A kitchen pantry is just a big closet. When you think of it like that, the lack of common kitchen pantries seem indefensible. What other room in your house has so many different things and different sized things that need to be stored?
When I was younger I had the opportunity to rent a 3 bedroom apartment in a 1940s style Art Deco former residential hotel. It was grand and lovely. It had every thing from a service entrance to a six story grand atrium which all of the apartments overlooked. The rooms were all over sized and the ceilings were high. I lived in this apartment for at least 6 or 7 years, maybe more. One of the things I loved about this apartment was the walk-in pantry off of the kitchen. It was a small 5 sided room, approximately 3 feet by 5 feet, with an odd 18 inch by 18 inch window on the wall facing the door with opaque glass.
My first pantry was very simple. There were 4 or 5 shelves on the left hand side and a few less shelves on the window wall facing the door. The shelves were a bit shallow but it was a perfect place to store tins and boxes and baking supplies. It was also a good spot to keep my mop and broom and a bucket.
After having a kitchen pantry it's hard to live in a space without one. I have developed an interest in kitchen pantry design and try to peek into as many different pantries as possible. I keep learning about more and more kitchen pantry ideas.
Around the turn of the last century some kitchen pantries, particularly in farm houses, were very large and were used for food preparation as well as food storage. The pantries tended to be a separate room off the kitchen and were also used for cold storage. The pantries would have long chopping tables that also made for excellent work surfaces for pickling and making jams.
As families began to purchase more and more of their food items the space needed for preparation was reduced. By the 1920s and 1930s, the average pantry was reduced to a large closet and as time marched on pantries were completely eliminated from new house design.
It was not really until the advent of modern kitchen design that the kitchen pantry enjoyed a bit of a renaissance.
I was visiting friends who have rented a luxury villa over looking the bay of San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua. Their house is simply gorgeous and a perfect place for them to live while they are building their own equally gorgeous home. As always I had a peak around for a kitchen pantry.
Behind one of the doors of the bank of 9 foot high built in cupboards was a small pantry. This pantry was not used for food storage at all. It seemed to be a bit of a clean up closet. There was a large stainless steel sink, stainless counter top, and a large stainless garbage can. It was a mini-prep area disguised as a kitchen cupboard. The beauty of this pantry is that temporary clean up can happen with the closing of a cupboard door. I was paused by the genius of this idea. In an age of open concept kitchen/living areas, it is often difficult to hid the food preparation mess while entertaining. The host could excuse himself to do some dishes or clean up but this is often met with protests from the guests. In this case the hosts simply shuts a door and doesn't think of the mess until the guests have left. Brilliant.
When designing a kitchen pantry you should think of it like you would any other closet. Try to think about what purposes yo want the pantry to serve. Is it simply for storage or would you like to accomplish different things with the pantry. Do you like the idea of having a butler's pantry for your fine china and flatware? Do your homework. Research different styles of kitchen pantry organization. There are a number of companies that offer shelving, work tops etc for a kitchen pantry. I came across a funky website that can give you some ideas about kitchen pantries. Also check out the Kitchen and Pantry Storage section of the Home Depot web site .
Plan your kitchen pantry carefully. With creative and clever ideas you will be amazed at what can be stored in the pantry and what you can do with the pantry. A well planned kitchen pantry is a great addition to any house.
Wednesday 8 July 2009
Sunday 5 July 2009
Designing a Kitchen Pantry
Designing a kitchen pantry is one of my favorite topics. I love closet design and closet organization techniques and I love to cook. It is only natural that the combination of closet design in the kitchen would be irresistible to me.
When visiting friends or attending real estate open houses I always make an effort to peak into all of the closets and kitchen pantries that I come across. As an aside, visiting local area real estate open houses is a fantastic way to pick up new design ideas. Whether you are interested in interior design, interior decorating, closet organization, or kitchen pantry design open houses are a wealth of information and ideas. I pay particular attention to the open house ads that boast of complete renovations or completely renovated homes. If the open house ad mentions gourmet kitchen then it is a must see for me. The only downside is that you must undertake a little bit of a charade and pretend you are slightly interested in buying the house or at least interested in buying some sort of new dwelling in the next 12 months.
Getting back to how to design a kitchen pantry, the first thing you must consider are the functional goals of your new kitchen pantry. Are you designing a pantry for the purposes of storing food or unused appliances? This is the most common type of kitchen pantry and adds a great deal of convenience to your kitchen. This type of pantry allows you to see a great deal of items at eye level. As opposed to upper cabinets and lower cabinets, pantries tend to run from the floor to ceiling and permits storage in the thigh to nose range that is by far the most accessible area.
In the event you are designing your kitchen pantry for storage what types of things would you like to store in the pantry. Often people like to use the pantry for excess food items. The pantry provides spill over storage which allows people to stock up on non-perishable items that they might find on sale. If the purpose of the kitchen pantry is to only store food items then you need only be worried about shelving. You can install a number of shelves at different heights depending on the general heights or the cans and bottles etc you tend to buy most often. Remember to leave at least 3 inches of clearance over the stored items between shelves. For example, if you intend to have one shelf of the pantry devoted to cans of soup or stewed tomatoes you should measure the can (generally 5 inches) and add 3 inches. Therefore the next highest shelf should be at least 8 inches higher. You may want to install adjustable shelving in your kitchen pantry. The use of adjustable shelving means that you can be less careful in where you place the individual shelves.
If you have a walk-in kitchen pantry, you might want to consider installing a modular closet organization system. These are the same closet design systems that are used in walk in bedroom closets. You can pick an chose amongst the different components. In the case of a pantry you would want to forgo the hanging rods and add more shelving. Modular closet design systems come in a range of different prices. With a bit of homework you should be able to find one that fits within your budget. You can find different types of modular closet organizations systems at Canadian Tire.
Another type of pantry is called a functional kitchen pantry. Often people ask me about tips on designing and installing a functional kitchen pantry. Other people ask me "What is a functional kitchen pantry". This type of pantry is a pantry in which actually do certain tasks like chopping vegetables or rolling pastry. These pantries become mini work areas. The beauty of these self contained mini work areas is that can be closed off in the event of entertaining or they can be a centralized area to keep baking supplies and to prepare to make bake goods. A lot can be written about this type of pantry so I will save further information for another post.
In conclusion, designing a kitchen pantry is much like any other type of closet organization design. The first step is to determine the main purpose of the pantry or closet. Once you have determined specific goals and identified specific purposes then the design of your closet or kitchen pantry becomes relatively straight forward.
I am attaching a link to a site I find useful when it comes to kitchen pantries .
When visiting friends or attending real estate open houses I always make an effort to peak into all of the closets and kitchen pantries that I come across. As an aside, visiting local area real estate open houses is a fantastic way to pick up new design ideas. Whether you are interested in interior design, interior decorating, closet organization, or kitchen pantry design open houses are a wealth of information and ideas. I pay particular attention to the open house ads that boast of complete renovations or completely renovated homes. If the open house ad mentions gourmet kitchen then it is a must see for me. The only downside is that you must undertake a little bit of a charade and pretend you are slightly interested in buying the house or at least interested in buying some sort of new dwelling in the next 12 months.
Getting back to how to design a kitchen pantry, the first thing you must consider are the functional goals of your new kitchen pantry. Are you designing a pantry for the purposes of storing food or unused appliances? This is the most common type of kitchen pantry and adds a great deal of convenience to your kitchen. This type of pantry allows you to see a great deal of items at eye level. As opposed to upper cabinets and lower cabinets, pantries tend to run from the floor to ceiling and permits storage in the thigh to nose range that is by far the most accessible area.
In the event you are designing your kitchen pantry for storage what types of things would you like to store in the pantry. Often people like to use the pantry for excess food items. The pantry provides spill over storage which allows people to stock up on non-perishable items that they might find on sale. If the purpose of the kitchen pantry is to only store food items then you need only be worried about shelving. You can install a number of shelves at different heights depending on the general heights or the cans and bottles etc you tend to buy most often. Remember to leave at least 3 inches of clearance over the stored items between shelves. For example, if you intend to have one shelf of the pantry devoted to cans of soup or stewed tomatoes you should measure the can (generally 5 inches) and add 3 inches. Therefore the next highest shelf should be at least 8 inches higher. You may want to install adjustable shelving in your kitchen pantry. The use of adjustable shelving means that you can be less careful in where you place the individual shelves.
If you have a walk-in kitchen pantry, you might want to consider installing a modular closet organization system. These are the same closet design systems that are used in walk in bedroom closets. You can pick an chose amongst the different components. In the case of a pantry you would want to forgo the hanging rods and add more shelving. Modular closet design systems come in a range of different prices. With a bit of homework you should be able to find one that fits within your budget. You can find different types of modular closet organizations systems at Canadian Tire.
Another type of pantry is called a functional kitchen pantry. Often people ask me about tips on designing and installing a functional kitchen pantry. Other people ask me "What is a functional kitchen pantry". This type of pantry is a pantry in which actually do certain tasks like chopping vegetables or rolling pastry. These pantries become mini work areas. The beauty of these self contained mini work areas is that can be closed off in the event of entertaining or they can be a centralized area to keep baking supplies and to prepare to make bake goods. A lot can be written about this type of pantry so I will save further information for another post.
In conclusion, designing a kitchen pantry is much like any other type of closet organization design. The first step is to determine the main purpose of the pantry or closet. Once you have determined specific goals and identified specific purposes then the design of your closet or kitchen pantry becomes relatively straight forward.
I am attaching a link to a site I find useful when it comes to kitchen pantries .
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