happy with them?

Here is a link that might be useful: cansolidator

I had 18" deep shelves in my old pantry and they were too deep...things got lost all the time and I always seemed to be moving things around to get to other things. The deepest I would go is 15" and even that is too deep for some things.

I can fit all my small appliances on the 12" deep shelves except my toaster oven. I put the TO on the floor since it takes up so much space (we rarely use it now, it was bought for and used extensively during our remodel). Even my KA stand mixer (the one w/a lift bowl) fits on the 12" deep shelves.

The one caveat I would add is that if your pantry is going to be used for storing large amounts of individual items (like warehouse-sized/numbers), then maybe you could use the deeper shelves...but be very careful to only store the same thing in the space (front-to-back) and remember to rotate items so the back items don't get ignored/forgotten and expire prior to use. I would suggest investing in some organizers to help organize/corral things. But even then I would only want one side to be deeper.

I have a "U" shaped basement pantry for overflow/large amounts/numbers but even that pantry has 12" deep shelves on the sides. The base of the "U" has 24" deep shelves, and I have to agree that 24" is too deep.

Ours are 12 inches, but our pantry is a straight row of built-in cabinets, not a U. 12 inches works fine for us, and I'd also recommend adjustable shelves, if that's a possibility for you.

We have a U shaped step in Pantry. The main shelves as you enter are 12" deep and I've found them to be great.
On the sides I've got small 6" deep shelves and LOVE them.... they are the perfect size of a row of bottles, I've got all my sugars on one shelf, vinegars on another, dog medicine on another, etc.... great little divisions of space for the smaller stuff.
So if you can do a U shape don't discount the value of the 6" deep sections. If they were 12" it would really cut into my ability to step into the pantry and have elbow room.

Here's the main view:

Here one of the main shelves and you can see the 6" section to the right

A better view of one of the 6" sections:

I don't have any specific suggestions for the side depths, but I am definitely in the don't-go-deeper-than-18"-max camp! Been there, done that, hate it. Loved my pantry in my old house w/ 16" deep shelving.

Thanks for the responses. Gbsim--What are the interior dimensions on your pantry. I love the idea of having 6" shelves, if I can not fit the 12" I will show this picture to DH. Buehl--I just went and measured the shelf in my storage closet that holds my stand mixer--12", I am looking forward to clearing space in that closet and moving that into the pantry. Now that I think of it--the shelving in that closet was a bone of contention for us too! I made the mistake of letting him alone go to HD and picking out the shelves. Not gonna make that mistake again! I miss all that storage we had in New England. I think 16" sounds plenty big!

I tried to measure the floor space, but it's such a wacky layout... anyway....
Measuring along the floor going near the door casings, I've got almost 2.5' on the short sides, 4.5' going along the floor across in front of the shelving with the stenciling and then about 4' going in the other direction.
My door is 2'.
As you can see from the photos, it isn't squarely in the corner and extends back into the hallway where our half bath is located.

gbsim, I'm really interested to see your six inch shelves. I'm currently trying to plan the shelves for my small walk-in, which I'm hoping will be built over the winter. Straight ahead I'll have a half-width wall (2 1/2 feet) of 12 inch deep shelves, and a 4 foot long side wall of 5 inch deep shelves. I'm planning to store the majority of my food items on the 5 inch shelves. Seeing yours gives me some confidence that my idea will work.

Arlosmom, it's hard to tell from the photos but the front rail on my shelves is actually higher than the shelves and provides a bit of a lip. Not truly necessary for the 12" shelves, but I think if you were doing 5" you'd definitely want that lip so that things didn't accidentally get nudged off when you were pulling something else out. My side shelves are 6" NOT counting the front rail. I find them very handy!

I'm excited about my new pantry. My old one was awful.. One really deep wall cabinet and that was it. You really had to dig to find what you needed.

I wanted an island really bad in my narrow kitchen, and I go the bright idea to move the fridge and make that wall a pantry wall, going between the studs.

I can already tell I'm going to love it. The "cabinet" takes up about 3 inches of floor space into the room, but is recessed into the wall to provide extra storage. The shelves are 7". That's about 2 campbells soup cans deep, which is what I used to design it. Handles are on their way soon and the doors just went on today.

3 sets of double doors, and then at the end of the run a bookcase above and double doors below, also all 7"

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Found some great info on pantry shelving at the link below. Best of luck with your new pantry!

Here is a link that might be useful: details on pantry shelving