A few years ago, I purchased EasyClosets systems to increase the utility of closets in a 1950's-era ranch. It worked out pretty well. The systems are easy to install (the hardest part is probably finding your wall studs, followed by cutting the metal closet rods to length - or vice versa, if you're not comfortable with a hacksaw), and they provided a lot of extra hardware for putting the pieces together. One closet really fought me on the installation of the top shelf pieces, I suspect because the back wall was a bit bowed, but the other three units installed without problem. I didn't order any components with drawers, as I just don't trust cam locks and MDF to provide durable, long-lasting drawers. The biggest problem I've had was when disassembling and removing a unit to repaint the closet, a cam lock got stuck and ended up breaking a pretty large chip out of one of the shelves. It's at a bottom, back corner so with a bit of epoxy it's barely noticeable, but it's a reminder of one of the drawbacks of that type of assembly. In use, the closets have proved very durable, and they made the closets a lot more functional. My preference would be to have a similar system in solid wood for my current home; I now have walk-in closets that could use some TLC, but I would be reluctant to remove the (paint grade, pine) shelving that's currently in place to install something other than another solid wood product, and I wouldn't mind adding some drawers or cabinetry where I would want some quality joinery as opposed to screws or cam locks. If you're going for pure "bang for the buck", Rubbermaid closet kits are a lot cheaper - albeit more cumbersome to install and a lot less attractive. The EasyCloset systems proved to be a selling point when we moved; they looked pretty much as good as new, the hardware components (belt rack, tie rack) are quite solid, and while the closet systems are recognizably melamine they blended quite well with the natural oak in the house, including the closet trim.

mountainbasketmaker, you linked us to the main photobucket page, not your individual page, I think. Go to your photos, copy that URL and paste it into your link. You might also have to do something to make your pictures public, too. gardenwebber, you could look into rope lighting. I love the idea of putting the light switch on the door latch so it comes on when you open it. The rope light is low wattage and you could run it vertically down the wall in front of the shelves. Maybe you could put a piece of molding in front of the rope light so that it does not shine in your eyes, but is shielded so you do not look into the light as you look at the pantry contents. It would light up one side of each open shelf area and give you fewer shadows than a single light at the top of the pantry. My pantry was here when we bought the house. It is 30" wide and 40" deep. That is not a very usable space! It is too wide for retrofitting those sliding tray-shelves that would make best use of the depth. We cannot do as Youngdeb did and have perimeter shelves because the pantry is in a space above the basement stairs. The bottom of the pantry floor slopes - you cannot step into the pantry! So I have three 30" x 40" MDF shelves (the plywood in there when we bought the house had bowed significantly). I use a lot of little wire shelves I had in a previous house to make layers of storage on each level. Using bins for categories of foods (dog treats, rices, nutrition bars, pastas) means I can pull out a whole bin, rifle though it, and replace it. The neatness of the bins means I can easily shuffle them around to get to everything even if it is very deep on the shelves. Our first winter here we had mice, and I made sure everything got sealed into bins so the mice would not be attracted to the pantry and it worked, none ever got into the food. Speaking of pantry pests, here is some advice: never bring birdseed into the house. Some of it has webworms (moth larvae) and those darn things can infest your pantry if you let them in. I had moths from birdseed go crazy in an attached garage. They got into the house when we used the door from the garage to the house and we'd see them flying in the evening. Somehow, I kept them out of the kitchen!

Melamine is the cover material, what will the substrate be? Melamine won't crumble if it is exposed to water it is a type of high pressure laminate that water will pool on top of. Usually melamine is fused to a furniture grade particleboard (ANSI M-S or M-3 rated) when used in cabinetry. If you are concerened about the sink base you can always order the sink base out of plywood however one of The KD's here has mentioned that in a situation with extreme water exposure she didn't think plywood would be of any great benefit (plywood is still porous and does de-laminate if exposed to water and my guess is the polyurethane coating on plywood interiors is probably less water resistant than melamine). To be clear you are really choosing between plywood construction with a polyurethane coated interior or particleboard (maybe MDF but I doubt it) construction with a melamine infused interior. Two of the pro KD's have both indicated they don't advocate ply upgrades as they feel for the end user the money would be better applied to functional or layout upgrades rather than an element that doesn't generally impact on the function or enjoyment of the kitchen. Most manufactures offer the exact same warranty for particleboard construction as they do for plywood. I think melamine makes an excellent cabinet interior (it is easy to clean and durable. From experience I know poorly made cabinets of a low grade particleboard often are remarkably durable. I am attaching a link to Cabico's gallery because they include the construction of the cabinets in their information Go through it - there are a lot of beautiful high end kitchens with particleboard construction it isn't something that you should associate with the quality of your new kitchen it is really a matter of personal preference. If you need to make some savings this an excellent place to do it with virtually no impact on the finished kitchen. Here is a link that might be useful: cabico gallery

I know this is an older post, but Wow, I'm amazed that someone thought that making cedar closets and pantries were done so just because they were "trendy." No, they were necessary! And still are depending where you live! Moths/flying pests get into your pantries and lay eggs in flours. Mealworms are from those. Cedar keeps them away. Moths will destroy your clothing, especially in an older house, in the country! She was lucky to have had those in the house, and I hope she didn't paint over them, it would ruin the cedar. A little cedar oil would freshen them right up.