Please help me design my narrow 36" wide Pantry/Appliance closet!
Hello again!
One of my goals for my new kitchen is to keep everything off the counters (except for the toaster oven and expresso machine). Thus our "step-in" (not walk-in) pantry/appliance closet will house my stand mixer, rice cooker, and bread machine, among other things. These will sit on a countertop inside the 36" wide by 45" deep closet. The rice cooker and bread machine will be used inside the closet -- I will not be transporting in and out (the stand mixer will have to move to the kitchen island when I need to use it). I plan on having a 36" wide by 24" deep base cabinet with open shelving underneath and a countertop above where the mixer, bread machine and rice cooker will sit. About 17.5" above the base cabinet/countertop will be open shelving 12" deep.
1) Should I extend out the countertop on the right to make an "L" shaped counter? This way I can fit more appliances on the countertop? See pic below -- the blue tape on the floor to the right outlines where an 8" wide stripe of counter could extend past the main cabinet in an "L" shape. The two metal cups on the ground are the left and right points of the closet door (so the 8" wide counter would extend a little into the doorway since the door is only 5.5" from the left and right drywall). The last picture shows how I could potentially store the vita mix and food processor on that 8" strip. NOT extending the counter would give me more foot space though, and more flexibility to put random baskets and such on the closet floor.
2) Regardless of whether I extend the counter or not, should I have the upper open shelf storage wrap around all three sides of the pantry or just have the 12" deep open shelves on the back wall? The open shelving on the right and left walls would only be 4.5" or so deep to keep the closet from feeling too claustrophobic. If I just had the 12" deep open shelves on the back wall, the closet will feel roomier, but wondering if I could use the space more effectively for storage.
Thank you for your responses!
Comments (13)
Kippy
6 years agoThis is a timely subject for me. Is there anyway to add some width to your space? I am working on ours and have spent several days in the little space. We have more packed in than yours since I have the broom etc. But I just took out a couple of shelves because it was so tight and claustrophobic. Even 12" would help Ours is 42" wide and about 48" deep (first coat of paint and missing some of the edge trim-earthquakes and the counter is covered
Stan B
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoRelated Discussions
Show me your closet pantry doors - pic's please
Comments (9)Both Ccoombs1 & Buehl's pantry's are corner types. Mine is just on the flat wall and rectangular. Its 4' along the back wall and then approx 2' deep. I think I will put shelves along one side of the 2' depth and then along the back wall (like an L). The L will be on the right side and the door will be shifted to the left side. So if there were 12" deep shelves at a min on the L side, I would have approx 30" or so of opening for a door or doors. If any shelf was deeper, then it would be smaller. If it was a single door it would swing right. Immediately to the left of the pantry is the doorway to the hallway. So there is a space issue here and therefore tying to see how small of a door I can put in and still be comfortable to get in and out as well as access the stuff on the right side that forms the L. Does this make sense? A friend of mine has the same door on hers. Can't remember though if you can see the stuff on the shelves through it or not. This style is on my list if a single door would work....See MorePlease help design my small pantry
Comments (16)Thanks for your feedback, Angela. Glad you think the design will work. I agree with you about having the 5 inch side closer to the opening. That is the way we had it the first time, so that was my first instinct too. However, we switched it so that the message/calendar niche could be on the wider side and near the pantry door (pantry door will have cork board on the back side it for notices) and beside the white board on the dumb waiter door. I figure from standing at the message centre niche, I have access to the phone, pens, calendar, cork board with notices and the message board on the dumb waiter door. Seating at my island is right behind me for longer conversations. The broom closet pull-out is awkward. I did not realize that the pullouts were expensive. We have that awkward space at the end because where the dumb waiter is positioned is not able to be altered to allow a wider broom cabinet. The space available is only 6-7 inches wide. I could do a 1 foot deep door and sort of put the brooms in on an angle. Would that be better than the pullout? What other options would we have for this narrow deep space? The dumb waiter, BTW, will be for bringing up groceries (our garage is in basement level), taking down trash, bringing food/dishes to and fro the rec room downstairs (there is a small kitchenette there). The dumb waiter starts in the mudroom (first room from garage) and goes to kitchen. I am really looking forward to having this feature. Thanks for linking fishes' kitchen. It is loaded with cool features!! Thanks again. Carol...See MorePlease help me design a narrow cabinet!!
Comments (14)OK, sorry about this, but I'm going to be blunt... "...I have a preference for the hood higher above the cooktop--not functionally (it's not great for capture) but aesthetically, I think it looks better if it's higher... You're supervising this but your parents are the ones who are building and will be living in this house, right? Are looks more important than functionality for your parents as well as you? I'm just asking b/c there are a lot of I's for your preferences in several of the above posts, and not much of what your parents might prefer - other than no glass & open shelves but you want them anyway. Honestly? If my DD built a kitchen more for looks than functionality or based on her preferences not mine, I would be very unhappy - I would pretend it didn't matter and that I loved it, but inside I would not be happy. For most of us, as we get older we realize that beauty is only skin deep and that functionality is far more important. We also don't want to hurt our children's feelings so if asked directly we often tell them what they want to hear if they seem excited about something... That said, if looks are still #1, then I would think about doing the following: Move the MW drawer over to the cabinet next to the range and put it in a 24" cabinet Put in a full-height 12" pullout pantry against the wall Put in a 9" to 12" cabinet (whatever will fit) b/w the MW drawer cabinet and the pantry pullout. This cabinet could be for trays, cutting boards, etc. As to the backsplash height...both the counters and the light rail (if you have it) will reduce that depth. So, be sure there's enough space to work in there without feeling claustrophobic b/c that's where most prepping will be done - b/w the sink and range. Also, be sure you parents' tallest appliance they will use on those counters will fit under the cabinets + light rail...if they open "up", then measure them when open...i.e., the tallest the appliance can be. Regarding the hood...with cabinets flanking the hood, a width equal to the width of the range is fine, especially if your parents don't do a lot of frying. However, the installation height is more important. If it's a small house, then odors, grease, etc. will have less area to disperse in. Plus, it looks like the kitchen is pretty open, so that means the grease odors, etc. will spread beyond the kitchen. While any true hood will help, not mounting it per specifications can significantly reduce its effectiveness. Just my two cents worth. Good luck to both you and your parents, whatever you decide!...See MorePlease Help me Design my Pantry
Comments (4)I'd probably opt for sliders over the shelves. I'd likely move the micro to the area beside the ref and plunk it on a micro shelf. I might tuck it into an oven cabinet with a pull out shelf underneath to take care of providing a landing space for the micro - the advantage being able to site it at counter height for shorties. The other potential position for a micro would be a drawer micro under counter next to the ref - the advantage to that being that I could use simple uppers. I'm not a big fan of bifolds. I don't mind those sort of stacking sliders where there are more than two sliding sliding doors. Or something like having 15" of wall on the sides and 12" of shelf depth across the back - then use a pair of 18" doors that each slide out to the side - leaving about a 36" opening in the center. It uses up around 60-64" of width leaving 20" to 24" for decorative shelving or a drop zone or a family communications area. Any measurements above are just sorta-kinda widths or depths. Framing can take up any amount of space from 6" of depth down to just about an 1" if you use plywood to make something close to a built-in-place cabinet. Also, you'd need to choose between shelves supported on adjustable brackets on the back wall or shelves that are run between uprights with at least one extra upright....See More
Karenseb
6 years agoloonlakelaborcamp
6 years agoeliasgrace
6 years agolast modified: 6 years ago
Errant_gw
6 years agoKarenseb
6 years agoI was thinking roll out trays. I think in my last house I had a 30 inch cabinet with no support bar in the middle and two wide roll out trays, one on the top and one on the bottom. I kept my pots on the roll out trays. If you get good under mount glides, I think you'd be okay. If your pantry is 45 inches deep and your cabinet is 24 inches deep, the roll out shallow tray would be about 20 to 21 inches deep. (total 44-45 inches deep)
Of course you would have to move things that you store on the floor. If you store extras in baskets like you suggested, the extras would be easy to move.
It would be easier to retrieve things from the roll out trays than 24 inch deep shelves.
You could do a built in cab like this with roll out trays. Maybe have your rice cooker counter a little higher to allow for 3 trays depending on what you want to store.
One thing I hadn't thought of is they might be hard to install since the front of the closet is closed in on either side. In that case, you could do a 24 inch wide roll out trays in the middle.
Converted Malthouse: artisan-built kitchen · More Info
practigal
6 years agoKippy
6 years agoeliasgrace
6 years agoKippy
6 years agoTomorrow I should have better photos of the counter with appliances on it, but here it is tonight. I have 42" - 12" shelf - 4" shelf for about 26" yikes! If my plan was to actually work in there I think it would be too tight But to just keep stuff it is okay. I
tempted to cut down the 12" side shelves to 6" to gain some space
eliasgrace
6 years agoGreat progress Kippy! Looks like you've got space for everything you need. Looking at your pic, I think I could swing a 36" wide pantry with 12" deep back shelves and 4" deep left wall shelves. Thanks for the pic! I'm having my cabinet person do something like this (but won't do the L countertop like they did).
practigal