We have a 6'x8' pantry and initially thought about putting a fridge in the pantry (we housed it in the garage). However, we determined that there just wasn't enough clearance to make it beneficial in our space. I suppose if the fridge was not full sized, but more like the smaller apartment-sized fridges, it could work. But full size, even with double doors, might be a tight fit.

Here's a picture of our stocked pantry with the shelves we eventually installed. We opted just to leave our extra fridge in the garage. The shelves on the right are all 9" deep. The bottom two shelves in the back and on the left are 24" deep. The rest in the back and on the left are 12" deep.

There's enough open space in the middle for each of us to be in there getting stuff without bumping into each other. Now that we're using it, I can't imagine how on earth we thought we could ever put a fridge in there.

Thanks for the picture, that's really helpful. I hadn't considered that the fridge would be too tight. I suppose we could cross that bridge down the road, the question would be whether we would want to keep the door placed as it is. I like the idea of having a counter to put groceries on, so we can have deep shelves underneath for mixers, potato bags, etc., and shallow shelves on top. I suppose if we decide a fridge would be too tight we could just run the counter and shelves all the way across? Heck, maybe put a prep sink in there or something! Thanks!

Would this be the primary path from the garage/mudroom into the house? If not - great. If so,I would definitely want a larger door opening. 2'4" is just too small to walk through with an armful of groceries, or a big purse, or a baby carrier. Ideally, I would try for a 3'0" opening if this is how you will enter the kitchen. Our walk-in pantry in 5'8" wide by 7'8" deep with a 20" deep counter on one side and 10" deep shelves on the other. It has great clearance, but I would not want the floor space to be more than a few inches smaller. 6'6" with a full depth fridge, hallway, and narrow shelves seems very tight.
Mine is an embarrassing mess, but maybe seeing it will help. Good luck with the build.

This post was edited by kfhl on Sat, Feb 2, 13 at 21:06

It doesn't look to me that you could even get a full-sized fridge in through either doorway in the pantry. If you plan a fridge in there, you may want to plan for a larger doorway.

I realize this is a really old post, but I'm also looking at doing something similar. I would move the fridge down to the other end (by the pocket door) and widen the door between the mudroom and pantry.