How to Lay Out a Pantry
The dimensions that decide whether the room works, whatever it ends up looking like. Shelf depth is the whole design.
BeforeAfter
- 1
What the room is arranged around
A pantry remodel is a shelving problem wearing a joinery costume. Get the depths right and everything is visible and reachable; get them wrong and you have built a place for things to go missing behind other things.
- 2
Rule 1
Keep shelves at 12–14in deep. At 16in and beyond, the back row is invisible and effectively lost.
- 3
Rule 2
Vary the spacing: 16in at the bottom for appliances, 10–12in in the middle, 8in above for tins.
- 4
Rule 3
A walk-in needs 36in of clear aisle; below that you cannot turn with a box.
- 5
Rule 4
Put a 24in-deep landing counter inside if the pantry holds small appliances.
- 6
Rule 5
Hang the door to swing out, always.
- 7
When it is tight
A reach-in pantry beats a walk-in under 20 sq ft. A walk-in spends a third of its floor on standing room; a reach-in spends none.
Questions
- What should I decide first in a pantry remodel?
- A pantry remodel is a shelving problem wearing a joinery costume. Get the depths right and everything is visible and reachable; get them wrong and you have built a place for things to go missing behind other things.
- What goes wrong most often?
- Deep shelves that swallow everything behind the front row. Uniform shelf spacing, so tall items live on the floor.
- Will it work in a small pantry?
- A reach-in pantry beats a walk-in under 20 sq ft. A walk-in spends a third of its floor on standing room; a reach-in spends none.
- Can I see it on my own pantry before starting?
- Yes — photograph the space and run it through the Studio. It is generated imagery, so compare the render against your photo rather than treating it as a plan.