Walk-in pantries are a fantastic solution for storing non-perishables, small appliances, and kitchen essentials that won’t fit in cabinets. This extra space not only declutters your kitchen but also extends its benefits to other areas of your home.
Whether you’re planning to add a walk-in pantry or reorganize an existing one, it’s crucial to think about your current household needs and future changes. This thoughtful approach will guide you in making smart design decisions to optimize the additional storage.
Check out our top walk-in pantry ideas to make the most of your space.
Walk-In Pantry
A walk-in pantry is like your kitchen’s secret treasure room. It’s a spacious storage space where you can stash all your groceries, snacks, and cooking essentials.
Picture a small room right off your kitchen with shelves from floor to ceiling, giving you plenty of room to organize and access your food items easily. It’s a game-changer for keeping your kitchen clutter-free and ensuring you never run out of your favorite snacks or ingredients.
What Should Be in A Walk-In Pantry?
A well-stocked walk-in pantry should include a variety of essential items for easy meal preparation and daily needs.
Basics like canned goods (beans, tomatoes, and soups), pasta, rice, and grains form the foundation. Don’t forget spices, condiments, and oils to add flavor to dishes. Include snacks, such as nuts and crackers, for quick bites.
Keep your favorite teas, coffee, and breakfast items handy. Stock up on non-perishables like flour and sugar, and always have baking essentials for impromptu baking sessions.
Having a mix of canned and jarred sauces, along with a selection of dry herbs, ensures you’re ready for diverse culinary adventures.
Lastly, maintain a good supply of paper towels, foil, and other kitchen necessities to make your pantry a one-stop solution for your daily kitchen needs.
How do you Plan a Walk-in Pantry?
Designing a walk-in pantry can be fun yet a bit tricky. First, check out your pantry’s size and layout, and think about what stuff you want to keep there. To make it work well, pick a design that uses your pantry space wisely.
Once you have a design in mind, make a pantry guide. This guide should tell you where to put things and how much of each item to have. It’s handy to group items like grains, cans, baking stuff, and spices.
With this guide, planning meals, stocking up, and keeping your pantry tidy will be a breeze!
Steps For Planning The Perfect Walk-in Pantry
Here are some steps for planning the perfect walk-in pantry:
- Measure and Design: First, take a look at your space and imagine how to set it up just right. If you’re creating a new pantry, think about how big it should be and where it fits on the wall. Consider if you’d like shelves on two levels or just one. Also, decide if you want room for a fridge or freezer. Draw a simple sketch of how you want things arranged and choose what you’ll keep in your pantry. Before you start buying and building, have a plan in place to make the most of your space.
- Decide on Storage Tools: Once you’ve figured out your measurements and layout, think about what kind of shelves and storage options would work best for you. Decide what you want to keep in your pantry and then choose shelves, baskets, and bins that will help keep everything organized. If you have a walk-in pantry, consider deep shelves, sliding drawers, or built-in drawers to make the most of your space. Using drawers for heavier items can also keep things tidy and give your pantry a clean, simple look.
- Utilize Vertical Space: No matter the shape of your pantry—whether it’s square or round, you’ve got a chance to make smart use of vertical space and save tons of room. Think about storing things like canned goods in upright positions, making it a breeze to grab stuff from handy shelves. Use hanging baskets and adjustable shelves to create more space for your items. Just keep an eye on the shelf depth and height to make your pantry work even better for you.
- Maximize Openness: When you’re setting up a walk-in pantry, don’t forget the key ingredient: openness! Think about using open shelves to make things super flexible and get the most out of your space. Try floating shelves or see-through containers to keep the pantry looking neat and open. This way, you can effortlessly grab whatever you need, making your pantry a breeze to use and super organized.
Benefits of a Walk-In Pantry
A walk-in pantry offers numerous advantages that enhance kitchen functionality and organization.
Firstly, it provides ample storage space, allowing homeowners to stock up on groceries and kitchen essentials. This helps in reducing frequent trips to the grocery store and ensures that ingredients are readily available.
Additionally, a walk-in pantry promotes better organization, making it easier to categorize and locate items. The spacious design allows for efficient shelving, ensuring better visibility and accessibility. It also aids in meal preparation by keeping the kitchen clutter-free, enabling a smoother cooking experience.
Overall, a walk-in pantry is a practical and convenient addition to any home, streamlining daily tasks and contributing to a well-organized and functional kitchen space.
Walk-In Pantry Ideas
Make the most out of your kitchen space by giving your pantry a makeover! Our ideas will transform it into a neat, beautiful, and useful part of your home. Let’s be honest, kitchen cabinets and counters can only hold so much.
Whether you love cooking, have a big family, shop in bulk, or just adore kitchen gadgets, a walk-in pantry is a game-changer. This cozy space is perfect for stocking up on canned goods, dry foods, snacks, drinks, and all your kitchen essentials.
Time to spruce up your pantry, make it super organized, and use every inch wisely. Investing in a walk-in pantry is a smart move—it’s not only something you’ll enjoy now but also adds value if you decide to sell your home later.
Personalize The Space To Your Needs
Create a walk-in pantry that suits your lifestyle by personalizing the space to meet your needs. Optimize organization and accessibility with adjustable shelving, labeled containers, and clear storage bins.
Consider installing built-in racks for spices and hooks for hanging utensils to maximize space efficiency. Enhance functionality by incorporating pull-out drawers for easy access to items at the back. Customize lighting to ensure visibility and create a welcoming atmosphere.
Add a touch of personality with decorative elements, such as chalkboard labels or stylish baskets. Tailoring your walk-in pantry to your preferences will not only streamline daily tasks but also make the space visually appealing and uniquely yours.
Store Appliances To Allow Your Kitchen To Stay Minimal
As we use our kitchens not just for cooking but also for socializing, a minimalist trend is catching on, especially when it comes to our countertops. People are looking for clever kitchen storage solutions to hide the messiness of food prep, and that’s where a walk-in pantry becomes a hot commodity.
A walk-in pantry is a smart spot to stash small kitchen gadgets like kettles, blenders, or toasters that can clutter your kitchen. Make sure to add power points in the pantry so you can conveniently use these appliances without lugging them back and forth to the kitchen.
Light It Up
Walk-in pantries, often lacking windows and prone to shadows, require careful consideration for effective kitchen lighting. Transforming these spaces from dark hideaways for Tupperware into practical and intuitive storage areas is achievable through strategic lighting, according to experts.
Installing well-placed spotlights for both the kitchen and pantry, emphasizing the importance of task lighting to ensure a well-lit and secure environment for cooking and storing food.
Even a pantry with a black interior receives ample lighting through concealed downlighters among open shelving, making it functional day and night.
Use A Partition Wall To Section Off A Pantry In A Large Kitchen
To set up your walk-in pantry, start by choosing its location, preferably during the initial kitchen design. If there’s no suitable space, you can create one by adding a partition wall.
A seasoned kitchen designer can maximize storage in various settings, like combining small rooms or sectioning off a corner for a pantry. In this example, the pantry is positioned next to the main cooking area, extending beyond the oven alcove.
Achieving this layout involves incorporating what’s currently the pantry’s exterior wall, transforming open space into a practical storage area.
Show Off Your Pantry With Glass Doors
If you take pride in your walk-in pantry, why not flaunt it? Mowlem & Co set an example with stunning crittall glass doors, but you can achieve a subtler effect by adding glass panels to your pantry’s kitchen cabinet ideas.
Some might hesitate with open pantries, fearing they’ll make the kitchen look messy, but when done right, it actually opens up the space, says Howley. Glass finishes work wonders in kitchens, breaking the monotony of solid doors and bringing more light into darker corners.
Whether your pantry is hidden or semi-open, maintaining a similar style creates a seamless look. This not only lets you display your wine collection stylishly but also keeps it separate from your cooking space, be it in a wine fridge or storage rack.
Decorate The Interior Like You Would A Kitchen
We believe in infusing our unique touch and personalization to craft a pantry space that stands out. It’s a reminder that your pantry deserves the same love and attention in design as any other room, down to considering kitchen tile ideas. To capture the charm of aged tiles without the worry of peeling paint, we aged and stained them to match the agreed style.
Taking a playful approach, we got the children involved in designing this cherished space. We carefully sourced lights and added a personal touch by screen painting ‘Full English’ and ‘Chocolate Brownie’ onto each one. The result is a pantry that not only looks beautiful but also tells a unique story.
Use Open Shelving For Accessibility And Display
For a walk-in pantry that seamlessly blends practicality with aesthetics, consider incorporating open shelving. This choice not only enhances accessibility, allowing for quick and easy retrieval of items, but also adds a stylish element to the space.
The open design provides visibility, enabling you to keep track of pantry inventory and preventing unnecessary purchases. Moreover, open shelves offer an opportunity for a curated and visually pleasing display of your favorite kitchen essentials.
This approach not only organizes your pantry efficiently but also adds a touch of personal style to the storage area.
Additionally, the open design promotes air circulation, contributing to the freshness of pantry items. The flexibility to customize shelf heights ensures that the pantry is tailored to accommodate items of various sizes, making it a practical and visually appealing storage solution.
Add Storage To The Inside Of Your Doors
Making sure your walk-in pantry is well-organized is crucial, especially in a larger space where you definitely don’t want chaos when you enter. Opting for open shelving not only encourages neatness but also enhances the overall usability of the area.
A successful walk-in pantry should allow you to easily locate and grab ingredients or utensils, making open shelving a smart choice. For maximum storage, consider extending your shelves all the way up to the ceiling.
Glaister notes a shift towards sustainable packaging, suggesting that homeowners now showcase attractive ceramics, glassware, and wicker storage pieces instead of hiding plastics in their cupboards. This not only adds a touch of style but also serves a practical purpose.
Create A Three-Sided Walk-In Space With A Double Pantry
For me, the best part of an amazing kitchen is a double pantry filled with interesting bottles of flavored oils, packets of the finest truffles, artisanal jarred vegetables, and special seasonings. Opening a double pantry is a truly awe-inspiring moment that adds a special touch to the cooking and entertaining experience.
While not everyone can have a walk-in pantry, a double pantry, if it fits your kitchen layout, can provide the feeling of a spacious, walk-in area. A small corridor space adjacent to the kitchen features a built-in pantry with large double doors, creating the illusion of a whole new room when opened.
The pantry doors have shelves on both sides, and the breakfast bar even comes with its own sink.
Minimize Intrusion Into The Kitchen With Bi-Fold Doors
Enhance the functionality and aesthetics of your kitchen with the addition of bi-fold doors for your walk-in pantry. Opting for these doors not only minimizes intrusion into the kitchen space but also adds a touch of style to your home.
The bi-fold doors offer seamless access to your pantry, ensuring that you can retrieve items with ease. Beyond the practical benefits, these doors contribute to a well-organized and visually appealing kitchen environment.
With their space-saving design and modern aesthetic, bi-fold doors are a user-friendly solution for maintaining a clutter-free and efficient culinary space.
How Deep Should Walk-In Pantry Shelves Be?
Before finalizing the depth of your pantry shelves, it’s crucial to determine the available space.
Considering the space allocation during the initial design of a walk-in pantry, emphasizing that it shapes the overall layout. As a general guideline, leave at least 1000mm for the walkway width within the pantry.
For those planning larger features like fridges or sinks, a recommended space of around 2.4m x 3m is advised. The next step involves identifying what you intend to store, highlighting the importance of proper shelf spacing for maximizing storage.
Deep cupboards with integrated workspace are recommended for storing appliances, and if incorporating baskets or larger storage, factor in shelf height and depth.
To optimize shelf usage, bespoke cabinetry, especially for awkward or small spaces, suggesting the recessing of shelves into walls as a practical solution.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a walk-in pantry is more than just a storage solution for your kitchen—it’s a game-changer that enhances organization, accessibility, and overall functionality.
By providing ample space for groceries, kitchen essentials, and small appliances, it streamlines meal preparation and reduces clutter in your kitchen.
Whether you’re customizing a new pantry or revamping an existing one, thoughtful planning and design choices will ensure you make the most of this valuable addition to your home.
So, explore our top walk-in pantry ideas to transform this space into a beautifully organized and personalized oasis that complements your lifestyle and adds both practicality and style to your kitchen.