Have some shelves or hooks on your pantry door and think you’ve done all you can to trick out your pantry? You’re just getting started.

While the door does offer quite a few options to customize your pantry, don’t forget about the inside of the pantry.

If you’re struggling for ideas, the suggestions below might just have you clearing out your pantry and seeing how much you can really do with it.

Everything And The Kitchen Sink

If you have a larger pantry, such as a walk-in or butler style, add in a sink to make it a hidden prep area. This is also ideal if you store vegetables like potatoes in your pantry. Use the sink to wash them and prep them quickly. Some people even add a small dishwasher if there is space to avoid taking up valuable room in the main part of the kitchen.

Shelves Everywhere

Shelving is your best friend when it comes to decking out a pantry. Adding in shelves that are easy to adjust is ideal for ensuring you’re always able to reach the things you need. For instance, you might add a small rounded shelf for spices with space in the front to stack a few taller items like boxes of cereal. This allows you to maximize space and still stay organized.

A great play on standard shelves is pull-out shelves. For small pantries, these are lifesavers so you never forget about the things in the back. You may even consider a floor to ceiling Lazy Susan for corners.

Wire shelving also works well to create a fully custom pantry. Not only can you easily see between shelves, but you can hang small items with magnetic clips that don’t stack well.

Adding Power

Who couldn’t use a few more outlets sometimes? Whether it’s just an out of the way place to charge your phone/tablet or plug in your slow cooker, more outlets are always a good thing. Deck out your pantry with a few outlets, especially for walk-in pantries. Add a small counter area for smaller appliances, such as a slower cooker or blender so they’re not in the way while you’re preparing other things.

Baskets And Containers Everywhere

If you don’t want to have to redo your shelving, no problem! Move your smaller items to baskets and put oddly shaped items in see-through containers. Better Homes & Gardens shows just how easy it is to go from a cluttered mess to fully organized just by placing everything neatly in baskets and containers. The Happy Housie also has great examples of beautifully made over pantries.

Start Hanging Items

You typically see a pantry as a place to sit things on shelves. But, what about those small bags that mixes and rice sometimes come in? Those are a pain to sit upright and constantly fall over. Instead, add a small rod to the underside of any shelf. Use a rod that’s small enough for chip clips or binder clips to slide over. Use these to hang those pesky bags. For tall shelves, hang these bags and consider a slide out shelf underneath for spices for optimal organization.

Wheel Out Heavy Items

When you store heavier items like boxes of canned food or even appliances like a pressure cooker, they’re often heavy and awkward to get out. Take advantage of the space on the floor to store these heavy items easily. All you need is a flat plant stand with wheels. Now when you need something heavy from the bottom, simply roll it out and it’s much easier to get to. You can also use wheeled crates for storing even more items.

Light It Up

How often do you have to take a flashlight to find what you need in the pantry. This is yet another reason for outlets in your pantry. Add thin LED light strips to the undersides of every shelf. For wire shelving, you may only need a light every few shelves. All you have to do is tap the power button and suddenly, you’re able to see everything. If outlets aren’t an option, battery operated versions are available too.

Your pantry is yours to customize to your heart’s content. Get creative. Store food, appliances, bakeware and more. Need custom cabinets and shelving for your pantry? Contact us today to see how we can help.

Image: Downtowngal

When it comes to kitchen design, storage is high on the list of must-haves. A well thought out pantry optimizes your storage and organizational needs. Whether your plans include a modest kitchen upgrade or a full remodel, this is your opportunity to make a poorly functioning pantry better, a sufficient pantry great, or add a spectacular addition to the most used room in your home.

There are advantages and disadvantages to every type of food storage cabinetry. Consider these kitchen pantry designs tips when planning your next project.

Reach in – The ideal configuration for a reach-in pantry is shelving no deeper than 14-16 inches. This layout will allow you to see everything you have, at a single glance. Reach in models with deeper ( 16 inch +) shelves tend to become black holes. Little used items or small appliances disappear, never to be seen again. You will actually gain more useable space by replacing deeper shelves with narrower ones, and adding an 8-inch storage shelf to the door for bottles and cans. Replacing wire shelving with solid surfaces gives even a basic pantry a high-end look for a modest investment.

Pull out – While this type of unit is visually more pleasing (because it is part of the cabinetry), it is not as convenient to use. It has to be pulled out and pushed back with each use. On the upside, the contents are visible and accessible from both sides; but this convenience comes with a price. The costs associated with the heavy-duty hardware make this a more expensive choice.

Walk in – A perfect solution for storing large amounts of jarred and canned goods, along with seldom-used appliances. Many homeowners consider this option ideal. It is, however, somewhat inconvenient as it is usually remotely located from the hub of the kitchen. A simple solution is to include a secondary small pantry inside the kitchen itself.

Contact us to learn about our full line of kitchen cabinets. Our design experts will show you how to incorporate a custom fitted unit into your current kitchen footprint. Whatever style you choose we will help you design for convenience and accessibility.

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Why There Is More To A Pantry Than The Pantry Door