Kitchen pantry design | Walk-in pantry vs. the pantry cabinet

In this video, I discuss the pros and cons of walk-in pantries and pantry cabinets. There is more to think about than just the space required for a walk in pantry. Pantry organization, cleaning time, and kitchen layout all play an important role in selecting the best option for your kitchen design.

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:36 Pantry cabinet
3:05 Walk-in pantry
5:37 Final words

Even though this isn't a construction video, these are my commonly used tools (Affiliate links):

[doubledragon]

Thanks for this video. I am going to renovate my 1975 kitchen and I have room to incorporate an island and have wall pantry cabinets 24 inches deep. Right now everything is cluttered. I have countertop space, but it's divided up into 4 zones making all of it practically unusable. My mind has been on the problems of the layout and design. It's a decent space 12 x 16 feet, so I have a lot to work with. I've thought a better solution for countertop clutter that's unsightly but needed is to have those items in "appliance garages" sandwiched between floor and ceiling cabinets. Clean look, efficient storage, still very convenient. Toaster and microwave in one garage, and coffee machine and service in another.

[Pandorash]

Great points.

I’ve seen so many walk-in pantries that didn’t actually increase storage, they just have extra dance space. Walk-in-wardrobes can be similar.

[nadegeflint]

Thanks for the video and the more realistic approach to kitchen design. When we built our previous house having a walk in pantry ( where we were that is called a back kitchen) was an absolute no-brainer. While the kitchen itself was large and had plenty of storage and counter space, it made life so much easier to have this added area with counter space to dry pasta for instance, prepare dishes before a big gathering, keep dessert trays out of the way during dinner…. While I agree with you on the efficiency aspect of having a kitchen pull out pantry, I never really minded the steps to get out of the kitchen and corral ingredients. The things that I found needed to be in the kitchen were cooking oils and vinegars, spices, onions, shallots, potatoes, flour, sugar, tea (I guess coffee if you’re a coffee drinker)You reach out for those all the time. Walking to the pantry to get a spoonful of flour to thicken a sauce is not practical. We have recently moved to a house with a nightmarish kitchen ( whoever did it had not watched your videos!) and a black hole of a pantry cabinet with no pull out shelves. We’ve planning on carving out a room in our basement to build a walk in pantry to not only house food but also bakeware, occasional appliances and dishes. I am actually surprised that walk in pantries ( fancy or not) are not more prevalent in North America where food containers tend to be on the bulky side and a lot of people shop at places like Costco a lot. I would vote walk in pantry anytime with a smaller pull out base cabinet in the kitchen. Any plans on making a video about appliance garages with Ikea cabinets ?

[millieh.-nyc]

Wow, I really needed to hear this. This was so informative. Thank you so much for your valuable insight. I was thinking about a corner pantry or larder too. Be well.

[ryansoo]

One thing that never seems to get mentioned when discussing pantries is that they are actually used for "extra" food. Growing up in a five member household living in a 1200 sq' house we kept all out stuff in basic kitchen cabinets (in a 12 x 12 foot room). The extra food was downstairs on some shelves under the stairs, and the only time we went there is when the cereal box was empty or mom wanted a can of tomato sauce.
Even if you don't have room for a walk-in pantry (some of which are approaching the size and functionality of a second kitchen) do you really need a large, full height cabinet to store that extra cereal box and bag of flour? I'd rather put the cereal box in an upper cabinet and have more counterspace.

[martyo]

I’m currently struggling with this decision as well. I have a pantry closet in the kitchen with deep fixed shelves and I hate having to pull out stuff from the front to get to stuff in back. I’m using some deep baskets to organize dry food items and snacks and we pull them out like drawers, but it’s not ideal. I have overflow food items in the laundry room but really need that space for other things. I do have a dining room next to my kitchen and I’m debating turning part of that space into a butler’s pantry since we don’t use the dining room very often, and we have another dining space in the kitchen nook. But still, I like my dining room and would be sad to give it up. I guess it will just come down to prioritizing and giving up some things.

[vociferonheraldofthewintermist]

My mistake. I have a 16.5 foot wall in my kitchen that I put 16 inch, floor to ceiling pantry cabinets in. I did the shallower depth because I'm short and I despise being unable to reach crap in the back with my stupid t-rex arms. It is shocking how much storage you lose when you set it up like that.

The smart: I knew me and I knew I was going to change my mind about everything down the line. So when we had the house built, I had it set up so that we had plenty of room to install deep cabinets if (when) I decide to mix things up.

Now I'm preparing to build 25 inch deep cabinets to replace the old ones *with pull out shelves* so I can actually reach things in the back with my itty bitty arms. This will give me all the storage square footage and make room for a much needed beverage bar.

With all that said, I've learned that I would've hated a walk in pantry. As it is, I have to walk back and forth to my pantry wall to gather ingredients every time I cook. Then I've got to make the treks all over again to put things away. ALL. OF. IT. Honestly, it's inefficient and frustrating. Sometimes I leave a Harbor Freight cart parked at the end of the island so I can do it all in one shot. In the remodel, all my baking supplies will be in big drawers in my island. At this point, I know that the pantry cabinets are the fight choice for me vs a walk in.

And yet, I'd still love to have an additional pantry for my Costco hauls and freezer collection... But maybe if I didn't spend so much at Costco maybe we could've afforded to get a larger house. lol!

[dramaqueen]

The pantry cabinet all the way. I turned that existing room into a "mud" room~ in live in TN. DQ.

[TheDecoCottage]

I legit don’t have the space for a walk in pantry. Kitchen is 110 sq ft. Pantry cabinet with pull outs and bins was it.

[isabell]

We are currently renovating and I probably will remove the pantry and make the kitchen bigger instead. It blocks a lot of light from the window and its hardly more storage. The only "positive" I see is, that I have the space to just put some "ugly" stuff or boxes on the floor like for sorting trash (glas, metal...). For the "small appliances"; I will buy mostly multi purpose stuff so I won't have anything on the counter. But well see....

[NicoleMangan-zo]

I have a bar type counter in my kitchen that we do not use and the corner cupboard on the bottom is basically useless and the jut out makes it impossible for my short self to use it. I just want to rip the counter and upper cabinets off and make a pantry cabinet. We have a huge closet that was made i to a pantry and its in the hallway, awkward and dark. Its such a waste or space

[kaspeaks]

I've had both and MUCH prefer the pantry cabinet options. 24-30in wide pullouts are the way to go (never the fixed shelves). So much easier to access and organize. He's right, (unless you are very disciplined and plan to do a lot of custom space planning) the walk in pantry just ends up looking cluttered.

[sonder]

My pantry and laundry room are combined. Problem is, it's the only public entry into the only bathroom. I cant stand it. I would love to redo the area, it's a definite eyesore.

[lj]

I have an odd shaped room which i wany yo turn into walk in pantry and struggling with design.

[Peej]

A walk in pantry is not a butler's pantry.