pantry shelf depth?

16 years ago

It seems a while ago I remember reading a thread about how deep is the optimal depth for pantry shelves. There were lots of comments and things to keep in mind while designing your pantry. Needless to say, I now cannot find that thread. Can someone that remembers either point me to it, or could we start up the discussion again?

I'm having a pantry cabinet-- full height to ceiling, 30" wide, and only 15" deep. It'll have inset doors, so only about 14" of usable space inside. I'm debating whether I should keep all the shelves at 14", or whether I should sacrifice a few inches off of a few shelves to make room for some small storage that attaches to the door (like for spices and whatnot). What are people's thoughts? Would a 10" shelf be useless? Is it better to put the spices somewhere else entirely? Or should I keep the 14" shelves and put small items in a box on one of the shelves? They'll be wood shelves, not wire.

Thank you!

K

Featured Answer

Buehl

16 years ago

I think this is it:

The pantry measures 4 feet wide by 5 feet deep.
Starting at the top:

18" top shelf to ceiling(Things I don't need often or are lightweight.)
15" to next shelf (cereal boxes, etc.)
10" to next (canned goods, etc.)
10" to next (canned goods, etc.)
16" to next (small appliances)
20" from bottom shelf to floor (extra waters, heavy items)

The depth of the back shelf and the right side 12". The left side is 6" and holds hot sauces and other small items.

Comments (7)

raehelen
16 years ago
I think having the convenience of spices or whatever small items you have lots of on the doors would be useful. You could put cans or things that are harder to reach on 14" deep shelves on those narrower shelves and keep your bulkier items, cereals, flours, etc on the 14" ones.

I'm going to do a similar thing for our corner cabinet. DH will make me LazySusans for spices, but I'm going to have him make them a little smaller in diameter so I can put racks for our most used spices on the door. I find things get 'lost' in the middle of really wide LS carousels, just like small cans could get lost in 14" shelves particularly if they are close together.
abbycat9990
16 years ago
We have 2 x 24"w, 84"h pantries that are 12" deep. They hold out largest plates, and work well for us.
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nellie820
16 years ago
Fausonk:

My pantry measures 39"w x 27"d behind french doors on which I have some wire/basket shelving for baggies, drink mixes, etc. I have 16" deep wood shelves with 13"h between each shelf. I find them to be way too deep - too many things get lost behind the most-used items. When we update/remodel I plan to refit the pantry to 12" shelves (actually following buehl's dimensions above!)

Nellie
rosie
16 years ago
K, I have shallow wall pantry storage and would also recommend mostly shallower shelves and door units, along with a couple deeper and higher for special items. I just realized I don't have a standard box of cereal to measure, but it's about 9" or so deep. Standard canned goods are about 3", which means a 14-inch shelf would hold them 4-deep (5 with little cans)--which would be much less convenient than 3-deep, plus door shelves.

The special advantage of shallow storage is that it's right there when you open the door, but I'd say the point at which shallow turns to deep for standard items is functionally about 9-10 inches max.
sue36
16 years ago
What are you going to store in the pantry? I store food, paper towels, TP, extra appliances, cleaning supplies. I have temporary shelves now (IKEA), but when I do my permanent ones I will do 12" deep on most and a few 15" deep. I want to the deeper shelves because I want the option of storing extra appliances and larger things like that on the shelves.
janwad
16 years ago
I have 5 feet of pantry cabinets that are 12 inches deep, and I love it. Everything is visible, no mystery items lost in the depths.

I have cans, baking supplies, pet food, boxes, and one shelf with an outlet for cell phone and flashlight recharging.