Kitchens seem to be a very popular request for me lately, and I have been helping a few different folks plan out and organize their cabinets, pantries, and drawers. I have also been compiling a lot of the common questions and themes that have been arising, and hope to do a post in the near future outlining how to get started and tips for creating a solid kitchen storage plan.
But a similar subject worthy of its own post, and a question I receive almost more than any other, is what to do with a deep pantry closet? Or any deep cabinet really. They can be such dark and confusing places and definitelyrequire a little extra thinking and planning.
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One of the kitchens I was recentlyasked to help with, has a deep pantry closet very reminiscent ofour previous pantry. I vividly remember the days of frustration and trial and error and constant reorganization.
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Around the time I was consulting on this project, The Container Storehad reached out to me to see if I would be interested in partnering with them on a kitchen organizing story. Talk about the stars aligning just right. Their supersized kitchen sale is going on now through the end of the month, which means the majority of their very best organizers are on sale for 25% off. If you are going to stock up on your favorite bins or tackle a kitchen organizing project, big or small, now is the time to do it!
I am definitely particular about the brands and sponsors I select to work with, and The Container Store was a no-brainerfor many reasons. I have used quite a few of their products around our home over the years, and have yet to be disappointed. In fact, I always feel quite the opposite, especially when I have the chance to use my all-time favorite organizer ever (mentionedhere, here, and here), the Multi-Purpose bin.
The before and after photos of this project make my heart sing for a variety of reasons, but this post is much more than that. I really wanted to talk about my favorite tips for tackling a pantry, especially one that is on the deeper side.
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So let's check out what the pantry looked like at the beginning of this story. Look familiar? In our area, there are so many homes built with similar style pantries; essentially a 2 ft x 2 ft closet with shelves. Is this a nationwide epidemic or just regional to the midwest?
Although these closets seem to be fairly common, how they are used will be different for everyone. This particular closet is used by a husband and a wife, kids have all grown up and moved out, and they now have seven grandkids who love to stop by with their parents for a visit.
Their storage needs vary from week-to-week. They will buy in bulk if there are sales, they enjoy hosting during the holidays, and also like to have foods and snacks on hand for their visitors and grandbabies. It is also worth mentioning that they have alternative storage in their kitchen carved out for additional pantryitems such as spices, oils, and baking supplies.
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Begin with a stocked pantry. Do yourgrocery shopping for a typical week, and then take note of additional items you may purchase frequently and even some that may only be on rotation on occasion. Compile a list of everything you would like to be sure is accounted for in your pantry project.
Completely clear out the pantry and any other cabinets in your kitchen that contain food items that probably should be in your pantry. Discard any items that are expired, and categorize the remainder into groupings of like items.
Measure and create a plan! I tend to take this part pretty seriously, and I generally tackle these types of projects with the following goals:
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You have seen quite a few of my closet plans in the past; here is the one I had dreamed up for this specific pantry:
As with any project, the end result evolved a bit as I began ordering and installing and doing some final assessments. But as you can see above, the plans included drawers, door storage, bins to take up both the width and the height, as well as some room for change and growth.
To come up with the closet plans I measured the width and depth of every shelf. They had already installed the shelving with ledger boards and wanted to work with what they had if possible. In these types of closets, adjustable shelving may add a bit more versatility, but it definitely is not necessary. From there, I sourced the products that I thought would make the best use of the shelves from top to bottom and front to back.
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While planning, I looked at all of the items that they currently had stored in their pantry, and also considered how they ultimately wanted the pantry to function. Could we maximize the floor to ceiling shelves and add a door unit, therefore freeing up additional cabinets in their kitchen for other things? You bet!
Let's talk about the beautification process. This is NOTa necessary step, but it is something that I like to do. It doesn't make the closet more effective to paint it or paper it, but it does bring a little bit of joy and happiness and can even act as a bit of a motivator to maintain it. I will never tell you that have to install wallpaper and create labels from fancy vinyl lettering if that is not your thing. Those are just the details that I personally enjoy, and that many of my friends and clients also appreciate in the work that I offer (some people like to decorate rooms, I like to decorate hard working cabinets and closets).
My plan recommended removing the bottom shelf of the closet, so because we were going to patch and touch up paint anyway, I decided to paint the entire interior of the closet the same color as the adjoining kitchen walls with some of their leftover paint.
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Once it was dry, I also added a peel-and-stick wallpaper between each of the ledger boards for some additional wow. The paper is temporary and removes just as easily and quickly as it went in (no residue or commitment necessary).
As things were coming together, the pantry owner walked by, caught a glimpse, let out a happy shriek and clapped her hands. This is 100% what it is all about for me. I almost cried seeing how happy she was with her new closet coming together.
If you take anything away from this post, it is to add drawers whenever possible. Drawers will take advantage of the area from front to back, and naturally bring the items from the back forward for you (vs. you needing to move things or reach over things). I added drawers to this pantry in a couple of ways; you can be as literal or creative about it as necessary. I do consider some types of bins as drawers, they can serve the same function and bring items from the back, forward.
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The most impactful set of drawers was added at the bottom of the closet via a narrow elfa drawer unit. Originally, the closet had a single shelf and the floor to hold the items in this area, but now there are five nicely sized drawers, as well as a spot for a step-stool, a place to store grocery sacks, and even a little room to grow! Hello increased functionality and storage! For this particularelfa combination, I picked two of the narrow 2-runner drawers, three of the narrow 1-runner drawers, then added a narrow white melamine topper.
Closets like this can be tricky in terms of drawers because there are a few inches of recessed shelving area on either side of the door, and finding ways to not lose that space requires a little extra thinking. Although I knew we were already gaining storage by adding the elfa drawers, which are slim enough to pull through the narrow door opening, I was even happier that we were still able to add a little extra function on the one side of the drawer unit as well.
I was going to wait until a little later in the post to show how amazing these drawers are, but since we are on the topic, let's take a closer look insideof each one. Thiselfacombination is small but mighty and comes in at just 21 deep, 14 wide and 29 tall. Looking at those dimensions I was wondering if it really could store as much as I planned and hoped, and it certainly surprised us all.
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The top drawer was created just for the grandkids. The homeowner mentioned that her grandkids will come over and know right where to look in the fridge for drinks and snacks, and she really wanted to duplicate that concept in the pantry.
Theelfadrawers are easily organized withfitted and divided clear trays, so I added them to the top two drawers to do just that. Very convenient!
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