oh, that should say "looking right, where 12" deep shelves will be"

here is looking left, where 16" shelves will be..

(that's my chihuahua, scrounging for food!)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Do you want any empty wall space for hanging a broom, leaning something, etc? I don't like corners, so prefer shelves just on the sides, or in an L shape. If you want to do all 3, I think I'd use the back for one of the deeper shelves and do the 8" on one side.

But I'm unclear about the 'clearance' issue. Sorry for being dense, but do you mean empty floor space?

Our walk-in (step in?) pantry is approx 4' by 4', so with 16" deep shelves on the back and 12" deep shelves on one side, we have 28" by 35" left as empty floor space.

Have you seen the pantry thread on the gallery section of the forum? Not sure if it will answer your particular questions, but there are LOTS of pantries to see...Be sure to check out the links for some former discussions with lots of photos.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pantry thread in the gallery

This is more like a step-into than a walk-in. I would do 12" all the way around unless you specifically have some larger items that need more depth, like small appliances. 36" wide should give you room to get in, look around, and be able to turn around with anything hat fits on those shelves.

Perhaps you might try stacking up cardboard boxes such that you are enclosed by a 32" by 35" space. Try squatting down. Is there room to squat AND pull something out? See how much space you have when using a step stool and the like. Is there sufficient room to pull something out AND hand it to someone standing below? Even though you don't have the *ideal* dimensions, you still need to have the space functional for your family.

You may not need a full side of 16" shelves. Have you measured all your stuff? Shallower shelves as you go up would open up the space at least.

Hope this helps. . . .

Thanks so much for the quick replies!

See...I like the idea of leaving one wall bare, as rhome suggested. I am trying to imagine all my stuff in the pantry. Will shelves all the way around be overkill? I just don't know. Maybe I will see if DH can do just the two side (back and left) and leave the right side open...and if we need to, we can add shelves later. I gotta see if there is a reason why he feels he must do it all now.

I plan on having mostly food in the pantry, but also things like my crockpot, food processor, maybe some plates?

Thanks for the link to the gallery...I did look at that a long time ago, but will look again now!

Maybe the idea of the deeper shelves in the back would work? Hmm.... so much to think about.

Oh, and yes, that is what I mean by clearance...how much empty floor space I have to stand in, turn around in, etc.

alabamanicole-Yeah...but maybe a "step in" pantry is ok? I dunno...I am so confused, trying to make the right decision. I am so bad...I have to LIVE with something before I decide whether I love it or hate it!

kitchen-hmmm...maybe the shallower shelves towards the top ...now THAT is a good idea. Have a few (maybe 2?) 16" shelves on the bottom...and then move up to 12"???

Again, thanks for the input and tossing the ideas around with me!

I think the idea of leaving the right 'open' til later is a good idea. maybe you'll have plenty of shelf room w/o using it. and probably 12" shelves on the left. check your stuff to see how many bigger things you have to store in there. do you need 2 shelves for them? 3? 4?

mine isn't step in /walk in - just open the doors! lol! it's about 4'wide and 18" deep. I'm planning to half one shelf to make 2 @9" for the 'reach in/eye height' shelves. that's plenty of space for several cans of food deep. veggies, soups, etc. and other small every day items. the deeper shelves will be above - to store my punch bowl, larger things and below for water jugs, maybe the dog food bin.

I long ago got rid of things like my canner, really large soup pot, canning jars etc. I no longer have a growing family to cook for or feed. no garden anymore either.

I don't have nearly 40" of clearance...my pantry is smaller than yours!

My pantry is approx 40" x 52" and is a corner pantry...

As you can see, I have less floor space than you do and my pantry works just fine. Yes, I wish it were a little bigger, but NOT floor space-wise...shelf space-wise. I call my pantry my "corner step-in pantry". (My pantry, btw, is in the pantry thread RHome410 linked to...it's the "SharB inspired pantry") We decided on 15" deep shelves & 12" deep shelves...with the 12" deep shelves the longer shelves. The vast majority of small appliances fit on 12" deep shelves, btw (just in case you're planning to store them in your pantry). The only small appliance that didn't fit was our toaster oven, so I now store it on the floor.

I'm not sure where the floor space clearance idea comes from either. I'd do the 16" shelves across the back and 12" ones on the left.

If you want to do staggered heights on the side, see if you'd be ok with deep shelves up high - wouldn't get in your way all the time. I want deep shelves for paper products and stuff I don't use often and am perfectly willing to reach high for paper goods or open a step stool.

"alabamanicole-Yeah...but maybe a "step in" pantry is ok?"

It's not ok, it's perfectly awesome. I had a 3'x4' step-in corner pantry and I had a TON of storage space. You will love having that much space.

bmorepanic-Ok...so do you mean leave one side open? Or do you mean 12", 12"" and then 16" in the back?

Oh, and this is where I got the 40" clearance idea...but not sure if this site is anything I need to respect and listen to...I just found it while googling...

http://www.dream-kitchen-pantry.com/kitchen_pantry_DESIGN/kitchen_pantry_plan_clearance.shtml

desertsteph-I am having a hard time talking my DH into leaving one side open...not sure why!

buehl-Thanks for sharing your sketch. Do you find the 15" shelves are needed? Do you ever wish they were shallower? And yeah, I didn't think about putting anything bigger on the floor. That would work!

Thank you alabamanicole! I am putting a lot of thought into this. I have always wanted a WIP...for YEARS. Now that I am finally getting one, I guess I am overthinking it a little!

This may be a case for an adjustable shelving system. Hubbie could hang the brackets all the way around and you could then experiment with different shelving depths and configurations and return what you end up not using. Later on, you could re-configure if you need something different.

FWIW, here's what we did in a situation similar to yours.

Our WIP is 53" deep x 62" wide. We put a series of three 16" deep shelves on the right (deeper) side, one with the bottom 15" up from the finished floor, one at counter height (36"), and one in between. All kinds of tall things fit on the floor under the 15" high shelf. The breadmaker and a couple of other appliances, plus the cereal boxes fit on the counter height shelf 2 deep, and there's assorted stuff on the shelf in between.

We went 18" up from the counter height shelf to the next shelf (I wanted this space to be like it is in the rest of the kitchen), and made all of the upper shelves 12" deep. A couple have 9-1/4" space between them for stacking soup and fruit sized cans; a couple of others have enough space for cake mix sized boxes. We have 9' ceilings, so I could have made the top shelf 15" deep and it would have worked well, but I didn't think of it then!

The shelves make an L continuing around across the back, but all of these are 12" deep. But on the back wall, we did not put any shelves in the space from the counter height shelf up to about 74". We kept the left wall empty (it is only about 4-5" deep) and I like it that way, since we keep a large cooler against it that wouldn't have fit under the other shelves. I plan to put some hooks on that wall for aprons, and maybe a couple of 4-6" deep shelves for some of the really small one-of-a-kind items that easily get buried on the other shelves.

Anne

Thanks Anne! That sounds like a very practical pantry. Below is what we ended up doing. It should be finished today. My DH is painting the shelves the same off white as the interior.

Left side is 16" (he won that one) and right side is 12" and back (not yet installed) will be 6 or 8"

I ordered a bamboo beaded curtain for the door. This may or may not be temporary. It is heavily stranded, so you will not be able to see into the pantry when it is down. I will have small tiebacks on the inside of the pantry, so when I am using the pantry (cooking, unloading groceries, probably often daily) I will just tie the sides back for ease of use. When people are over, I will keep the curtain down.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

My pantry is almost exactly like buehl's. My shelves are 12" deep on both walls, which works fine for me.

I wanna see more pics of your dog.....I think I have her twin (Blue long coated chihuahua).

I find the 15" shelves allow me to store things like my potato bins, a package of 500 napkins horizontally, etc. (I also store liquor in the back of a 15" shelf...behind other things. We rarely use it so I couldn't see taking up prime storage for it.)

Originally, I had intended to put our old MW on one of the shelves as a second MW when needed. However, when the pantry was done, I realized the MW would not work there b/c when the door was open, it blocked access to the pantry (b/c of the way the door opens). I probably could have had one or two 15" deep shelves and the rest 12" deep, but it can be tough to have to lean over a deeper shelf to get to a shallower shelf above...especially as you go "up".

Here you go, coombs...her name is Chloe, she is 8 1/2 years old. This pic was taken when she was heavier...almost 10 pounds. She is back down to her fighting weight (haha) of 8 pounds. She is not a tiny chi, but not too big, either!

Ahh, buehl, good point about the microwave. I would LOVE to have my microwave in the pantry DH will have to run an outlt in there (and yes, I have read the threads about that not being "code", a fire hazard or something. Odd.) We have not yet decided.

The pantry is ALMOST done. He painted the shelves a dove white...but the wood brackets he stained the wood dark...look so pretty! I will post a pic on a new thread when it is complete.

Thanks again!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

We currently have an over-the-range microwave. We recently purchased a Kenmore Pro dual fuel range and I want to get rid of the over-the-range microwave and replace it with a hood. I want to put a countertop microwave in our pantry. Is that a practical idea? We also currently have a tumbled marble backsplash. My husband had saved some extra tile and grout. So now, we want to extend the tile up the wall behind the range. Will it be noticeable that it was not done all at the same time?