Boston Pam,

Try looking at some of the pantry organization websites. Several of them have good ideas and charts on how to set up a pantry. I would definitely consider building flexibility into your shelves to make it possible for you to adjust them as your family's needs change.

They also give suggestions on how to organize your pantry as well. It will make your life so much easier once you decide on an organizational pattern. I have been amazed at what a difference placing similar objects together and having pasta/rice/cereal/legumes in containers makes for us! Now, I know how many of an item I have at a glance. And it helps with food budget too!

Glad to hear that you are almost done!

I have a good idea on how I would like to organize the pantry but the big question is the cabinet in the nook - should I go with cherry like the kitchen, painted like the future bench or the same wood/finish as in the pantry? Or should I go another way? In the uppers I will probably store lots of wine glasses (I have sooo many for impromptu wine tastings)

What are the other built-ins in your house? Are they cherry or painted? I would either match the cherry or I would match the other built-ins / trim.

However - I'm a novice! So take my input as a suggestion only. :-)

Anybody else have opinions?

How do you see using the space? Do you need storage there? What about making it a more decorative area? Maybe a cabinet on the bottom and a nice piece of art hanging above it.I just don't know about an upper cabinet. It doesn't look like it would be the same height as the upper cab in the kitchen. What about some open shelving on top for some decorative items?

If I'm looking at it right, the top part looks like it's under the stairs?

Your plan of glass-front shelves on top, of varying depth, would certainly work.

The bottom looks quite deep. Might drawers work better, so you're not on your knees, trying to dig stuff out of the back?

I used to have a small area like that in an old house from around 1900 I rented once that had a tiny second serving pantry off the living room/library, for serving drinks and tea, etc.

It had glass shelves on top for glassware/china etc. and drawers on the bottom for cutlery and linens for less formal meals, probably by a maid, while the dining room cutlery, napkins etc. would be kept in the butler's pantry in the back. It was just about the size of your little nook.

I would say it's easier to get a painted finish to look nice than a stained finish. But I'm biased, and picky. I think most wood finishes don't look very good.

It's looking beautiful so far. LOVE the old pantry too!

Looks perfect for a wine nook, and I like your idea of wine glasses on shelves up top. Do you have any granite scraps left? If there are any big enough (about 36 x 13 if I'm reading you correctly), then you might have room for a small granite-topped wine bar. I don't see a wine rack in your plans, so that is a good place for one. You might have an 18" wide rack next to an 18" drawer stack for accessories (corkscrews, coasters, napkins, bar boards and such.) And you could have a nice wine scene tile backsplash there (later if money dictates waiting for that). If I could, I'd either (first choice) make the cabinetry cherry to go with those cabs next to your gorgeous RED range, or (second choice) the same paint as doors and trim if you want it to fade away. Looking great so far!

This might be one of those times where the same thing isn't the same thing. So I'm just going over what I see - so you know - I'm not saying what you should do.

There are a couple of issues. The first has to do with the returns at the "doorway". Doors and drawers would need to fit into the clear opening and for drawers, they couldn't extend out to the actual sides. If you're thinking of glass doors on the upper level, the more you need them to open wide, the smaller the overall opening has to be - the angled door needs to open - say 120 degrees without hitting the sides of the opening.

There are kinds two ways to do that - one is to make the opening into the upper smaller and the open is to pull the upper forward and change the relationship between the doors and the front framing of the opening.

So the second part of the same isn't quite the same... is about the upper and the lower and the size and shape each could have. The taller the cabinet, the more narrow it has to be - both to fit under the stairs and to be useful without losing stuff in those deep angled spaces. You get more shelves if you bring the front edge of the shelves forward but you loose the ability to see and perhaps to reach the back.

You aren't going to have a lot of room to bend over or squat in front of the cabinet because of the powder room door and its projecting knob. Ordinarily, I'd be thinking drawers on the lowers, but I wonder if they would work for the same reason.

Personally, I would just put a tall narrow-depth cabinet attached to the front edge of a deeper unit with two or three drawers. If you need a sit-down place for things going into or out of the pantry, maybe consider a pull out breadboard. I might have the cabinet extend into the hall space about an inch or two and put trim around the outside of the opening so it looked like a true built-in.

I might do elevations and side sections to figure out the various heights and depths of everything. It might be better to have proportion a bit taller on the bottom and shorter on the top.

PS. Love your red blue star.

Looks like that powder room door opens against the spot where any cabinets would be. That is a pretty shallow space, and the doorknob might be banging your cabinet or countertop. Check the height and be sure to plan around that if you so something.

You don't have a lot of depth to work with there and with doorways off both sides, I think I would favor keeping it more open than closed up -- maybe just a lower cabinet or even a console/hallway table. Definitely mock it up to make sure you are happy with the space being closed up and the door swings, etc.

If you go forward with cabinets, I think I would not match the cherry in anything above. The space is recessed and shorter -- I think matching the cherry would accentuate the differences and look squat in that space. Cherry would be okay for a base with glass shelves above. I was also thinking of an aged black finish as a pretty compliment to your red range and cherry, but you could match your white trim. I'm not clear how you are finishing the pantry.

I like the idea of glass shelves above either a console table or cabinet. The light from the transom window could shine through your wine glasses.

Thanks for all the ideas. I agree, if I went with cherry it wouldn't look the same as the kitchen because the upper cabinet would be so much smaller. Thanks for pointing that out. If I just had a lower cabinet it would be OK. I think I will paint it though. I also know that I have to take the doorknob into consideration.

I have cats so I don't like open shelves. I have one cat that will jump to the top of the door (our doors are quite thick) and hang out there. I will mock up the space like lascatx suggested to make sure it's not too closed off. I've been doing that for most of my kitchen and bathrooms designs. I like the wine bar area but we already have a great wrought iron rack that holds 80 bottles. (phase 3 when we save more money the wine cellar will be built in the basement)

My pantry uppers on the long wall will have sliding glass doors like my present pantry. I love them now. The short wall under the stairs will be glass doors. I like natural wood and don't have much in the house. It is period appropriate but I may just paint it. I'll see. I have a lot of dishes to store - my grandma's china, my DH grandma's china, Chinese food dishes, Japanese food dishes, seasonal dishes... Right now many are in boxes. I do have a built in cabinet in the dining room plus a few other storage peices (side tables and china cabinets) that will be dispersed into a few rooms to help with dish storage.

My electrical and plumbing inspections completed today. YEAH!! Both inspectors went thru the Blue Star manual to make sure everything is correct including measuring the height of my hood. Fire dept inspection tomorrow and building inspection next week. Floors get refinished next week - I'm getting there.