Pantries are enjoying an upsurge in popularity, and for good reason. They are a great place to store both bulk foods bought at the store (saving time and money for today’s busy families) and home-grown or home-preserved foods produced in our once-again-popular home gardens.Three Pantry DesignsThere are three main types of pantry designs: walk-in pantries, pull-out cabinet pantries and butler’s pantries.
A walk-in pantry is like a small room lined with shelves, drawers, and perhaps a countertop. Because the interior doesn’t have to look as pretty as the main kitchen, you can use cheaper open shelving to create a great deal of storage space for less cost then by using regular cabinetry. Some people do choose to finish the pantry to the same standard as the main kitchen though. A walk-in pantry is great if your household buys certain foods in large quantities and needs to store big bags, boxes or other containers, or large quantities of smaller containers. It’s also good for storing some non-food items like paper goods, which come in large packages.
A pull-out pantry cabinet is part of the main kitchen’s cabinetry and can be a very useful choice if you have no good location for a walk-in pantry. Instead of a cupboard door that swings open, the cabinet front is attached to shelves on rollers which pull forward out of the cabinet so you get complete access to all shelves from both sides. These cabinets are available full height (which blend gracefully with wall oven stacks and fridges), as base cabinets, and even as wall cabinets. Their biggest plus is full, easy access right to what would normally be the back of the cabinet shelves, so you can pack them full of boxes and cans without having to move what’s at the front to get at the back. They are, however, quite expensive because of all the mechanical gadgetry inside. If you have a suitable existing cabinet in your kitchen, which currently just has shelves, you can get pantry-cabinet fittings which can be mounted inside to turn the whole thing into a pantry cabinet.

Butler’s pantries serve a rather different function from the other two types. They are usually located between the kitchen and a formal dining area, and are used for storage of fine china and glass, for transferring food from the kitchen into serving dishes for the table, plating food, decanting wine, and in some cases for washing dishes and flatware. Because they can usually be seen from the dining area they are often finished to a high standard, perhaps even more decorative than the kitchen itself. Glass door wall cabinets are a common feature to show off the fine china and glassware, and decorative serving pieces. A butler’s pantry is also a good location for a wine refrigerator, a sink, and even a dishwasher if it’s to be used for cleanup.
A pantry can add convenience and function to your kitchen, and is worth devoting some space to. One of these pantry designs is sure to help solve your kitchen storage problems.