Sherri, sorry if I was unclear. I meant that if we were to install a pantry w closet door, I feel like we would be limited on height of that closet due to the pure fact that a closet door can only be so tall. We have 9' ceilings with cabinet height of 8'. If we do a cabinet pantry, the pantry would be roughly 50" tall but then we would have the cabinets above that as well ( roughly 40" tall)..providing an additional storage/space for bulky items such as paper towels and such. I guess I would need to see what a pantry with similar dimensions and closet door could look like to get a better idea of our options.

as for the 2 vs 1 cabinet, I know I would lose space, but I was thinking if 1 cabinet was for cans, rice, pasta and the other for snacks, it could be neatly organized. I currently have a 36" w X 30" deep cabinet, which holds nothing because we push everything back in an effort not to "lose" items.

I would rather have 2 18" pantries than 36". For the reasons you have stated. Also, unless you could have 2 separate drawers inside the one cabinet, because I definitely would not want to have to open two doors to pull out a drawer.

I think your plan sounds good to me. I have both a closet pantry and a 24" cabinet pantry and most everything is fitting in the cabinet pantry. We just have cereal, paper towels and drinks in the closet pantry right now since everything else really fit in the cabinet.

Lisa-is the 24 cabinet pantry with rollouts?

What is the difference between a closet pantry and cabinet pantry?

Cabinet being a cabinet and closer meaning a reach-in w an actual door....like a linen closet

I agree with Sherri...you will lose a lot of storage space by using 2 separate cabinets. With 2 18" cabinets you could effectively lose 3 - 4" per cabinet plus the width of the sides of the cabinets...your 36" of pantry space could easily be reduced to 28" or less. It will also be more expensive as pantry cabinets with roll-outs are super high priced.

True. DC ward. I did consider that but it is still cheaper than a pull out cabinet. I wonder if I can do. 36 bottom with 2 side by side drawers on top with larger full length rollouts lower OR 2 18" lower cabinets w a 36 on top

I have Ikea cabinets, and they have inner drawers that I guess are similar to rollouts.

I guess I disagree with most others. You do lose some space with narrower cabinets, but I still would prefer the shorter drawers. I find my 36" drawers to be a bit wide, and I would not want to store food in them. I definitely would not want to have to open two doors to pull out the rollout.

Of course it depends on how much storage space you need.

Can you put wide racks on the doors, and then make the shelves shallower? That's what we are doing - functionally it will be like a french door counter depth fridge.

Ok. Just talked to KD and I can do a 36" wide pantry w partition on the lower half (really 50" tall or so), which will allow me to have 4 or 5 adjustable 18" rollouts on each side of the partition. And then on the upper no partition, just. Full 36" wide world shelf for bulk items .

18" pullout pantry cabinets (shelves attached to the door) are much easier to use and access than a 36" wide pantry - even with roll out tray shelves (ROTS). Items are easily lost in those 24" deep shelves you find in most 24" to 36" wide pantry cabinets. You also can only see what's on the ROTS you've opened and, if what you're looking for isn't there, you need to close it and open another - over & over until you find what you want.

With the 18" pantry cabinets, you just pull out the door and all the shelves are visible immediately and you can see everything by looking at one side or the other. The 24" depth isn't an issue now b/c the shelves are narrower and nothing can hide from you in the middle of the shelf (or back).

That said, reach-in/step-in/walk-in pantries are a better use of space and cost much less than two 18" or one 36" pantry cabinet. You can utilize the entire space - floor-to-ceiling and left to right. No cabinet side or back walls or filler taking up space and no limited cabinet heights.

When you open the pantry, you can see everything at one time - no opening additional doors or ROTS or even looking on the other side of a pullout. Lily'sMom - I don't see how two 18" roll out pantries could possibly hold more food or be easier to reach than a "closet" pantry.

Something to keep in mind - Cabinet salespeople/KDs make a lot of money on pantry cabinets. They make very little on a built-in pantry. Guess which one they're going to try to talk you into getting!

Here's a thread that discusses pantries and has many, many pictures and links.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2401919/pantry-photos-pics-of-pantries

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buehl-my KD has been very informative and hasn't pushed one way or another about what type of pantry and has been great w pros and cons as well as identifying what will be more expensive. I haven't discussed we her the closet pantry because I'm not exactly sure how we could maximize a 36" space but I'm open to suggestion ;)

Also, I have to disagree w the argument that you can't see everything on a ROTS. Yes, there is some truth to that but I always know where everything is in my pantry. So the concern of looking for something on multiple roll-outs would not apply for everyone. I've had ROTS in a previous home and really liked them. I guess my OP was really asking is there a way to create a usable closet pantry given the dimensions.

This is one of the best articles I have read on pantry design.

http://www.finehomebuilding.com/2011/10/13/design-the-perfect-pantry

Yes, you can see everything on a single ROTS, but you cannot see all the ROTS at the same time - unless you only have one or two for the entire height, that is. I'm assuming you have as many ROTSs as you would have stationary shelves in a built-in pantry.

Did you check out the thread I linked to? As I recall, there were several that were small pantries.

Wilson - those of us who are not members cannot see the article. (It's obviously a paid membership since they offer a "free trial".)

I have the magazine. It's in the Summer 2013 Kitchen Planning Guide of Fine Homebuilding.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00F8J3KT6/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1471580358&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=fine+homebuilding+Summer+2013

Wilson853 - That was a terrific article, thank you for linking. (I bought a month's membership to Fine Homebuilding for $5 and it was well worth it). Excellent layout suggestions! The only thing I'd add is a discussion of ventilation.

cand1781 - We're building a small walk-in with pocket doors. I went through a few iterations of cabinet design, but kept coming back to functionality - didn't want to open doors, roll out (i.e., there's an extra step involved, the downside of roll-outs vs. pull-outs). I'd suggest listing everything you want to store in the pantry, in order to build the most functional one for you. Good luck!

Thanks oldbat2be. I thought so too!

yes....i looked over the thread you posted about pantries. I feel like they were still larger than mine BUT, I am going to talk to KD about our cabinet pantry options today