Years ago, I had a curtain covering the opening of a walk-in pantry & the dust was horrific. Similar to cabinets without doors IMO.

If you have to go through the laundry to get to the pantry, I'm not sure I'd use any sort of cover at all.

But I don't think I'd like a curtain for the pantry, not sure why.

I'm not clear on your layout. Is this a walk in pantry in the laundry room? A curtain would help with the off-gassing issues, but may look strange depending on you decor. Most gassing issues are only when the cabinets are new and will stop in a few months. Can you wait to install a door? Do you even need a door?

Have it, done it, not doing it again! I'd go for a screen door, or any other kind of door than a curtain. The dust is the same if not worse than no door (I tend to forget to vacuum/dust in there), and I find the curtain a pain to work around as I take out pots/pans/large items. Mind you our curtain doesn't "slide", it's more permamnently attached at the top, so you're always pulling it to one side as you reach in or take things out. Our's isn't a walk in pantry though.

Hmmm. It is a walk-in pantry where one side of the room is the washer/dryer sink area open to the rest of the room. While the pantry area is about 1/3 of the area approximately a 4x7 "room". I was thinking of a sliding curtain (floor to ceiling) How would it be like an open cabinet if there is a curtain covering it? Do you mean it depends on what the fabric is as certain fabrics may allow more dust to pass through? Decor is not an issue as I am going for a country farmhouse look.

I meant to say Does it depend on what fabric is used... and also would a lined fabric do the trick? I like the informality it will add to the space but also I like the idea of not having any door open out into the room.

Thanks so much for the advice about preshrinking. I have included a pic of the Laundry/Pantry room to show where the curtain would go instead of the doors.

I wouldn't do it for a couple of reasons. Most importantly, it's going to be inconvenient/bothersome to always have to shove the curtains out of the way and close them back up every time you go in the pantry. Why would curtains be more inconvenient than a door? Because a curtain doesn't open/close as easily as a door. You have to shove it all the way open & closed. It will inevitably not get opened all the way and you'll be sticking out your arm to keep it open as you are retreiving what you need. Then it won't get closed all the way, and that defeats the purpose of having it there in the first place.

Secondly, your pantry is in the same room as your washer/dryer. I wouldn't really want my canned goods and boxed items in there with all that heat/condensation. I'd want my food closed off with a solid door, no vents. It just seems to me that over time, the stuff in your pantry will get, well, soggy, for want of a better word.

I might be wrong about all that, and you might love it. But personally, I can see that I would hate it.

One more item, I'd put a separate light in the pantry area. With a door, you can have it set up so the light comes on automatically when the door is open and off when it's shut. Even with the curtain though, that extra light will eliminate the shadows that might occur if you don't open it up completely.

As for the offgassing issue, I've never heard of that. What kind of smelly food are we talking about? I do keep potatoes in my pantry but haven't ever had a problem with smells.

My pantry and laundry room are in the same area. I haven't had a problem yet. It is a 6x9 foot room with the door centered on one of the 9 foot sides. As you walk in the left side is floor to ceiling pantry shelves and the right side is the washer/dryer. It has worked out perfectly. I don't have pics right now, but can try to post some later.

No smells. No excess moisture. No curtain needed.

IMHO, I was considering doing the exact same thing for a very similar situation. The problem here is that the home is an old 1700's farmhouse that was gutted and remodeled in the 90's. The opening for the laundry/kitchen store area is an odd size. It had been fitted with custom cheap-o bifold doors. Well in the 11 years we have lived here the track has worn down, the doors become subpar and the pivot pins have broken. When we decided to replace the doors, we found that what should have been $50 each was now going to be over $250 total to replace because of custom cutting. So I had come up with the idea of using a charming country cottage print fabric for a curtain that is split in center, essentially 2 curtains. I like the ring idea and will likely go with that. My mother sews a lot and I am going to ask her to do it after we repaint the kitchen and I find the fabric I want. Am going to go with a country cream color with a country rustic red for one wall with a country rustic wide fancy edged border of something like roosters, etc or some such americanna type theme. Anyone have ideas on fabric? Thought perhaps rustic red and cream small block gingham on a heavier weight cotton/poly. Will install some sort of hold-backs inside the room for holding back the curtains when I want to work in there. Going to install on a wooden spring-load rod or such. Any more ideas?

This what I'm considering for a laundry to pantry makeover. Our laundry was in the kitchen and we had to store all pantry items in garage. I switched that up. Now I have a sunny pantry area (60" x 36") I've replaced the sliding closet doors with curtains and they soften and make the rooms look larger. I think I'll get a nice French country pattern for fabric, install a tension rod and hang the curtains with rings, then tie them back for day to day. If it's messy I can drop the ties to hide the clutter! :O