Pantry vs cabinets with counter top

[bcdfgh]

I'm in the design phase to build a house. Initially I included a pantry in the design but the architect didn't like the location so he turned that area into cabinets/counter top and moved the pantry to somewhere else. I don't like the new location of the pantry and am thinking about not having a pantry since there is plenty of storage space from cabinets plus extra counter top. Any advice? Is pantry a must have or would you rather have more counter top?

[Sam_2.0]

Counter top. As long as there is adequate space for food in the cabinets. We have a pantry now, but our old house didn't. I would prefer more workspace.

[Tiny]

What kind of "pantry" are we talking about - the kind that's not very deep and kinda narrow where you store "food" OR the kind where you can store your broom and mop and bucket and maybe some cleaning products along with any counter top appliances (when not in use): Stand Mixer, assorted Blenders, crock pot, mini fryer, counter top pressure cooker, and then your really big/heavy dutch oven or 20 quart stock pot, any large dishware or cutting boards or other kitchen 'accessories'?

Will having just cabinets (above and below the counter) be enough space for all your kitchen gear? Will you be "agile" enough to get stuff from deep in cabinets to the counter top? Will you be tall enough to reach the stuff on the upper shelves of your

cabinets?  ADDED:  if you plan on storing your small appliances in your new cabinets - you might want to measure your appliances and make sure your cabinets will hold them. (this doesn't gaurentee that future appliances will fit in your cabinets).

(a friend has a beautiful kitchen with not particularly deep cabinets with 'fixed' shelves - she's limited on what she can store in them.  And is sometimes annoyed by this).

Where will you keep your broom, mop, buckets? etc?

(I live in the 1940's -  so I've got a small kitchen with not much counter space but a lot of cabinets - a lot of my "use occasionally' appliances are stored in the basement -  which means they aren't even used "occasionally" anymore because it's a pain to have to fetch what I need from the basement.)  

ADDED:   I will add - that after visiting friends with beautiful kitchens - I'd say that if the 'cooking' you do mostly involves the fridge and the microwave and then maybe the stovetop/oven a couple of times a year - it doesn't really matter how much counter space/cabinet space you have - it just needs be enough to be decorative and give the image of a beautiful kitchen.

[Chocolate Lover]

Tell him to put it back, it's YOUR house, not his.     

Even with lots of cabinet space a pantry is way better. There's ONE place to look instead of opening bunches of dang doors to find things. And there is always a point when you forget where something is. Always.

[midjd]

We have a pantry (basically just a floor-to-ceiling cabinet) with pull-out shelves. It is not something I would have specifically looked for in a house, but is very handy. It's big enough to keep pretty much everything that isn't refrigerated/frozen (including paper towels, etc.)

Don't know about your layout, but in ours replacing the pantry with a countertop would only add about 2 linear feet to the existing counters. To me that would not be worth it.

Some caveats -- 1) I am 5'2" and tend not to use the top of cabinets (unless I am looking for something 6'4" DH hid from me ); 2) I don't like having a lot of appliances, etc. on the counter, so storing things normally kept in the pantry/cabinets on the counter would probably bother me. 

So that's my opinion, your mileage may definitely vary!

[Tiny]

Is pantry a must have or would you rather have more counter top?

First, I actually cook - not gourmet stuff - just regular 'food' - roast a chicken or a pork tenderloin or a pan of veggies - I use my oven at least once a week and I use the stove top a couple of nights a week (cook rice or pasta or soup or chili) I'm single and just cooking for me (for the week!) - I try to only eat out once a week.

I would prefer to have a kitchen layout that gave me quick easy access to the various work areas (counter top, stove, sink, fridge, pantry.) I don't want to have to wear roller skates to get around a big kitchen. I also cook alone so I don't need counter space for someone else to be using while keeping out of my way.

That said, I would prefer having a pantry - it would be 'one stop' shopping when setting up to cook - I wouldn't have to hunt around (or remember) where stuff was in cabinets. I would also have a single place to store the once or twice a year stuff (the big roasting pan for the Thanksgiving Turkey, the collection of holiday cookie cutters and the special cake pans I use a couple times a year).

I guess it depends on how big of a "pantry" we are talking about. I love the "butler pantry" in some of the old Chicago Style bungalows - they usually go with a smallish kitchen...

[resolution]

I cook several days a week and would prefer a pantry, as long as the remaining counter space were sufficient to prepare a few things simultaneously.

[yogiii]

We have a very narrow closet in our kitchen. It's just big enough to hold all the food that does not go in the fridge (oils, rice, nuts, dried fruit, etc.). In fact if we didn't have 4 types of rice and a bagillion spices, we'd likely have an area for the turkey roasting pan and odds and ends type storage in there too. For us (daily cooks), that is enough storage space.

[justme]

I don't know, how much is enough room? My place had three bottom cabinets and three top ones and I didn't have enough room to store both. I'd say if it'd take more than 25 percent of the space to store food for at least two people you need a pantry.

I only bought the place I did without a pantry cuz it needs new cabinets and I'm putting a pantry in.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

We have a pantry, and I'd prefer it to be 3x its current size.  Because it is not, I keep the overflow in the garage and on the countertops.  The pantry is about 10 sq ft, with 6 shelves.  They do go almost to the ceiling though.  I would have a much more efficient countertop, if I could store stuff in the pantry.  For instance, I lose about 3 linear feet of countertop due to the mixer and cappuccino machine....both of which get used only a couple times each week.

I cook at least 6 nights of the week and keep well stocked.  I'd kill for Ina Garten's pantry.

[Tiny]

Thinking about friends' remodeled kitchens - you might want to consider how deep the extra counter space will be... and how you would use it.

In my friends' kitchen - no one really wants to do 'prep work' on the not so deep counters under cabinets. The prep work and/or setting out food 'buffet' style happens on the deeper counters around the stove and sink or "peninsula" counters. The narrower counters across the kitchen are pretty much for holding 'decorative' stuff - like cook books, and pretty canisters. You don't want that 'unused' counter space to become a "clutter catcher".

[Chocolate Lover]

I have a tiny apartment kitchen that I cook pretty much every night in. I can do sufficient meal prep and have just enough space in the cabinets to store the dishes and spices/baking supplies. Everything else is on a shelf around the end of the cabinets in what is technically the dining room. That's my pantry. I wish I had doors on it but the shelf was free.

[Lizard Queen]

Pantry all the way. Planning on a pull-out cabinet pantry when we remodel the kitchen, though--only because we have very little space to deal with and this will utilize it better. May have to build a broom closet into the garage someday (for broom, mop, paper towel and larger storage)

[bcdfgh]

This is a small house; 1900 sf plus an unfinished basement. The pantry would be small, not a walk-in size.
Do people usually keep broom, mop, ... in the pantry? I thought pantry is for non-perishable food and cooking tools. Currently I keep broom, mop, etc. in the basement and will do the same at the new house.

Tell him to put it back, it's YOUR house, not his.

I was really pissed when I received the 1st draft from him. I gave him the floor plans and asked him to convert to blueprints but he designed to what he liked then went back to my plans. What a waste of time.

[Tiny]

OK, I keep my broom and dust pan in my "pantry"  since I use them a couple times a week. The mop and bucket live in the basement     I've got a 4 foot plus wide 18 inch deep pantry that's accessed via a regular old door - it's not part of the cabinets -- it's part of the kitchen - framed in with plaster walls).      I keep dry goods/cans and other odds and ends in it.

I don't really have a  cabinet to hold the trash/recyclables/and brooms/mop/bucket - I've seen that in some remodeled kitchens...

(I need to 'move' into the 21st century....)

  

 

[Tiny]

Jan 6, 2016 13:02:23 GMT -5 bcdfgh said:

This is a small house; 1900 sf plus an unfinished basement. The pantry would be small, not a walk-in size.
Do people usually keep broom, mop, ... in the pantry? I thought pantry is for non-perishable food and cooking tools. Currently I keep broom, mop, etc. in the basement and will do the same at the new house.

Tell him to put it back, it's YOUR house, not his.

I was really pissed when I received the 1st draft from him. I gave him the floor plans and asked him to convert to blueprints but he designed to what he liked then went back to my plans. What a waste of time.

Did you ask why he made the change? Was it because his change was more 'standard' for the cabinets?  will following your plans require more custom work or do your plans get in the way of in wall vents/conduit?  Does his layout follow some more "conventional kitchen layout?    Will his plan allow for more lights/electric outlets/etc to be available?

I'm NOT saying he shouldn't do what you want - just wondering what his reasoning was for making the change (other than his personal preference -  most people happily follow orders with little thought.  Paying for a 'professional' usually means you might want to take advantage of their experience/skills/know how).

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Going back two previous owners, my kitchen was completely overhauled -- high end cabinets, granite, high-end appliances.  It is light and bright with a huge island and includes a vaulted ceiling family room.  I prepare meals (cook, bake, assemble, etc.) several meals a day for a family of 4 (including two teenage boys with hollow legs).  I fell in love with the kitchen...without looking close enough.

First, the island is fabulous, except the range and oven are built into it eating up a lot of room and forcing me to keep it clear of things like a cute teapot that would make it look cluttered.

Second, I only have two upper cabinets with solid doors.  I also have a wall of upper cabinets with glass doors.  No one keeps a mish mash of cereal boxes and bags of rice and snacks and spices and baking supplies in cabinets with glass doors.  And, I don't have every day china beautiful enough to store in cabinets with glass doors.  So, I am forced to store dry goods and dishes/glasses/cereal bowls/coffee mugs, etc. in just the 2 cabinets with solid doors.  It couldn't be done.  So, I had DH install some shelves at the top of the cellar stairs which, because I buy bulk at loss leader prices and cook out of my pantry, is overflowing with dry goods.  No matter how hard I try, it always looks disorganized because it isn't really large enough for my needs.  The kids' friends pass by it on their way downstairs to the mantown, and I kind of cringe when they do.  I wish so very much I had more cabinet storage in the kitchen, proper, but, it is what it is.  Someday, when I have oodles of extra money lying around, LOL, I plan to convert the downstairs bathroom into a true butler's pantry (with sink and dishwasher and maybe a freezer and tons of storage) and expand the pantry into the downstairs bath (this approach makes the most sense given how the house is laid out).

So, IF you prefer things within reach and will have enough cabinet space to hold all of your everyday kitchenware AND all of the food you regularly reach for, then go with cabinets.  But, if you are a bulk shopper like I am and cook out of a full pantry, then go for the pantry to store all of your surplus.  

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jan 6, 2016 13:02:23 GMT -5 bcdfgh said:

This is a small house; 1900 sf plus an unfinished basement. The pantry would be small, not a walk-in size.
Do people usually keep broom, mop, ... in the pantry? I thought pantry is for non-perishable food and cooking tools. Currently I keep broom, mop, etc. in the basement and will do the same at the new house.

Tell him to put it back, it's YOUR house, not his.

I was really pissed when I received the 1st draft from him. I gave him the floor plans and asked him to convert to blueprints but he designed to what he liked then went back to my plans. What a waste of time.

He works for you.  If there is some sort of logical reason why your plans would not work, he should tell you this.  However. to make the changes unilaterally IMO is not what you are paying him for.  You paid him to do what he wanted to do, not what you wanted.  That would piss me off too.

We keep our broom and dust pan in the pantry too.  Also in the pantry is a couple cans each of the canned foods we use regularly, pasta, spices, condiments that don't need to be refrigerated (keeping soy sauce, hot sauce, etc. out of the fridge has really helped with fridge space), etc.  We cleaned it out last summer when we did the kitchen renovation and it is now better organized than it was, but it is still too small for what I'd like to use it for.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

So, IF you prefer things within reach and will have enough cabinet space to hold all of your everyday kitchenware AND all of the food you regularly reach for, then go with cabinets. But, if you are a bulk shopper like I am and cook out of a full pantry, then go for the pantry to store all of your surplus.

Something to consider.....more cabinets would probably cost more $$ than a pantry yet the pantry serves the same purpose with better organization.  Cabinets tend have deeper shelves, and you lose things in them.  Our pantry is to the right of the fridge, so it's not a big deal to reach for something out of it vs a cabinet.

[lexxy703]

Slight tangent here but, GRG can't you just replace the glass cabinet doors with solid?  Even if you have to replace the solid ones too so they all match?  Seems like a quick relatively cheap fix.


And, my previous kitchen had a walk in pantry that could store everything.  My new house only has a cabinet width floor to almost ceiling one.  It took a long time to get used to.  I'd go with the pantry & tell him you want it where you want it.

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 6, 2016 13:02:23 GMT -5 bcdfgh said:

This is a small house; 1900 sf plus an unfinished basement. The pantry would be small, not a walk-in size.
Do people usually keep broom, mop, ... in the pantry? I thought pantry is for non-perishable food and cooking tools. Currently I keep broom, mop, etc. in the basement and will do the same at the new house.

Tell him to put it back, it's YOUR house, not his.

I was really pissed when I received the 1st draft from him. I gave him the floor plans and asked him to convert to blueprints but he designed to what he liked then went back to my plans. What a waste of time.

I don't have a basement, my broom and such are hanging on the wall in the laundry room. If I had a large enough pantry, I'd probably keep it there. I've never had one though. The place before this the broom and such was behind the bathroom door that was right there in the kitchen. 

I hope you don't pay him for the time he wasted "fixing" your floor plans. 

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 6, 2016 14:08:01 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

Slight tangent here but, GRG can't you just replace the glass cabinet doors with solid?  Even if you have to replace the solid ones too so they all match?  Seems like a quick relatively cheap fix.


And, my previous kitchen had a walk in pantry that could store everything.  My new house only has a cabinet width floor to almost ceiling one.  It took a long time to get used to.  I'd go with the pantry & tell him you want it where you want it.

I was wondering about frosting the glass or something so you couldn't see through it.

[bcdfgh]

The kitchen is a u-shape which means there are 2 corners. I put the pantry in the corner and since the depth is only 2 ft, the corner doesn't bother me. I really want an open or semi-open stairs but he now put the pantry against the stairs so the stairs is no longer open. The reason is that a corner is a dead space and not a good idea to put a pantry there. Since there is more cabinet space than needed, I decided to replace wall cabinets with a wide window over the sink.
In the 1st draft he moved the windows to undesired places, changed room sizes, and deleted basement plumbing rough-in. There were no good reasons for making these changes. I wondered if he mixed up with someone else plans.

[Ryan]

If you don't have a closet pantry, then you definitely need some sort of pantry in your kitchen.  Even my parents house that was built in the 70's has a very small pantry closet.

[bcdfgh]

Jan 6, 2016 14:08:18 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

I hope you don't pay him for the time he wasted "fixing" your floor plans. 

In the 2nd draft he put the windows and basement rough-in back to where they should be and removed all room dimensions.  Now I don't know the size of each room.

[Chocolate Lover]

Jan 6, 2016 14:25:12 GMT -5 bcdfgh said:

Jan 6, 2016 14:08:18 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

I hope you don't pay him for the time he wasted "fixing" your floor plans. 

In the 2nd draft he put the windows and basement rough-in back to where they should be and removed all room dimensions.  Now I don't know the size of each room.

  How have you not smacked him upside the head yet? 

[lexxy703]

I think you need to fire him & hire a competent architect that will listen to your wants/needs.

[Tiny]

Jan 6, 2016 14:08:59 GMT -5 Chocolate Lover said:

Jan 6, 2016 14:08:01 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

Slight tangent here but, GRG can't you just replace the glass cabinet doors with solid?  Even if you have to replace the solid ones too so they all match?  Seems like a quick relatively cheap fix.


And, my previous kitchen had a walk in pantry that could store everything.  My new house only has a cabinet width floor to almost ceiling one.  It took a long time to get used to.  I'd go with the pantry & tell him you want it where you want it.

I was wondering about frosting the glass or something so you couldn't see through it.

You can purchase "contact paper" <-- showing my age -- like stuff that will cling to the glass. I think it's called "film" I got some frosted, textured 'film' to cover one of my kitchen windows (that looks out on my neighbors deck) for privacy while still getting light. There are all sorts of patterns and colors.  I used some of it to change up my front door window as well.    I got mine thru the local WalMart (had it shipped to a store near me). It was under $20.00  and worth every penny.   I didn't hate WalMart so much for this --  since I just had to walk in, trek directly across the store to the pick up area and then trek back to the check out.   I went after 8:00pm on a Tuesday - so there was hardly any wait and few people in the store. 

It's temporary (in that it doesn't harm the glass or use special adhesives - used water and a bit of soap to get it to cling)  and was fairly easy to install (took a bit of measuring and patience)   It's been 'clinging' for more than 2 years now, without problem.

[Anne_in_VA]

Jan 6, 2016 14:35:16 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

I think you need to fire him & hire a competent architect that will listen to your wants/needs.

Yeah that!  My small '60's era house has a small cabinet width pantry that has fixed shelves.  I added slide out shelves as a retrofit because I kept losing things at the back of the shelves.  Now I can just roll a shelf out and reach what I want.  When I redo my kitchen, I'm going to put in another pantry, but in a different spot to make it a little more convenient.  

I'd opt for the pantry.  

[bean29]

So, If I am understanding correctly you are building a new house, not remodeling an existing house.

You chose a plan from a builder, and they are modifying it slightly.  Go look at what other builders did with similar design houses of the same square footage.  There are 3-4 builders that build a very similar floor plan to mine and I think it is interesting to see how they fit things into the same space.  Do you ever plan to finish basement?  I really wish I had stairs that turn and have a landing rather than stairs that are steeper and are a straight shot down.

Ask the builder if they have any pictures or plans showing how others have modified the space/designed the kitchen and where they put the stairs.

I have both a pantry closet and a cabinet pantry in my kitchen.  I don't have room for broom and dustpan in my kitchen but really wish I did.  I wish I had designed that pantry cabinet into the corner in my kitchen.  It would better utilize the space and it would have been much cheaper than the corner cabinets the designer put in that space.  My designer also left about a 6" gap between my pantry cabinet and the door opening so that I had a place to put the light switch.  It is incredibly dumb-wish I had more cabinets.  Switch could be in side of cabinet or on other side of wall, and now I realize that my doorway into my kitchen is not well designed either.  The wall where the refrigerator is should end where the refrigerator is so that when you open the door you can open the door all the way.  There is much more storage space in a pantry closet b/c it goes straight up and it is usually deeper than the rest of your cabinets.

I paid to increase the cabinet height and I paid for staggered cabinets and crown molding.  Skipping the crown molding saves $$ but the look is just not the same.  MIL saw the difference in my basement kitchen and asked for crown molding about 5 years after we put her kitchen in.  Carpenter said we can match the color and DH paid him to install it.  You actually can not tell it was not all done at the same time.  Sometimes I wish I had not staggered the height and that I had just gone for the taller cabinets straight across.  I also paid for pull out drawers.  Worth every $$.  DH added a shelf I got at HOBO to my pantry cabinet.  Another thing when I designed MIL's kitchen which is a pretty small space, the designer asked me if the double cabinet with two doors should have a piece of wood in the center (so two distinct sides no storage across the center, or, you open both doors and you have complete access to the space and the shelf goes completely across from L to R.  I chose the latter and am so glad I did. 

You might want to go to the big box store like Lowes or Home Depot with your kitchen layout and claim you are remodeling or building yourself and have them do your design and see what they suggest. 

My husband is fairly handy.  We are in our house 11 years, and we now have a completely finished basement.  At the bottom of my basement stairs I have a "pantry closet".  It is 7 1/2 feet wide x 22 feet long.  DH designed it to be either a work out room or a laundry room or both.  1/2 the room has closet maid shelves to hold things like Toilet Paper, Paper Towels, Seasonal Decorations and Tablecloths, Games, Plastic Flatware etc.  The other 1/2 the room is the area DH envisioned to hold a treadmill or a bike so we have Plastic shelving that is holding things like large stockpots, Chafing Dishes, the Turkey roasting pan, and Christmas boxes, bags, and wrapping paper.  We also have seasonal shoe storage and extra winter coats in this room.  I highly recommend you have the builder finish the closet box with drywall and a door unless your DH is handy.  My DH is handy, but I still wish I had had the builder do the closet and the office b/c it took DH at least 7 years to get it done.  You can go on the closet maid web site and do your interior closet layout and it will give you a design and a parts list.