As popular as the butler's pantry or walk-in pantry is right now, it is not always possible to fit this into a smaller Kitchen. However, even if all you can fit is a small pantry cupboard, there are ways to make this a functional space for you. In this post, I will be sharing 5 things that you can do with your pantry cupboard to make it as practical and functional as possible:
1 | U-shaped shelving
Pantry cupboards are often around 600-700mm deep, which means that if you're filling it with smaller items, you're like to forget what's in the back and lose things when you need to use them. One way around this is to add U-shaped shelving instead, so that you have approx 300mm deep shelving that wraps around the three cupboard walls. This is particularly helpful if you have a wider cupboard that is 900mm or more.
2 | Pull out pantry
Another way to solve the issue of deep pantry cupboards is to swap out your normal adjustable shelves for a pull-out pantry. These allow you to pull all the shelves out to you so you can see exactly what is at the back of the shelves. One thing to keep in mind is that pull-out pantries come in standard sizes only, so you need to make sure you have the right width and height to suit. However, they do come in 300mm and 450mm widths which make these perfect for small pantry cupboards to make the most of the space.
3 | Door-mounted shelves
A third way to make the most of the deep pantry cupboard, is to reduce the depth of the inside shelves by around 200mm and add a narrow shelving unit mounted onto the inside of the pantry door as well. These are fantastic for things that you use really often like spices, coffee and tea as it makes them really accessible and easy to find. As with the pull out pantry, these also come in standard sizes.
4 | Drawers
Instead of having only shelves in the cupboard, consider adding drawers to the bottom section. These could be drawers with open/glass fronts that allow you to see what's in them and are hidden behind doors. Alternatively they could be normal drawers to match the rest of your kitchen instead. People often use the top of the drawers as a small appliance shelf for toasters, soda streams, mixers, etc. If you're wanting to do this, I would recommend to stop the drawers at 900mm high. If wanting to add as many drawers as possible, then around 1200mm tends to be a comfortable height - although this will depend on the height of the people using the space!
5 | Lighting
Your main kitchen lights are likely to be behind you as you look into the cupboard so it's likely that the pantry itself will be quite shadowed, making it difficult to find what you're looking for. One thing we often add to solve this issue is vertical integrated LED strips to the two side panels inside the cupboard. You can also just add a small LED downlight at the top inside the pantry, particularly if you have U-shaped shelving. Instead of a switch, you can also ask your electrician to connect this to a sensor so that the light turns on when the door is opened.
I hope these ideas have been helpful! If you want to find out more about how we can help you with your project, get in contact with us below:
Have a wonderful week!
Nina xx
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