In case it's hard to see, I'm suggesting an 18" deep cabinet on the window-wall for coffee, then a 20" deep shelf along the long side of the room.

The KD is worried that the door to the pantry will be left open and be visible to the rest of the house, and so we should have closed storage in the pantry. We originally thought that we needed this pantry specifically so that bulk, ugly storage would have a place to go behind a closed door! And open-shelving is more practical?

Our original plan was just an 8' run of kitchen cabinets along the long wall, with the sink in the centre, open shelving above, and then a shallow shelf on the parallel wall behind it. Perhaps that's a better plan?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Inspiration photos:

I don't think 24" deep shelves are bad if you can put drawers or rollout in them. Our pantry cabinet is 24" deep and I love the storage capacity.

It's a good point, beachem; I've seen that in photos. We're spending a ton on our kitchen with pull-outs, etc, and I was trying to keep the pantry a little more stripped down. But DH has just chimed in that 18" is definitely not deep enough for his coffee station, so 20-24" may be the way to go all the way around.

backyardfeast (love your user name, by the way!), if you haven't ordered kitchen cabinets yet, I suggest you skip pullouts in favor of drawers. They are easier to use (one step instead of two), which makes them more useful.

That said, I was going to suggest pullouts in your pantry - later. If you are at all handy, you can build Blum metaboxes or tandemboxes. Put shelves in now, and replace with pullouts in the future. Using the space for a while will help you determine exactly what sizes you need, which will save money (and/or make the space more efficient) in the long run.

Yes, adding roll-outs may be an option down the road; a good thought, thank you. Don't worry about the kitchen, it's all drawers. :) We have a couple of pantry pullouts (beside the fridge and beside the wall oven) to keep some food accessible there, while this pantry is around the corner and not as convenient.

A couple of questions: is 20" deep enough to use small appliances comfortably? Is 18"?

Where are you on the question of "the pantry should match the kitchen and be a pleasant, uncluttered place" vs "the pantry is a cluttered, practical space whose beauty is in its utilitarian function"? :-)

You don't need a 3foot door into a pantry. For the laundry room, yes, as you need to move large appliances.

I'd make the door a 24-30" and make it a pocket door and pull it to the right.

Then shallow shelves on left wall.

You're turning a pantry into a 2nd kitchen! Are ALL your baking supplies and equipment going to be in there? Mine would take up a substantial amount of that space. And if they're not, do you really want to haul stuff back and forth? And all your husband's stuff? And a sink? In a space that is 6x8? I don't see how this is possible. You really would need more like 9x12.

Thanks, all. Anglophilia, I hope we're not turning this into a second kitchen! I know many here have extra fridges, freezers, microwaves, toaster ovens, etc in their pantries and I have wondered the same thing. But no, this is a storage and secondary prep area.

I am coming around to the idea of cabinet doors on the bottoms and putting in slides down the road.

Annette, the image you posted is helpful; it makes me wonder if it's worth doing the bank of counters under the window after all. With the (even narrow) shelving along the left wall, the cupboard doors will be impeded, and of course there's the useless bottom corner, too. Is it worth the extra storage and countertop? I'll have to think about it.

If anyone has any novel ideas for a better layout, I'm all ears. :)

How about French doors? This would allow for deep storage on one side and a narrow set of shelves on the other wall.