help with style for sliding pantry door

last year

last modified: last year

our new pantry is just off the kitchen but visible from the kitchen (and the whole living space really). It is a converted coat closet....so 2' deep and about 6' wide. We wanted a 36" opening (couldnt really go larger) to make it easy to get in and see everything and have decided on a sliding door so that if we want, it can be open most of the time for convenience...as opposed to having maybe 2x18" doors that block part of the entryway if they're left open.

So im just looking at options for a slab door to put on the typical sliding hardware (it will not be a pocket door...framing doesnt allow for it unfortunately).

Initially I liked the idea of a door with glass...either a "colonial" looking door (matches other doors in our house) with the top half a translucent but not transparent glass...or maybe an old exterior door with 3-4 small square transparent windows across the top. Here are a few options available locally..

Another option is an old glass pane door I have in our barn. Its old, solid wood (which I really like, want this to have some weight to it) and probably 20 panes of glass. The downside is that my wife will hate it if you can always see the mess/clutter in the pantry even with the door closed (like this...)

Pantry Doors · More Info

To me a big glass door like this would not look right if we etched/sandblasted each pane so you couldnt see through...and I am having trouble picturing any other alternative to obfuscate the inside of the pantry. The pantry light is a motion light, so it shouldnt be on most of the time...but I still feel like you will see stuff in there from light pouring in from the kitchen.

The other idea I had was a chalkboard door...similar to this...its actually somewhat functional as you could write things you need on the door and this is directly on the path out the door of the house so you would see it as you are running to the store....and bonus points the local surplus store has a couple of these available for just $160...It just doesnt have the same character as the old door in my barn and I love the idea of putting that to use...

Stonewall Farmhouse · More Info

Thoughts?

"Vintage" glass door

Door with lots of panes of glass from barn

chalkboard door

other (please specify)

Comments (10)

Anne Duke
last year
The panes can be etched or have film applied. Even sheer curtains would work. Much more character than the chalkboard door.
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elunia
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last modified: last year

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robertgoulet
Original Author
last year
I like that last photo, but we framed our door so as to have enough space for a single 36" door off to one side and now do not really have enough room for an 18" off to the left. The main reason was that in our house, a door slid to the right, left open a lot of the time, is pretty out of the way, but an 18" door to the left sort of gets in the way of a high-traffic mudroom area.
GreenDesigns
last year
Only 24” deep and only a 36” opening are big fails. Completely undoable. You won’t be able to access anything. People take up a 30” circle. You don’t have a walk in pantry. You have at most, a step in. A step in needs the widest possible bifold doors. Or, shudder, barn doors.
CYNTHIA JONES
last year
We converted a powder room to a pantry and installed a pocket door with etched glass panels (actually like a green frosted glass - closer to elunia's first picture). It's a highlight of the kitchen - elegant when closed (usually when we have company over) and it disappears when open - which is most of the time. Also, it glows nicely if you leave the pantry light on. So TL;DR - I heartily endorse frosted glass.
robertgoulet
Original Author
last year
Appreciate the input GreenDesigns. This was the largest possible footprint for the pantry, so it was this, or smaller. It is indeed a step-in pantry, not a walk-in.

It will be a step-in U-shaped pantry. There will be 12" deep counter up each sidewall (more like 24" deep on the right hand side so we have deep storage for paper towels or small appliances). The 12" deep counter will run across the back of the pantry as well. Below will be 12" deep shelving and above will be 6 or 8" deep shelving.

We could have made the door the full width of the pantry and made it just a reach-in but I think the bifold doors would be annoying/in the way (we have them on our laundry) and we would have no wall space then on which to slide a sliding door.

Contrary to your statement that we wont be able to access anything we are looking forward to how accessible everything will be relative to our old pantry.
cpartist
last year
How can we decide on the door style when we have no clue what the kitchen or the rest of your house looks like?
robertgoulet
Original Author
last year
You could ask? We have a colonial house. All interior doors are colonial 6-panel except for the french doors we have between our living room and kitchen. Here is a rendering of the kitchen.
In this rendering the pantry is shown with double ~18" doors (white with glass) at the far end of the room)

Kitchen will have light green shaker cabinets, quartz counters around the outside and butcher block on the island. Paint/trim for the kitchen and mudroom/hall area (where the pantry is) are TBD. Inside the pantry the shelving will probably be green to match the kitchen cabinets with the wood "counter" stained close to the color of the island top. Door color could be similar to island top or more likely hall trim color (which should be complimentary to the kitchen color) or same color as kitchen cabinets.

Let me know if there is any other information you would find helpful
cpartist
last year
last modified: last year
Is your kitchen closed off from the rest of the house? If not I need to see pictures of what the rooms surrounding the kitchen will look like. Design isn't taking one thing adding it and then trying to find something else.

Each design element you have (color, fabrics, textures, flooring, tile, wood choices, furniture, lighting, etc) all affects the other choices.

For example, since my kitchen is seen from the friends' entry and from my living room and dining room, when I started to design the kitchen, I also made sure to design the surrounding spaces so they all worked together.

So show me photographs of what the other spaces look like or if this is a new build, what you want them to look like.

I could say I love door style 3 but if it has no relationship to what you're planning with the rest of the rooms, it's going to look like a fish out of water in your space.
robertgoulet
Original Author
last year
I actually have a separate thread looking for input on the larger space (connected living room and kitchen wall and trim colors/layout etc). Feel free to jump in.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5692559/need-wall-and-trim-colors-for-kitchen-living-room

help with style for sliding pantry door

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Anne Duke

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