I don't think It's a good layout and don't like much about it. I've never seen windows in a pantry except in houses built before electricity and never barn doors to any pantry except a barn for storing animal feed.

From what I see I don't even know where to start with suggestions but I'm sure you'll get plenty from others, and suggest you take them seriously. Sorry.

Is your pantry window floor to ceiling? Also, your plan says barn door, but you are referencing a pocket door? I think your pantry layout can be optimized, just need more info.

For me a pantry is utilitarian. Function comes first, so I don't worry about it being pretty. Any door would be closed if guests were in the house.

I also have dogs, so safer for everyone if the door is kept closed. Had a friend and her dog visiting and the dog walked out of the pantry with a one of those Polenta rolls in his mouth and punctured the plastic wrap with his canines!

You can look at The Container Store website for some ideas:

https://www.containerstore.com/s/elfa/best-selling-solutions/kitchen-pantry/123

Not a pro, but the idea of some kind of counter for a grocery bag landing zone sounds very nice. My mom had a walk in L-shaped pantry with open shelving, but no counter space so just unloaded bags from the floor. Her mother had a room sized pantry in a farmhouse that had large horizontal surfaces plus shelving and it was very practical (in the days of large families and daily cooking with infrequent shopping trips however). Could a compromise be that you have cabinets above the counter top instead of open shelving for food storage? I love the idea of the other counter space for extraneous appliances that maybe don't see daily use, but could be used in situ in the pantry.

Thank for you for the comments so far. Some of the questions were answered in my original post. The original plan for this house had exterior double doors to enter the home. The entry to the pantry had a double exterior door and so did the same size office on the left side of the entry. We nixed the double doors....who needs to walk in the pantry from the outside? We also nixed the double barn door entry to gain wall space and changed it to a pocket door. The house if a farm house style home.

It is an awkward space to try and design if all you have ever had was a standard walk in pantry with wire shelving or a smaller pantry that just opens to shelves. With that said, I think it will be a cool space when we get it finished, but since my husband and i are not designers I figured you all might have some ideas.

Dimension wise it seems like the pantry is large but in reality there is so much wasted space. You have more floor space than actual shelving/cabinet space. Having a window in a pantry is not ideal. I'm in the utilitarian camp as well when it comes to pantries. What helped me the most was going through everything I would be storing in my pantry to determine height of shelving, depth etc. I prefer open shelving to be able to see everything. If it were me I would do one side with all open shelving floor to ceiling and then if you need cabinets and countertop do that on the other side.

I would put the counter stretching across the long wall as you can't do any shelves there with the windows anyway. Then use the sides for storage. Maybe an upper cabinet or two on the long wall but I would prefer open shelves in a pantry.

I would do countertops/shelving along both long walls. You get so much more linear feet of storage that way. And yo still have room for about a 3’ aisle in between, if pantry shelves are 12 to 15” on each side.

Here is pic of our pantry my hubby builds
The shelves. The middle one is deeper like a counter
I like shelving all around. Different depths and spacing for different items
I have the bottom shelves higher for rollout wire mesh baskets — one holds sleeves and bottles of seltzer soda etc — other one I put a divider in the bottom and standing up in it are my muffin tins bake pans cookie cooking off racks etc. another thing under there is a big plastic bin on wheels for the dog food
The side people are can be prettied up with your pretty serving pieces
I like his ideas

Wasn’t. Completely done yet

To do storage on just each end is a waste of space. I would definitely do something along the long wall.

What about opening that up - keep one wall and wrap the kitchen into it. Some stuff can be hidden and all the light from the windows will come in. On the long wall , just do lower cabinets, leave the walls for decorative items.

Just a thought

I would definitely do shelving on the window wall since the windows appear to be only 4 feet high. You could do a very narrow counter on that wall that ties into the other counter/s and then have shallow shelving below and above the counter on that same window wall. You could also have shelving above the window.

In addition to our 11” pantry shelving, we also have 3” shallow shelving that accommodates single cans and small boxed goods which I find to be super functional. You could essentially do that entire window wall with shallow shelving and it barely takes up any space. But you may also want blank wall space to hang brooms or other items….so it’s really important to figure out EXACTLY what you want to store in your pantry and how you want it to function.

We have counters in our pantry with lots of outlets for small appliances that are always plugged in and ready to use. You may want to have more than just your air fryer set up in there and extra counter space with extra outlets could be very functional for you. And that window wall, as well as part of the opposite wall could accommodate shallow shelving for canned goods.

We also have cabinets with doors that house dishes, mixing bowls, canning jars, spices etc.

Shallow shelving….

Would rethink the barn door and the open shelving pantry concept; instead, remove the wall between the planned pantry and kitchen and create floor to ceiling enclosed storage with drawers and use doors with hidden hardware so they appear to be a paneled wall. If One open shelf could be added above the windows. If the window sills are high, add base cabinets and a countertop; however, if the window sills are low, you could add base cabinets beneath a window seat. You could either use the same kind of cabinets (painted or natural wood finish) as you use for the rest of the kitchen or you could make this niche have more of an upscale butler's pantry ... taking into consideration both your budget and what is beside this space besides the kitchen.

I love the idea of a window in the pantry especially with the single pocket door directly across. It makes the pantry more inviting. If the pocket door is left open, it brings in some natural light to that side of the kitchen. You could do a door with clear or frosted glass so that even when it is shut the light filters through.

I would also have the countertop go across the long window wall to house small appliances like airfryer, toaster oven, mixer, blender, etc… The butcherblock counter could span that entire wall or less if you prefer. Cabinet drawers could go under the counter or open shelf with baskets. Many designs would work. Upper shelves could go on each side of the window. They could wrap around a little on the side walls just above the countertop. Then you could do floor to ceiling shelves on the side walls. You could do more shallow shelves on the entry walls or leave one or both walls empty for hanging the broom, mop, blackboard grocery list, possibliity are up to you. I am jealous!

I love this pantry. Maybe it will give you some ideas.

If the window sill of the windows in the pantry are an appropriate height to enable doing so, consider adding a countertop beneath them that can serve as your meal planning work space and keep a comfortable chair by/beneath it.

I hope I am understanding correctly. I assumed the windows were normal height so that the cabs and countertop can go under it. Are the windows really low towards the floor?

What about putting the butcher block counter under the window and open shelving on the side walls? You can end up spending a ton of money using closed door cabinetry and beautiful molding, but l would t do that. I would make it practical with different height open shelves and a glass or frosted glass door as was suggested. The counter allows you to bring in bags of groceries and plug in appliances. Open shelves let you find things quickly.

Your sink, stove and refrigerator seem VERY far from each other. Imagine taking vegetables from the fridge to the sink to be washed…that’s about 20 feet away. Good exercise, for sure, but it seems excessive. The pantry is even further.

OP said that there will be a prep sink on the island that is not shown on the plan.

Honestly, remove the windows in the pantry. Heat and light does not do well when storing food. Best by dates are determined at 70 degrees, stored at higher temperatures and the dates are drastically reduce even in half or more, and with all that glass your stored products will suffer.

Dry Storage

Many items such as canned goods, baking supplies, grains, and cereals may be held safely in dry storage areas. The guidelines below should be followed:

• Keep dry storage areas clean with good ventilation to control humidity and prevent the growth of mold and bacteria.
• Store dry foods at 50°F for maximum shelf life. However, 70°F is adequate for dry storage of most products.
• Place a thermometer on the wall in the dry storage area.
• Check the temperature of the storeroom daily.
• Store foods away from sources of heat and light, which decrease shelf life.
• Store foods off the floor and away from walls to allow for adequate air circulation.

On hot days with the barn door closed It could easily get above 80 in the pantry, and If the windows aren't shaded from the sun it becomes a hot house. Light degrades all food through oxidation and especially harsh on items stored in glass and oils of all types. Oils could go rancid in a few months subjected to light every day.

The windows may look nice but are not practical in a pantry for food storage.

Here are some additional points about our home. The floor plan can't change as the house is already framed and it is how we wanted it. The original plan was intended to have double exterior doors that walk into the pantry from the front porch so my thought is that the room/pantry wasn't intended to be a traditional pantry.....more a secondary work room. The window is high off the ground so we could definitely do a 12-18" counter along the back wall, under the window. I love the idea that was posted about shallow 3-4" shelves on walls on either side of the door on the inside, too. Great use of space. I am not that concerned about the temperature in the pantry. The front of the house gets afternoon sun, but the front of the house is quickly shaded as the sun falls behind the single giant live oak we have in the front yard. As we are in Tallahassee, it will get hot, but we have AC to handle that.

Thank you again for all the feedback. Just for fun, I am posting a pic of the elevation we fell in love with. At this point, we have chosen not to do shutters and, remember, the doors on the left and right of the front door are now windows. We are also doing a charcoal roof and Sherwin Williams Smokey Blue 7604 for the exterior with a white trim. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to get out of the apartment we moved to last January to prepare for this build.

Oops....heres the pic of the original plan we fell in love with.

Ill stick to the pantry. I would do an L shaped 18” deep countertop, with some drawers for produce, and a mix of open and closed storage. For overhead i would do 12” open shelving on either side of window and whichever side the L wraps to. On the other open walls i would put shallow (6-8”} shelving dedicated to cans. It makes it so much easier to see what you have on hand and the shallowness of the shelves keeps cans from getting buried and expiring. Make sure you have oultets spaced along the counter. i would plan the pantry organization and adjust the shelves as needed. Are you putting a sink in front of that window? A tricked out pantry is all the rage. You are going to get a lot of pantry haters here, but if you want the extra storage and organization definitely do it. My pantry is one of my favorite things about my new build.

My pantry is a bunch of shelves behind folding doors in the laundry room, which is next to the kitchen. The shelves are deep and the top ones are high. I don’t buy canned food so having deeper shelves actually works for us. Think about your food preferences before you build the pantry. Our cat litter, a small tool box and large bottles of drinks are on the floor. The top shelves hold flat items like cutting boards and rarely used items. If you don’t buy canned goods, shallow shelves will not be useful. You have a lot of opportunity to build perfect shelves (and lower cabinets if you want them) on the sides. Have you thought about getting a consult from a closet company or a Container Store?
Love the house! I can see why you fell in love with it!

Here's an example for leaning into different depth shelving. Keeps items neat and organized and you can quickly assess what items need to be restocked when making a grocery list. I agree with @RedRyder that its probably best to consider what items you regularly use when designing the space.

@Beth deSousa…

I was just curious, you mentioned that you will have double ovens where the fridge is…..where will the fridge be located?

Would you consider having the “clean

zone“ of your kitchen in the pantry area with your sink/dishwasher under the window?

You can have L shape base cabinets and then 2 pull-out tall larder cabinets for food storage on the opposite wall (next to the main kitchen cabinets). This would free the area under the window in the main living space to create a window seating, with or without additional storage.

I have attached our kitchen floorplan to give you an idea, despite we have a smaller size pantry and no window.

Your house plan pictures looks beautiful! I agree with using the wall under the window. I also have a window in my pantry and it works well for me. I have a blind to pull down during the sunniest time of the day if needed. I’ve added some pictures that I found online when I was planning my pantry, this helped a lot. The last two pictures with empty shelves are my pantry just after it was installed, hardware wasn’t installed yet…. I have a pocket door with opaque glass going into the pantry, very easy to close if needed and it does not take any of my pantry space away.