Kitchen Pantry Cabinet

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A kitchen pantry cabinet can add to the look of your kitchen while giving you valuable storage space. Every kitchen needs one. There are different ways to approach the issue of how to provide this needed storage. Obviously, you have to work around the layout of the kitchen area.

In the case of having such a small kitchen that there is no room for such a cabinet, you will be restricted to using racks that hang over doors. These can be placed on closet doors, or doors leading to basements, in close proximity to your kitchen.

Another option to the door rack is a free-standing cabinet which can be positioned near the kitchen. These can be found in any style and color you can think of. If you select this solution to your food storage problem, make it reflect your style and design preference.

Built-in Kitchen Pantry Cabinet

The most typical solution to finding a place for food storage is the built-in cabinet which matches the rest of your cabinetry. These cabinets are usually made either 12" or 24" deep, and the full height of the other cabinets (7 ft. or higher).

In the case of the 12" deep cabinet, the interior is very straight forward. You should have 5 adjustable shelves, positioned to accomodate the heights of the products you will keep there.

Each shelf should have a specific type of product (i.e. beverages on one shelf, paper products on one, canned goods on one, etc.) Common sense will dictate that you place the tall items behind the shorter ones. Labels should not be necessary.

Rev-A-Shelf and K V are both good sources of quality products. Find full pricing and product lines by Googling these manufacturers.

These can get expensive (up to $2000, plus installation). I do not recommend buying racks that are attached to the doors of the kitchen pantry cabinet. These racks will become heavy, and over time you will have problems with door alignment.

Hinges will often need adjusting, and screws will loosen. Furthermore, these doors are usually higher than other cabinet doors and they are only 3/4" thick. Seasonal changes in temperature and humidity will cause warping, which will be increased by the additional weight of the racks.

What I strongly recommend for both existing and new pantry cabinets is the pull-out tray. It is not only as useful as the other organizing systems, but it is also A LOT cheaper.

Trays are different from shelves in that they have lips all around the perimeter which keeps stuff from sliding off. The lip also provides a place where the drawer slide hardware can be attached.

The bottom tray should have HD (heavy duty) slides which can accomodate up to 150 lbs. This is where your large beverage bottles should be, so that you don't have to lift the weight very far. Other trays can have 100 lb. slides, but ALL slides should be of the ball-bearing variety, and "full-extension" slides. The highest tray should be reserved for paper products and other light-weight items.

Butler's Pantry

If you're lucky enough to have a separate room for a pantry, you have 2 options. A Butler's pantry is typically a work area. Therefore, upper and lower cabinets usually are made for storage, with a counter top to work on. This area might have a sink as well.

The other option is strickly storage on shelves. The greatest capacity is achieved with a rolling shelving system like those made by Lundia (Google "rolling shelving" to get more info). This would apply only if you have 10 kids, have many relatives living with you, own a soup kitchen, or feed the neighborhood regularly. Otherwise, this option might be overkill.

If you have a question about your kitchen pantry cabinet, click here.

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