We bought our fixer-upper back in 2016 and it took us nearly 5 years to do anything with our walk-in pantry space. We simply couldn’t afford to touch it straight away, as other parts of the house such as the kitchen, bathrooms and living room took priority for obvious reasons. As the saying goes: “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and this is very true when you own a fixer-upper, unless you are one of the rare breed who can afford to do it all at once.
So we lived with our antiquated pantry shelves that came with the original home. Not only were they outdated, but thanks to their design, they served limited useful purpose. We did manage to put a lick of paint over them when we first moved in and used them as best we could. Thankfully, as the pantry had a door, we were able to close off the area when we had guests over.
By 2021, the entire house was modernized all except for the pantry and we decided we simply couldn’t ignore it anymore. It was time for a reno that wouldn’t break the bank.
Here are the top things we did to upgrade our pantry. Boy, were we pleased with the results! It’s amazing the positive impact that a well designed pantry can have on your life, such as saving space and time. For an OCD queen like me, I am in heaven when I enter my new pantry; and it is by no means an elaborate design, but it has everything we’ve always wanted for our pantry.
Our new pantry, not only looks 10 times better but in terms of functionality, it has improved 1000%. We now know where everything is and they are easier to find. The cupboards in our kitchen now contain less stuff, which means they are better organized and more attractive to look at.
If you are thinking about building a new pantry or remodeling your existing one, whether walk-in or wall-to-wall, then we hope these 5 tips will be of help to you.
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Plan Your Pantry to Suit your lifestyle
We love our pantry, but that doesn’t mean that you would love it as much as we do. The key is to design your pantry so that it fits neatly into the way that you live, cook and entertain. Ask yourself these four questions:
- What do you want to put into your pantry? Ensure that the spaces match the sizes and shapes of what the pantry needs to hold.
- What things will be used most often? These will need to be put in convenient, easy to reach places.
- What things are likely to be used together? These should be located close to each other.
- Are there young children in your home? If so, you will want to consider putting anything potentially dangerous out of reach of tiny hands.
With your answers, you’ll be able to design the perfect pantry to suit your needs. You will want to incorporate all of the following 5 practical steps into your pantry plan.
1. Practical Shelves & Niches/Shelf Space Allocation
We ensured that our pantry design included shelves with enough space between them.
Build shelves of different sizes, depth and dimensions to accommodate kitchenware, containers, food items and appliances of various shapes and forms. If you get your planning right, this should be relatively easy to do.
As a rule of thumb, the optimal depth for walk-in pantry shelves is 16 inches to 20 inches deep. For smaller pantry shelves, 4-5 inches is more ideal.
2. Drawers
When doing your planning, make sure that you consider how drawers can add to the utility of your pantry. We decided that we needed to include some drawers rather than using all open shelves.
Not only do drawers add design versatility to the space but they serve as the perfect hiding place for snacks, dishtowels, utensils and other kitchen items you don’t necessarily wish to display. As for my English husband who drinks over 10 cups of tea per day, our pantry drawers serve as the perfect storage place for his wide assortment of teas.
3. Get the Lighting Right
This was something that we didn’t think about during our initial planning. Fortunately, after the build out was finished, we were able to install the perfect light fitting that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
We recommend metallic or industrial pendants or a small crystal chandelier, which not only adds functionality but also a stylish flair to your pantry. If you are in and out of your pantry a lot, then a motion sensor LED light might be a useful and energy efficient addition. Click here to see more pantry lighting options.
4. Decorative Display Shelves
While the primary purpose of a pantry is pragmatic, this doesn’t mean that it can’t be good to look at.
Reserve a few prominent shelves to display your favourite cookbooks, dishware collection, appliances and canisters. We also keep some of our food on display (flour, seasonings, pasta, cans), which makes cooking so much easier, as everything is easily accessible.
Cooking is also fun and exciting, as every time we enter our pantry, we feel like we’ve just walked into gourmet food store.
5. Wine Racks
A nicely designed and well-located wine rack is a great place to store your wine in a useful and visually appealing manner. We have a couple of racks, which hold a total of 18 bottles positioned at eye level when you enter our pantry, while the remainder are stored in a less prominent location.
This means that we have some pleasing optics when entering the pantry and we can grab a bottle quickly when needed. With most of our wines taking up minimal space, it ensures the prime real estate in the pantry is used as effectively as possible.
With hindsight, the big lesson for us is that we should have given our pantry a higher priority than we did. Our new pantry has increased our enjoyment of our kitchen in so many ways. We really should have done it earlier!
How did you find these 6 top tips on how to design your pantry ? Drop me a comment below and be sure to check out more related articles below.
Author
Monique Abbott
Hi, I ’m Monique, founder and editor-in-chief of Yes2Yolo, travel addict, lover of home makeover projects among many other passions, including creative and inspirational writing to embolden us to live our best lives. At my core, I am a creative artistic being and I believe that creativity knows no end.
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I’ve explored over 60 countries with my husband Nick. Together we’ve partnered on some truly exciting projects such as creating and running a successful Airbnb business, chairing condo boards, purchasing fixer-uppers and renovating them from scratch on our own while balancing all of this with full-time jobs and family.
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While my personal passions are travel and home décor, I am, by profession, a lawyer with over 17 years experience.
Fantastic article plus gorgeous pantry!
Thank you very much Diahann. We do appreciate the positive feedback and your support!
These are some good and timely tips!
Thank you very much Elizabeth!