A well-designed pantry should be easy to stock and clean.
Carving out room for a walk-in pantry is well-worth the effort. A spacious and well-organized food pantry will facilitate grocery shopping and cooking. Stepping inside a pantry with similar items grouped together helps you think through the process of making a grocery list. Reaching quickly for a canned or dry items when preparing a meal beats fumbling for items inside a cramped kitchen cabinet. Does this Spark an idea?
A Tiny Space
The smallest walk-in space should have 20 square feet. For example, a pantry measuring 4 feet across the front can have a two-foot wide walkway to the back wall. The depth of the space should measure 5 feet from the front door to the back wall. All floor-to-ceiling shelves along one side will measure 2 feet deep by 5 feet -- reaching from the pantry door to the back wall. Although this limited pantry space will work, look for space to enlarge the floor foot print, if possible. Shelves that are only 18 inches deep versus 24 inches deep will give more walking room, as another option.
Average Dimensions
A 6-by-6-foot square is the size of an average pantry in home building plans. To envision this area of 36 square feet, picture a 2-foot wide center walkway from the door to the back wall. On each side, you may build shelving from floor to ceiling. Shelves will measure 2-feet wide, reaching from the front door wall to the back wall. Each individual shelf will have storage room of 2-feet by 6-feet. Shelves should begin a couple of feet off the floor, leaving room for storage bins or deep baskets on the floor.
Expanded Room
Bigger floor space might include some kitchen cabinets. For example, if you want to increase the size of the pantry to 7-by-7 feet, you may include a row of base kitchen cabinets inside the pantry. This way, you are just laying out the kitchen a different way -- moving those needed base cabinets inside the pantry. One reason to add a row of cabinets, covered with countertop material, is to store pots and pans or dishes as well as food. The countertop gives you room to place items as you pull them out for cooking or meals. Essentially, this type of larger pantry can function as a butler's pantry, which typically is used for storing cookware, silverware, linen or dishes.
Different Layouts
Various shapes of pantry floor plans are possible. For example, you can build an L-shaped pantry, a wide pantry measuring 8-foot across the front door opening, or a long, narrow pantry measuring 5 feet across the front by 12-feet deep. A long, narrow pantry might incorporate an adjacent closet that you take from another room. Whatever the shape of the pantry, make sure the interior is not so cramped that you can't productively move about in it.
Ideal Space
Start designing by sketching your ideal pantry. This way, you can look around for ways to enlarge an average 6-by-6-foot square space, if needed. You might borrow 18 inches of space from a nearby hallway, laundry room or family room. Ideally, you will knock out a wall that is not load-bearing. Gaining just 18 inches of depth from nearby space that is 8 feet wide and 8 feet high will yield more than 90 extra cubic feet of storage.
Tags: back wall, across front, door back, door back wall, front door, inside pantry
