I have a bread cabinet above the toaster, with a lazy susan in it. This is the place for an open Peanut Butter jar and Honey, as well as bread loaves. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2913181/where-do-you-keep-your-bread-a-drawer-counter-pantry

Edited to add that bread is stored here due to proximity to the toaster.

Spices, oils and sauces for cooking. Along with bread and pb, I'm planning to keep breakfast items (cereal, oatmeal) in the kitchen. All these will be by the fridge, toaster oven and microwave.

Oldbat-That cabinet doesn't have much in it! So is the rest of your food kept in the pantry?

Kate-Yes, I think i will have a ledge behind the stove for oils. Or put those in the cabinet next to the stove. Most of my sauces seem to need refrigerated. I can see keeping cereal in the kitchen. But we really prefer a cooked breakfast anyway....my son who just turned 10 loves to cook eggs :)

Just seems weird to think about not storing boxes of food in the kitchen! But there is so little food items that I use regularly.

I can see keeping some primary spices by the stove.....for sure salt and pepper. But so many spices are dish specific, that I think I would need a space in the pantry for them also?

Anything other food item you have to keep in your kitchen?

I have spices, oils, specialty vinegars, bread, and fresh fruit (on the counter) in the kitchen. The rest in the pantry. This is mostly due to space - in all my previous kitchens I've kept pasta, cereal, etc, but I don't have the room and now realize I like it better out of the kitchen.

Btw, I wouldn't store oils, or anything, directly behind the stove. Fire hazard and bad for the oils.

I love my pantry, since I don't have many cabs. It stores grains, beans, etc. in nice containers, canned/jarred goods, some baking pans and miscellaneous small appliances that don't get much use, also similar small cleaning supplies. I have a drawer for spices and another for baking supplies. I also had outdoor supplies (paper plates, cups, utensils, food containers) there until I cleared another drawer for them. HTH!

Bread, PB, and opened sleeves of crackers in cabinet in kitchen. Full spice drawer next to cooktop. Onions and potatoes inside cabinet with larger spices (large salt, dried whole chiles) and rice (container with a few pounds in cabinet; 20# bag in pantry). Oils, next to cooktop in cabinet. Also have a baking station in kitchen, flour, sugar, chips, cornstarch, masa, etc.) ;-) and a full candy drawer.

One space for herbs, spices, seeds, hot sauce, etc. Another for oils and vinegars. Another for coffee, tea, coffee filters, etc. Everything else goes in the small pantry. Then again, my kitchen is very small so the storage options are limited.

Stored in the Kitchen:

• Bread (drawer)
• Spices (filler pullout flanking cooktop)
• Decorating sprinkles (filler pullout flanking cooktop)
• Butter (to keep it soft)
• Open peanut butter
• Lunch making food (granola bars and similar)
• Molasses, honey, and a few other small items (all also in one of the filler pullouts flanking my cooktop)

All other food is either in the Pantry or the refrigerator (including flours, sugar, etc.) Things like flour, sugar, etc. are stored in air-tight containers.

Planning to store in kitchen: spices, condiments (that don't require refrigeration, including hot sauce, vinegars, most oils, soy and tamari sauces). Dried mushrooms, seaweed, maple syrup, honey, coffee, an extensive tea collection. I store open peanut butter in the fridge. Bread is stored in the "breadbox" (microwave) or mostly in the freezer since I eat so little of it, and buy it/ make it mainly for company. (The peanut butter is for Thai cooking, or the occasional stand alone spoonful.)

The most used condiments are in the cabinet above the range hood, along with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Coffee and tea (and the sugar/fake sugar for guests) are located with mugs in the cab above the beverage station.

Pretty much everything else not requiring refrigeration will be in the pantry, once it is finished, along with canning and dehydrating supplies. Along with extra paper towels, foils and wraps. I store rice, quinoa, lentils etc in air tight containers - and, starting last winter, I put those outdoors in sub zero weather for a few days to kill off any bugs. So far, this seems to be working... (items bought more recently are at this point kept separate; once I have a new freezer up and running, I won't have to wait for winter to treat these sorts of goods). Normally, they will take up pantry residence.

Onions, garlic and potatoes are stored in the kitchen... when the root cellar is ready, and I start growing and harvesting my own, potatoes will be mostly down in the root cellar, along with home grown beets, turnips, etc.

I don't really keep chips or crackers around - some for company; most of what I consider snack food comes out of the fridge - cheese, grapes, hummus, celery sticks. I do have an extra bag of tortilla chips - this is currently in my pantry space. Where it will remain until the next large batch of house guests.

Wow, I thought the idea of keeping pasta and other food items out of the kitchen would get me weird looks. Sounds like you all prefer it out of the kitchen.

I have also kept bread in the fridge and freezer for freshnness...although I don't when I think it will get used in a few days. I think I will plan a drawer for bread and keep single sleeves of crackers and my open smooth and crunchy peanut butter in there.

I also do need a shelf for my k-cups and can keep tea bags there too.

I'll have to think about which spices I will actually keep in the kitchen. I do imagine I will keep the majority in my pantry and just grab as I'm grabbing ingredients for meals. Potatoes get lost in my cabinets now...so I am hoping to have a built in basket for those in the pantry. I often only use part of an onion...so I like to have some onions pre-diced in the fridge. So onions should be fine in the pantry.

Since I am building and had the opportunity to make the kitchen whatever shape/size I wanted, it is harder to think I may not have storage in the right place. My previous "used" kitchens, you just make everything work. If it doesn't, it isn't your own fault! I'm designing this kitchen off my previous kitchen (which I don't have access to anymore). I am making this one slightly larger and adding the pantry and a butlers bar (between kitchen and outdoor deck area) next to it. But I am adding so much more in terms of large appliances to this kitchen.

Thanks for all the replies. I would love to hear from others what they have minimized the kitchen down to. It may help me think of something else I am forgetting.

Aside from the food, consider what else you can put away in the pantry or basement storage. Any pots/pans/appliances that you do not use more than once a month can go with the stock-up items in the basement. I have a huge pot that I only use for massive spaghetti sauce production every 3 months, for example. Or the waffle iron that we like, but don't use more than once a month. Or the crock pot. Or the specialized holiday-themed china. You get the idea.

I agree with others. Kitchen has breakfast items.... coffee, tea, cereal, honey, bread, etc. PB and jam is in the fridge. Also oil & vinegars ,spices and baking supplies that I use regularly are in drawers. I also keep dried fruit, nuts and crackers in the kitchen, and I have a cabinet with baskets for potatoes and onion. Most everything else is in my basement pantry. I will say that I started off with bottled water in the kitchen for easy access, but that didn't last very long, and it now resides in the basement pantry with most everything else. Little used appliances or cookware/bakeware is also in the basement pantry.

This is a great post. I am designing a small kitchen, and didn't really think of putting the pantry in an adjoining room, until someone mentioned it on this site. Does anyone wish they had a pantry in the kitchen? I have an unused spot in an adjoining family room, it would be about 6 feet into the next room, so not exactly a couple steps. Is this too far? Pantry would be used for cereal/oatmeal in am, dry snacks for lunch, and of course starches at dinner; Very occasionally I need flour, sugar and the like. I'd have about 5 1/2 feet for a pantry; but might steal some of that space for a coat closet.

sushipup-Yes, I am thinking through that too. Since I am doing a stovetop and 2 ovens, I will have 2 nice drawers for my pots and pans. I have 2 ninja cooking systems that work great as either an extra stove or a crockpot. Those will stay in the adjacent pantry as they are easy to move. I use one at least 3 times a week. I have a few Cuisinart chopping type appliances that I will keep in the kitchen. My specialty pans/cake sheets/etc will go in the basement.

I also have a large and heavy rotisserie. Until I get a similar setup on a grill, I will keep that in the garage. When I get my outdoor kitchen set up, I can get rid of that. I also have an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie oven...makes the best cookies!. I will probably keep that in the garage also (by large freezer). I probably use it once a month. It is not terribly heavy but awkward enough that I don't want to carry it up and down the stairs. Hubby has a turkey fryer that gets used once or twice around Thanksgiving. That will stay in the basement pantry. So much of my stuff is in storage. i figure if it isn't in my current kitchen, it can go in one of the pantries!

My pantry is just a floor-to-ceiling cabinet in my kitchen, so access is not an issue. In all of the houses I've owned with pantries, all were located inside the kitchen, except one. In that house it was in a hallway a few steps from the kitchen and it worked just fine. The main thing, IMO, is to keep the dishes, appliances and food that you use regularly at arm's reach. Think convenience.

B Carey... a lot of it depends on how you use your food. I eat pasta less than once a month... for me, a pantry area for that is a no-brainer. Same with cereals. I make oatmeal maybe 4-5 times a year, and have cold cereal maybe twice. I want my spices and herbs close to hand, however.. but the main almost always used things, in my case, salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano... near to hand. But I want the other herbs and spices close, so they will be on wall racks, alphabetically arranged. I do use them more than pasta... at least, more or less.. (grin).

My pantry will be one step or two outside of the kitchen, so this will help me organize.

I keep everything IN the kitchen, in cabinets, drawers and refrigerator. And...my kitchen is small...and we both love to cook.

Why would you want food outside the kitchen? If you're building a kitchen, why aren't you keeping everything in there? Just curious.

I keep basic baking supplies, bread, assorted fruits, oils, coffee, and tea in my kitchen. Spices are in a spice drawer (alphabetized. I'm a geek that way). My walk in pantry is via a door in my kitchen. It isn't huge, but has plenty of room for pasta, crackers, snacks, cereal, canned goods, onions & potatoes and extras of things I don't want to run out of. I also keep most of my small electrics in it.

This is a new home. My last home was an old house. My "pantry" was basically the back entrance walk out /basement access area just off the kitchen (through a door). I loved how handy it was and it was no problem to go out there for what I needed (well, except for the time a raccoon got in there overnight and fell asleep under the back shelves. But that's a whole other story). We had a large freezer in another room altogether and that wasn't even a big deal, even though I probably went there a few times a day.

My pantry is about 10 ft from the kitchen proper. About 4 steps like yours.

Don't get fixated on where you will keep things. As your life changes, you will move things around. For example, I no longer need drawers for sippy cups. They once occupied an entire large drawer in my kitchen. Now, I have a drawer full of sport water bottles. They are in a different location from where the sippy cups used to be!

I keep in the pantry if it is to be pulled out by my teenage sons. I want them out of the kitchen. We do not eat cereal for breakfast. It is eaten as snacks by my kids, so in the pantry. (we eat hot breakfast nearly every morning) We eat peanut butter about once a year, so in the pantry. Chips, crackers are in the pantry. If my kids made their lunches, I would put that in the pantry.....

Create Mommy zone where you get to keep what you use near where you use it. For that reason, the water bottles are pushed out to the perimeter of the kitchen....

In your kitchen design, large drawers are key to good design. The better the cabinet maker, the larger (wider) they can make the drawers. The slides have weight limit. Pay attention to that. Make sure they use heavy weight slides. The bottoms have to be thick so that they do not collapse with the weight. My bottom is 3/4 inch ply wood. My drawers are as large as 36 inches or more wide. I put the entire everyday dishes in one drawer. The drawer is next the the dishwasher. Easy peasy unloading dishes. I have my entire cast iron Le Crueset collection in another drawer. I am thinking that I may move them to the pantry at waist level so that I do NOT have to lift them up. I do not use LeCrueset often. I use my AllClad stainless predominantly.

All canned goods are in the pantry. Rice, pasta, grains, potatoes all in the pantry.

I basically go 'shopping' in the pantry before I start to cook.

Small appliances that I do not use regularly are in the pantry. Otherwise, it is on the counter top. I did not hide the kitchen aide. (no lift) I consider that a functional art. We use that about 1 per week. It's too heavy to move.

I keep in the kitchen if I am to use the stuff near daily: coffee/tea and coffee making things, onions, garlic. Baking things: sugars, flour in bins in drawers. I keep the extra flour and sugar in the pantry. I used to keep the flour and sugar and onions and garlic in the pantry but i moved them to a drawer in the kitchen in the last couple years.

Next to the stove: oils, vinegar, condiments, spices. Soy sauce, olive oil etc in a usable pourable bottles. Larger containers in the pantry.

All spices in one drawer next to stove, alphabetized. Too hard too keep track otherwise. There are probably 30 to 50 in there.

Fresh fruit on the island counter; this time of the year, there is a lot of fruit there.

I have a 4 X 5 walkin pantry and I keep all of my food in there plus my spices, KA mixer, blender and panini press. The only thing I keep in the kitchen is my coffee and filters. The pantry is beside the refrigerator and just steps from the island, so it's right in the kitchen. I always store my bread in the refrigerator and that keeps it fresh for over a week.

B carey - I have a baking area, with flour and sugar canisters (in the kitchen); spices are on the upper cabinet doors above this area; and I have lower pullouts flanking the cooktop for oils, vinegars, misc. open things. The dry and canned goods are in the adjacent pantry (6 steps away).

"...Why would you want food outside the kitchen? If you're building a
kitchen, why aren't you keeping everything in there? Just curious..."

As mentioned above -- access! Access to items is much easier in a pantry than Kitchen cabinets -- especially a walk-in/step-in/reach-in pantry.

You can easily see everything all at once without having to open/close doors looking for something (especially if it wasn't put away where you expected it to be!)

You have access to the entire space -- floor to ceiling -- for storage!

It's also easier for "food climate control" if all your food is in one place. [I.e., cool, dry, dark]

I've had both and will never go back to storing most food in the Kitchen -- I will always have at least a reach-in pantry for food if I have any control over it!

"Why would you want food outside the kitchen? If you're building a
kitchen, why aren't you keeping everything in there? Just curious"

I'm short--I would have trouble organizing and reaching small items on upper cabinet shelves. I had a corner pantry in my last house and all the food except bread and baking items was kept in there--and if I were rearranging that kitchen, the baking items would move to the pantry.

In our new build, I want to arrange for oils and such to be near the cooktop, and we'll have a bread drawer again, but all of the other dry food will go in the pantry.

I'm looking forward to finalizing the dimensions so I can really think about what is going to be stored where!

My pantry opens directly into my kitchen. I keep nearly all the food there. In the kitchen itself, I just have salt, pepper, baking powder and soda, olive oil, canola oil and a couple of types of vinegar.

I am knocking out a wall between a kitchen closet and coat closet in entrance foyer to make a pantry. This pantry will be just a few steps from cooking area. I will keep everything in the pantry except things that get used every day plus my spices. I want them in a cabinet to the right of my stove for easiest access. I may also keep some appliances that don't get used much in there, but that depends on how much other storage I end up with.

Ice cream cones above the refrigerator. Ice cream in freezer compartment of refrigerator.

I don't have a pantry as such, but I do have a wall of cabinets at the edge of the kitchen that serve as storage for large roasters and bowls, jars of canned spaghetti sauce and salsa, cookbooks, water bottles, beer and pop (only a few at a time go in the fridge).

My kitchen is a 10x10 U-shape. Prior to the remodel, I had shelves in the basement that served as pantry for bulk purchases; on of the goals of my kitchen remodel was to get those things into the kitchen. In the remodel, I kept essentially the same footprint, but my use of space was so much more efficient that I had room for everything in the basement, and then some! For example, we didn't start canning until after the remodel, but had space for a large canning pot, and 4 dozen quart jars.

I no longer keep anything outside the kitchen, except for china and crystal, which is kept in a hutch in the dining room.

I'm considering using a small rolling cart between the (not yet) pantry and cooking area. Then I can load up all the items needed, use them, then roll back. Creativity is needed when there wasn't a pantry or originally a kitchen in the house.

Thank you everyone!

I think I will plan on my baking cabinet, coffee cabinet, bread box with peanut butter and sleeves of crackers, and a shelf or two for oils/everyday spices/etc. I am planning to keep my full set of pots and pans, utensils, etc. Things like waffle makers can be stored in the pantry next to pancake mix. I think it will be tidier than anything I have had before.

I laughed when I read the topic. We built our home 15 years ago and included a 5 x 8 pantry adjacent to the kitchen, opposite a coffee / microwave nook. The only food in our kitchen is fresh fruit on the counter (excluding refrigerator items). We also have a small collection of olive oils/salts/peppers that remain on the counter by the cook top. Everything else is in the pantry.

We are designing our next home and have included a 7.5 x 16 pantry. This will allow us to keep our > 1000 canning jars there also.

I am currently designing a kitchen as we are doing a major Reno and making the space wide open. I am putting in a pantry for my noisy activities. I have a small counter space where I have the bread maker sitting. I can also set up my dehydrator (it needs to be up for days at a time so I wanted a space that wouldn't be in the kitchen). I can also close the door when I use my grain grinder (it sounds like an airplane taking off) and even the juicer.

"for my noisy activities."

What a great idea I hadn't considered.......I'm moving to a more open space with a much smaller kitchen area, and I might have to move some things into a separate mult-use room. Putting my noisy appliances in there would be a great idea.