I'm wondering what different people here mean by "wire shelving." The comments about it being "cheaper" suggests folks are talking about something different that what I think of for "wire shelving." Mine are several hundred dollars a bay, which is certainly not "cheap", or "cheaper than wood." I suspect people who don't like them have some sort of low-quality shelving, like I've seen for sale in a hardware store around here. I have "Metro" shelving, and it's great. "Cleaning" isn't an issue--it stays clean with having to do any cleaning*. It is rare for there to be a problem with things falling over. Light comes through the shelves, which makes it much easier to see what is there than if they were solid. (I note that I run a lot of it quite close together--like one 14-oz. can high, so that I can pack of lot of stuff in not very much space.) I've attached a link to the kind of shelving I have, except that I have about 8 shelves in the same space as their illustration shows 4 shelves. * Regarding cleaning: I've done some work in a Class 10 cleanroom, and all the shelving there was exactly the same stuff (though the stainless steel version rather than the chrome version, because all the metal in the cleanroom is required to be stainless steel). It's there because it's the cleanest shelving available. To give you some idea of what is expected there, people have to be in bunny suits, wear gloves, and go through and air shower before entering. Here is a link that might be useful: Metro shelving

oldbat2be I don't think a pocket door will work, but also I prefer being able to use the back of the door for a spice rack. Stan Z, good point about future furnace replacement. It's in good shape (we had it inspected recently), but you never know. In the pre-demo layout, there was already two 32" doors between the furnace and main area. The door closest to the furnace is a louvered bifold. The other door was between laundry and wet bar, we've removed that and are putting in a door instead between wet bar and new kitchen, which is along the 90" wall. You can get a rough idea of the new kitchen layout - it'll go pantry door, then refrigerator, then induction stove top, then wall oven/microwave across the 90" wall. With an island across from it with sink and dishwasher. But I think you mean keep the pantry side of the 90" wall free, in case we have to remove the furnace in the future? That was my thought as well -- I am thinking just put in hooks there for hanging mops and brooms. Thanks for the recommendation for the 65" wall. I was thinking deeper shelves on bottom (15-18 inch?) then 12 inch shelves higher up (for canned goods). Or would you go 15-18 inch for all the shelves? Does anyone know of an online closet/pantry design site where I can play around with the layout? Most of the ones I've found won't allow you to design an odd-shaped pantry like this.

I am just now reading all these amazing comments. We were going to sell our 5 bedroom house and build a “smaller” 2B2B barndominium, but plans changed due to my dad getting sick and not wanting us to move away from me. So we have decided to renovate what we have and incorporate the things I wanted into this house but I have no clue where to start. This house had NO storage. We have extra rooms I want to make one a butlers pantry that connects to my kitchen and the other I want to make a master closet. Any ideas would be appreciated

The first one is definitely a non-starter -- the layout is terrible and you do not have room for an island with any kind of seating...you barely have room for a narrow island with no seating. Remember that the aisle b/w the island and stairs will be busy b/c it's the only way to the rest of the home's public rooms. The layout in the 2nd is marginally better, but still not very good. Given the smaller size of the home, do you really need two table spaces (Dining Room & Breakfast area) and island seating???