A very small coat closed was converted into a pantry in our kitchen. The inspiration for our pantry was Arlosmom's beautiful pantry. I don't have any pictures on this computer of my pantry. The shelves are similar. Side shelves are 6" and the back shelf is 12". I planned specifically for a blender and food processor. Otherwise all the shelves were the same height.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pantry archive

how wide will it be? a 24" shelf is very deep...

how about 12" and some along each side? shallow for canned goods?

Alohoa, the more open 24" shelf with 12" above benefits from this layout in any position. The 12" shelf hidden toward the back is the problem. It works best when it's close to eye level, or just above or below.

Since you've read other threads, you've probably seen my observation, though, that my 12" pantry-wall shelves will hold 5 rows-deep of smaller, soup-size cans and thus can themselves require some digging. Not to mention my specialty/international foods shelf--loaded up with lots of little cans.

What works well for me on 12"-deep shelves is to keep the smaller items, including normal-size canned goods and bottles, in that prize real estate from viewing levels of about to head-dip-to-shoulder low to on-easy-tiptoe high. Since this is buggy Georgia, my bagged and a lot of the boxed stuff goes into sealed containers, which being bigger and easy to see and grab are good for the higher and lower shelves. I don't even try to put everything I could in small containers. For instance specialty beans and mixes in standard sizes share a large container set low.

These biggest containers themselves, though, are 12" in largest dimension. Sounds small, but I had to order them on line because none of our local stores stock them that large. Go measure your largest cookpots, cereal boxes, etc. They're smaller than you think. I have no foods that require more depth, except our 50-lb bags of pet food. We don't buy giant boxes of cereal, the biggest food item I can think of, but they're not more than 12" wide and even those could be stored on my shelves turned sideways.

All a way of saying, like DesertSteph, that 24" is a very deep shelf for foodstuffs. I really don't think I would do 24"-deep for food items unless I was hurting for storage space, and then I'd love them--as full-extension pull-out units. Otherwise I wouldn't want the aggravation of more horizontal surface to keep dusted and organized.

Now, if pantry storage were needed for larger non-foods, like a portable cupcake carrier, calico-lined wicker picnic basket, 3 sizes of crockpots, 72-piece Christmas china, and so on, I'd do 24" for that side in a heartbeat--staggered with 18" maybe.

I converted a coat closed to a pantry, and started with 24" shelves. It was a disaster. Things got hidden, and then I would end up buying stuff I didn't need.

A couple years ago I took out all the shelves and replaced them with 12". That pantry now stays neat and organized and I can see everything.

If you think about it for a minute - the 24" deep shelves will completely block your view of the top and bottom of the pantry.

I would do a single 24" deep shelf at about 30-36" high to use as a set down space - knowing it will block the lower view. Then do maybe two 12-15" deep shelves underneath for large things and storage of stuff like the oversize stock pot, pet food or other large packages.

Over the top of the wide shelf, I'd do a mix of depths but not over 12" deep. You'll need clearance space in front of the shelves to be able to reach up and remove larger things. Remember the walls are taller than the pantry door is likely to be.

I responded earlier but for some reason my post didn't take.

The pantry will be 63" wide.

Rosie I see what you mean about the 12" getting lost. Didn't think of it that way.

I just don't anticipate using the pantry for a lot of canned goods. Most of the things I'm thinking would go in the pantry are large pots and appliances I infrequently use but still need. It's only my DH and I and I try to minimize what I have on hand and plan better at the grocery store. A pantry (and anywhere else too for that matter) can quickly get out of hand with too much.

Bmorepanic, maybe I don't fully understand but I almost think not being able to see items as well on the top and bottom would be a plus as long as they could still be accessed. I would think it would look tidier. I do like the idea if I have just one shelf at 24" to have it at "counter height". It could double for kitchen space for the crockpot, yogurt maker etc. that take hours to finish. Perhaps we could install even a fold up of the additional 6-12".

Barbcollins, if you went through the trouble of removing the deep shelves, that speaks really strong against the 24" shelving.

My DH is in the process of framing the closet and I need to make some decisions here in the next few weeks. Thanks to all for pointing out pitfalls of such deeper shelves.

I think you should still plan on having some food stored that you like to eat and rotate through all the time. Everyone should plan for unforseen circumstances that could result in no food available at the store. Basic staples on hand would allow you to bake breads and have healthy tasty meals no matter what.

Strikes, natural disasters such as storms or earth quakes (no area is immune), and also national issues such as a terrorist strike could render transportation of goods impossible for a period of time.

Something to think about.

hmmm... an idea...

I **think** I understand that you have a 63" wide closet, 24" deep.

What about having one side be 24 inch deep (24x24? 24x18?) and then along the back just 12 in deep? So it would be an "L" in the closet. You'd have a section of deep shelves for what you need, but the majority of the space would be easier access 12 in.

Consider the height placement as well...

It's amazing to me how much stuff can accumulate in a kitchen/pantry. Though I've never been as careful about buying extras as we are now I tried to keep things under control. That said it took us MONTHS prior to a move to get down to the bare bones, while we tried to creatively use what we had on hand. I don't want to live my life in fear and prepare for the remote possibility of some disaster.

Forgive me if I lecture - its what I do all day.

Let's say every other shelf is 24" deep and your ceiling height is 96". A door is 80" tall; every place there is a 24" deep shelf, it will touch the inside of the door frame.

First shelf is 24" deep and about 16" off the floor - let's you slide big stuff underneath at the bottom. Next 24" deep shelf is at 36", with an intervening 12" shelf at 10" above the one at 16" and 10" below the one at 36". So far, so good because the shelves are low and the stuff on the floor can be fished out by kneeling.

The next 24" shelf is at about 54" with a 12" deep one at about 12" up at 66", The next 24" shelf is at about 78" and your pantry is done but you likely won't be able to use the last 24" deep shelf because it will be less than 2" tall. That is the distance between the top of the shelf and the top of the door. You just won't be able to fit anything up there. If you move it lower - so it's at 66" tall instead of the 12" shelf, it's still the last shelf because you can't worm your body and stuff into the 12"ish gap between the shelf and ceiling because of the top of the door - even with a ladder. You can sit stuff on the shelf, but you'll need to be aware of the height restriction and the fact that you'll need the ladder and a rolling pin to search the corners for lost stuff.

The other thing it does is stop the light, so you might NEED undershelf lights on the 24" ones.

The pantry is a very basic closet with two 32" sliding closet doors. With other doors in the area, these were the only doors that would work given the circumstances.

The doors will be going from edge to edge (no storage on the sides).

Bmorepanic I haven't figured out the spacing yet of the shelves themselves but our current pantry has 5. At most, I would be able to increase it to 6. We have 9' ceilings in the closet. The top shelf will have to be 12" or less to get things onto it.

I also read about shallower pantry shelves... some people actually do one (can) row deep and like it very much. Just for your comparison OP, I did a 10" deep "utility" shelf for my pantry, so the shelves themselves are ~9" deep. Everything I buy seems to fit (big boxes of rice, flour container, etc.) except the giant boxes of cereal which I have to put into alternate containers.

I second Lightly-starched. Do a U shaped pantry with shelves no deeper than 12". Mine are 12" and all my appliances fit fine. Corners are tricky--things can get lost in them--and you'll have 2 sets, but then choose to do lazy susans on each or similar. You'd be amazed what gets lost on a 12" or 15" shelf. 24" is way too deep.

{{!gwi}}

Source: decorchick.com via Dayna on Pinterest

IMO, your other option is to do a series of pullouts ($$)

With the holidays and getting back to work (the kind they pay you for that is), these decisions got put on the back burner.

We really don't have the flexibility but to put shelves similiar to what you would see in a bedroom, just more of them.

Don't have the measurements but our previous pantry we had one side substantially deeper then the other (L-shaped). It worked great for those larger items that I was referring too. I'm sure things got lost though we didn't have a lot of surprises when we moved.

Though most everything fit easily, I have issues with things hanging over the shelf, just a personal pet peeve.

I see that though there is 24" we don't have to use it all. Maybe I could put the one shelf at 48" off the floor be 18" deep to use as a qua si countertop and make the others less deep. I'm thinking now if I placed more 12" deep shelves closer to maybe 9" between shelves, I would be increasing usage for smaller items.

For those that have 12" deep, what is the closest you have between shelves (top of shelf to top of shelf measurement)? How does that work for you?

I have an 8 foot ceiling and 6 shelves. The bottom shelf is 16" off the floor. All the others are 13" apart except for one at eye level that is 11". I put shorter stuff on that one. You can see the variety of stuff I've got in there, including the microwave.

i built a 3 foot deep by 10 foot long walk in pantry how should i do my shelves with a 8 foot ceiling