You may have the wrong idea about butler pantries. These are walk-through pantries usually located between the kitchen and dining room.

What you appear to have is a pantry closet.

Most certainly this pantry can be upgraded to be more functional. See our articlePantry Perfect The "Can't Go Wrong" Pantry Design and Organization Rules for the rules, then plan from there.

So a butlers pantry is a space between the kitchen and the DR to allow the butler to remove and serve from the kitchen to the DR. You have aregular pantry but my first suggestion is to do solid shelving that will allow you to use every inch of space for small appliances . You could even do some really nice storage containers for all the sstuff you need to store food wise. I put all my dry goods in nice storage containers in my pantry so it looks nice all the time . I have my spices in drawers also all matching containers. I admit I am an organizing nut. It make sme happy when everything is accessible and nice looking . If you want a bit of help here it is a good idea to also show where this space is in the home . I would like to know too

Definitely design the shelves specifically to hold those hard to store appliances like crock pot and rice maker. You may be able to move the microwave into the pantry if you design it right. Great project! Be sure to post ideas and the final.

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A butler's pantry is a pass through hallway area, so not this. In your mind, what do you want to house in here in addition to small appliances? How deep is the return on the left side of the door? Measure the depth of your appliances to start to brainstorm a configuration of shelves.

Also, what is wrong with using the shelves in here already and placing small appliances on them?

If you are dreaming of a traditional butler's pantry with cabinets to the ceiling, with many of the cabinet doors glass-fronted, and a sink, then your space is not suited to it, both in size and in location. But as others said, your space will make a nice kitchen pantry with shelving.

"You may be able to move the microwave into the pantry"

This is a good idea, but it will require an electrician to install an electrical receptacle in the pantry. I want the OP to understand that will add cost. She did not say her budget. Also, microwaves tend to be deeper front-to-back than other counter appliances. She needs to make sure she allows for that MW depth when determining her shelves' depths.

I like to have the deeper shelves from waist-height on down; those would also enable storage of bulkier items like paper towels, pet food, bulk items. And then the shelves above waist height should be more shallow so that canned goods, condiments, dry goods like flours and pastas, etc. are easily found and not buried at the back of the shelves.

Here are photos of a pantry with different depths of shelving on the 3 sides:

RIGHT SIDE:

BACK WALL:

LEFT SIDE:

I think you want to upgrade to a better looking walk-in pantry?

lets see the entire kitchen.

what do you need?

For sure those cheap wire shelves could go.

you could easily go from this

to something like this.

or variations of these

Look at the posted photos of large walk-in pantries, and then carefully measure yours. Consider wider, deeper shelves at waist height for appliances and below for bulkier items. Eye level and above for other boxed goods and jars. You will get a ton of storage out of this space if you plan it.

And the wire shelves can be removed tomorrow. They’re not as good as solid shelves.

This is my kitchen and my pantry with all my stuff in it. As you can see, I do have some baskets for storing stuff, and the risers for my cans, but I just feel like I’m losing so much dead space on the floor. I have a 28” depth return to the left of the door. My counter top space is limited. I love those pull out drawers but can’t find them anywhere. Budget would be about $3K.

I’m just trying to remove the cheap look feel. Love these photos

Seeing your things in the pantry, I totally agree that you’re losing valuable real estate with the (yes, cheap) wire shelves. Make the investment in solid shelving. I would consider a dark wood for the shelves so you can complement the floors of your kitchen.

Don’t just slap up shelves. Design it!

If I have a 28” return to the left of my door, most base cabinets have a 24” depth. I’ll have to get custom cabinets for sure to work around that. I want to design it right.

I like to have flexibility in my storage, so I used the ELFA system from The Container Store. The shelves are adjustable and I also have drawers for better organization. They also sell a solid shelf so you could have a "counter" for the appliances. I find the metal shelves with liners to be easy to use and durable.

Random thoughts:

- No, you cannot make this into a Butler's Pantry. It's not positioned between the kitchen and the dining room. As several other people have stated, a Butler's Pantry is not so much for food storage as it is for "staging" meals before they make it to the dining room table ... it's a place to store dishes for the dining room, readying the dessert, etc.

- In a different posts you say you just want to make it cute, and you have a 3K budget for a 5x5 room. Yes, you can totally do this.

- If this were my space, I'd replace the cheap wire shelves with inexpensive solid white shelves ... keeping the shelves on the left and back walls. Then I'd add pegboard to the right wall.

- Once you have those shelves in place, pick the items you want to use for storage ... glass jars? wicker baskets? plastic bins? This cute stuff is secondary to getting the shelves in place.

- Do you have any specific needs? Like, do you want a dorm-sized fridge in the pantry, or do you want a recycling bin in the pantry, or do you need hanging space for aprons or shelf space for cookbooks? If so, think through where that can work.

I would replace the short wire shelving you have now with 12"D solid shelves floor-to-ceiling -- that should dramatically increase your storage capacity.

12" deep shelving is the "sweet spot" for pantry storage and will accommodate the vast majority of small appliances -- toasters, waffle irons, breadmakers, mixers (even a KA turned sideways), blenders, food processors, etc.

Everything I see in your pantry right now should fit on 12"D shelves.

I would get the trash can out of the pantry, if you can. It's taking up valuable floor space. Plus, to me, it's unsanitary to have it with the food. YMMV

Personally, I would not put the MW in the pantry b/c it introduces moisture & heat into an area that should be dark, cool, and dry. If you do put it in the pantry, then be sure to leave the pantry door open not only when the MW is in use but also for 15 or 20 minutes after that to ensure all the heat & moisture has left the pantry. Leave the MW door open for those 15 to 20 minutes as well so the heat & moisture are not trapped in it (to then seep out slowly into the pantry). Locate it close to the front of the pantry so it will have less of an impact on food stored deeper inside the pantry.

I almost always agree with Buehl (over many years), but not this time regarding her thoughts on a microwave in a pantry. I’ve had a MW in a pantry in 3 different houses over a 20+ years time. The pantries have been different sizes and shapes, from large walk-in to small closet. A MW does not ”introduce moisture and heat”, at least not in a significant way that affects the pantry contents whatsoever. And that includes the small narrow closet pantry I had. Phrases like ”seep out slowly” are an exaggeration for dramatic effect. There is also no need to “leave the pantry door open 15-20 minites”. I close the door with the back of my foot as I am carrying the hot contents from the MW - i.e. immediately. You do need to have the pantry door open while it's cooking though - that is more for the MW's electronics than for the pantry contents.

I recently went throigh my pantry to get rid of expired stuff - I am embarrassed at how old some of the things were. But even dry goods that had old expiry dates on them looked good, dry, and as if new. Including the ones on the shelf directly above the MW. And including items like rice and cocoa powder which are especially susceptible to heat and moisture, but looked like new. I threw the expired things away because of the dates, but there clearly had been no effect on them of daily MW use in the pantry and immediate closing of the pantry door after MW use.

Your budget will get you what Chispa is recommending. Not the custom millwork route.

I really like the Container Store's online design feature, for at least a first pass. It will force you to measure everything and think through your space. When I've used it for closets, I then went to the store to see the pieces in person, and a salesperson can help you tweak the design. Even if you want to get less expensive shelves etc elsewhere, you'll know what sizes you need. And the store usually does a big sale in January on Elfa products.

Agree solid surface floor to ceiling shelving is your best bet. We can store a ton in our pantry. All of our food and all of our non-daily appliances are stored in the pantry.

I never understood the suggestions to keep a microwave in the pantry but maybe others don’t use theirs as much as I do. It’s by far our most used appliance.

Don't move the microwave to the pantry since it is also built in as your hood vent. Not that you were suggesting that!

If local, look at IKEA pantry and closet systems for inexpensive options. You could even do cabinets but that's a bit superfluous.

That Elfa system looks like a really good plan , the fact it ha sdrawers is a bonus for stuffl like table cloths , napkins candles all that stuff that takes up space in a kitchen often . I agree no MW in the pantry unless it is rarely used .

I LOVE Elfa, but it can get expensive quickly. Definitely try to catch the sale. Elfa is good because you can have shelves that are adjustable AND get shallower as they go up. 2 Elfa walls and pegboard wall sounds good. Are you wanting a counter?

The Elfa System looks nice, but I am wondering about the best use of your renovation budget and the necessity of making the pantry beautiful or just functional.

The current shelves are not very sturdy and rather narrow. Wood shelves, even fairly heavy duty wood shelves, often end up bowing under the weight of canned goods.

I worked in restaurants in my youth and have used the same industrial shelving in every home I have owned since.

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/48403/regency-shelving.html?filter=type:accessories:shelves&multi=true&filter=finish:chrome

You can get the butcher block insert, extra shelves, and they are completely adjustable, so every shelf can be the appropriate height needed.

I use them in my cleaning cabinet and my small appliance cabinet, a spare bedroom closet for organizing craft supplies, in my basement for a work surface and storage.

Ours is different shaped than yours but same overall wall space. We can fit so much in there.

Sorry meant to add a picture

Yes, ELFA isn't cheap either. The pantry I showed a few posts above was ordered Oct 2021, so I'm sure prices have increased since then. The pantry was $3300 + installation $820 + applicable taxes. The pantry is 85" x 61" with 11 ft ceilings. The hanging rail was placed at 10 ft. I store rarely used items up high and keep a folded 3-step stepladder in the pantry for when I need access to the higher shelves.

Notice how my first shelf/drawer on the bottom is quite low. This was done on purpose because I learnt that other people in the house just dumped stuff on the floor of the pantry, which makes it look messy, is less organized and makes it harder to keep the floor clean. The lower shelf/drawer were placed high enough to allow just enough space for easy cleaning with the vacuum/mop. Much easier to control any pantry pests if the floor is clear and cleaned regularly.

I prefer industrial or wire shelving in the pantry. It doesn’t collect dust and it lets light through wherever there isn’t an object, so the lower shelves are a bit brighter. You have to be sure the times or whatever they are called are thick enough and close enough to each other to support the weight and not allow cans and bottles to tilt between them. Exception is your counter high shelf for small appliances, which should be solid since small appliances often have little feet.

The elfa 30% off sale is on now. And I have used elfa but you can use your own solid shelves with it. I have used their shelves as well as the old shelves from the closet, and shelves left over from other projects, wood and composite.