One pantry or two?

11 years ago

I have three feet of space for a cabinet pantry in my kitchen. I originally had it all together with double doors on one side of the fridge. Now I'm thinking it may be better to have two 18" single door pantries flanking the fridge. I'm just not sure which would be more convenient. Of note, I have a large broom closet/bulk storage closet in the mud room, so the kitchen pantry will only be food. Which would you choose?

Featured Answer

mrspete

11 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

I have two "sides" to my current walk-in pantry, and I do just what zippity says: One side is for dry goods and canned goods, with sodas on the bottom shelf. The other side is for jars and bottles, with recycling on the bottom shelf. If anyone's ever confused about where things are located, they haven't shared it with me!

As to which you should choose: It's a math problem. Look at how many square feet of storage you'll have with each option ... and there's your answer.

To give an example, I was trying to decide whether to go with a simple walk-in closet with rods down both sides ... or a walk-through with a U on one side and a single rod on the other. When I did the math, I was surprised that one gave me more linear feet of storage.

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Comments (10)

zorroslw1
11 years ago
I would opt for 1 large. That way you are not opening 2 pantries when cooking or baking etc. which I think would be more convenient.
annkh_nd
11 years ago
I agree with zorroslw1. My family would forever be looking in the wrong lace for things! Besides, one cabinet makes more efficient use of space than two.

Is there a landing space nearby for both fridge and pantry?
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User
Original Author
11 years ago
I'm leaning toward the one pantry too, although I think the two would look better. I thought it might get old looking in both pantries for something, but we don't really do that with cabinets now, so I don't know if that'd be an issue or not.

We will have a large island across from the pantry/fridge area.
zippity1
11 years ago
i have two pantries and like them, i put "dry goods" in one side and canned/bottled items in the other and rarely have a problem "finding" things at first i thought i would have more in one than the other, but it's really pretty balanced
Katie S.
11 years ago
I have two now and love it, one for snacks/ cereal, one for ingredients. No one messes up my stuff searching for chips,.
Oaktown
11 years ago
What is the depth of the proposed pantry(ies)? Will you use pull-outs? Had an 18" wide x 24+" deep pantry in our old house and hated it.
User
Original Author
11 years ago
I'll definitely have pull outs with either option. I'm not positive on depth yet, but they'll be pretty deep to help give the full-depth fridge a more built in look.
zippity1
11 years ago
one of ours is narrow because it has a coat closet behind it ( with hooks instead of hangers it's also wider than the opposite pantry (40 inches maybe)
User
Original Author
11 years ago

These are my options. I'm leaning towards having the two pantries with pull outs now. I like the idea of using the one nearest the stove for cans and cooking items and the one on the outside for cereal, snacks, chips, etc that my family would be using.