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crazyone_gw

small WI pantry help needed

crazyone
12 years ago

I have a small WI pantry.. I was thinking maybe i could put a narrower door in so as to have at least a wall of 6" shelves added to long wall.

any suggestions? what is narrowest size door that would work?

any small pantry photos would be awesome to share too

{{!gwi}}

Comments (11)

  • dilly_ny
    12 years ago

    I think interior doors can be 24." Someone posted great pantry pics earlier this week. Good Luck!

  • breezygirl
    12 years ago

    It's hard to tell because the pic you posted is so tiny, but I assume we're talking about a regular hinged door. 24" could work, but it's pretty small. Try mocking it up in an existing doorway. Block off enough of your door opening width to make a 24" opening. Then try to walk in and out like normal. Try carrying a heavy or awkwardly sized pantry object through the door. Maybe you'll be turning sideways to get in and out. That may or may not bother you.

  • Buehl
    12 years ago

    I also have a small walk-in (really "step-in") pantry. I have a 24" door and it's fine. I wouldn't want it any narrower, though.

    Have you seen the pantry thread over in the "Gallery"?

    Here is a link that might be useful: Gallery Thread: Pantry photos/ pics of pantries

  • palimpsest
    12 years ago

    The only time it could be awkward is if you store heavy, large things in there that need to be carried in and out with both hands. But powder room doors are often 24" so its a feasible width.

  • davidro1
    12 years ago

    When everything is perfect, a person has less than 24" width to walk in or out of a little bathroom that has a 24" door. It's not practical for two people when one wants to leave while the other is entering.

    A 24" door is 24" all by itself when uninstalled. When the door is installed and used (opened), it often leaves about 22" of width of passing space. This is because of the door's other dimensions, and the hinges, and the doorframe.

    A person can fit sideways into a small opening. My writing this out is not a recommendation to install a truly puny door. But it is a recommendation to line all the walls with shelves all around.

    A pocket door slides away and has no other elements like hinges or parts of the frame that protrude or impede. in your case you have enough wall of the right shape to let you install a pocket door, which slides inside the wall structure. A pocket door could be far far less than 24" width and still be fine for this cupboard. What could also work is a single door of the kind that they sell as sliding closet doors / bypass doors. They can be ordered to any size.

    Also, f.y.i. this kind of miniscule opening can be screened with hanging beads or fabric and this simplifies even more the door-open-close dilemma. The key is to have a visual screen.

    Conclusion:
    yes you can step into an opening that is astronomically less width than 24" (or 22" net effective workable space)
    yes you can reduce the opening of a hinged door down to 18" or 16" net.
    yes you have other options than a hinged door.

    To see how little space you need to slip through an opening, partially open any door and do a twostep through the partial opening. Measure the space you used.

    To see a much larger image, I clicked on your photo.

  • crazyone
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    thanks all, sorry the pictures is just a link, you just hit it for it to open bigger

    I measured our ensuite door and it is 24" as well as our w i pantry here is as well and both are very functional.

    the toilet in ensuite never has two trying to use at same time :-) but pantry is always busy so i guess it will work just fine.

    i would put pocket door but i had a few more in the plans and i am getting lots of opinions from others as to why i would want them all over. I think they are handy and out of the way and use less space but others think i will be sorry as they are not as durable and quiet.

  • davidro1
    12 years ago

    If a hinged door is better for you because you want to close it every time you go back and forth, then by all means have a hinged door.

    I'll play advocate for the other option. For this cupboard, you will open and close the door once in a while. Maybe 400 times per year. You will leave the pantry open when you intend to go back to it. My prediction.

    Quiet = able to stop noise from being transmitted through the door from one room to another.
    This is irrelevant to a cupboard.

    Quiet = makes a small rolling noise when some rolling mechanism rolls on the track.
    This is mostly irrelevant, even if you get rolling noise.
    BUT there are many noiseless slider mechanisms and roller mechanisms.
    Some people don't know of them.
    Or, in a store they may be installed on a flimsy structure which amplifies the minor rolling noise.
    Ultimately, noise is not a concern, for a cupboard or closet.

    Remember too that people like to carry their mental model all the way out to the extreme once they get an idea in their mind. So, "lots of opinions" just means that people have now decided that pocket doors are one of the things they can now subject to putdowns. Tell them to drop that talk since the point has been made and they can now move on to something else to talk negatively about.

    As for "durable" this too can be rebutted.

    If a hinged door is better for you because you want to close it every time you go back and forth, then by all means have a hinged door.

    Hth

  • Buehl
    12 years ago

    FYI...my 24" doorway has an effective/usable opening of 23.5" when the door is open all the way (180o). So, David is right, the opening is a bit smaller. If you don't open the door all the way, it will be less.

    Personally, I like pocket doors for doors that don't have to be constantly opened & closed...they keep the doors out of the way when open and they allow you to use the entire wall space, not force you to leave room for an open door.

    If I had it to do over, I would have used more in my home!

  • sandy808
    12 years ago

    I went through much turmoil over the whole pocket door issue until I quit listening to other people. We are building a new house and went through having people tell us how they hate pocket doors, even though they never owned one. We had all the pocket doors framed out and ripped it all out based on this. Then I got thinking about how annoyed I get with doors that swing.I stopped listening to other people and their opinions. It is my house after all and not theirs, and said as much.

    We are having ALL pocket doors in our house. We bought the Johnson hardware that is rated for 300 pound doors. A bit of overkill, but sturdy. To prevent any wall flex,which I didn't like, we sheathed with MDF. We will have custom made 6 panel solid doors made of cypress to match the cypress tongue and groove walls. I will purchase the nicest hardware available. I am at complete peace with my decision.

    For a pantry door that narrow, I feel you will want the benefit of as much of that 24 inches you can get.

    Sandy

  • Lauren Wollmershauser
    12 years ago

    "When everything is perfect, a person has less than 24" width to walk in or out of a little bathroom that has a 24" door. It's not practical for two people when one wants to leave while the other is entering."

    Must be a lot of bathroom emergencies in your house, if you can't wait for one person to exit before the other enters. :)

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