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luckyme7

What is wrong with a corner pantry?

luckyme7
9 years ago

In our original floor plan offered by the builder there was reach in pantry. We changed it to corner pantry because I liked the walk-in feel and in my opinion the corners are hard to reach - so why waste valuable cabinet and counter space there? Instead we change the plan to create a corner pantry. The place where the reach in pantry was originally now became 5 foot nook nestled between oven tower on one side and fridge on the other. I am thinking it will be a nice spot where I can tuck away counter appliances like pop toaster, blender, coffee maker etc. out of sight in a open floor plan...

But when I posted my revised floor plan the first thing many of you suggested I change was the corner pantry. What is the reason? Is there any downside to corner pantry that I'm missing?

btw, we plan to put in simple shelves in pantry not the wired shelves. Had it been the reach in pantry it would have been the same. we wouldn't have upgraded them to proper cabinets because of cost.

Another point to note is that I'm 5 ft tall - so most upper cabinets are out of reach for me, and corner uppers are even worse.

Comments (12)

  • _sophiewheeler
    9 years ago

    One of the big guidelines in kitchen design is to never put a tall object in the middle of a run of cabinets.It interrupts the counterspace flow. A corner pantry wastes at least 10'' of storage space as well, because of the two drywalled walls. It's less efficient storage, and much more visually imposing.

  • annkh_nd
    9 years ago

    Corners can be tricky, but not necessarily inefficient. We have a U kitchen - two corners. One has a super susan - almost all my small appliances are there. The other is closed off, with drawers on each side. The upper corners both have easy-reach cabinets, which I find very useful - tons better than the old angled corner caverns I used to have. And one of our corners is between sink and stove, so it's in the middle of (an part of) our main prep area.

    I'm 5'4", and my cabinets go to the 8' ceiling. I have a neat little folding step stool under the sink, so I can easily get to the upper shelves. Of course most used items are on lower shelves.

    I also ordered extra shelves for all of my upper cabinets, so I can keep things lower, and not stack much.

    And sometimes a GW no-no is the right thing for you. I broke a couple of "rules" in my kitchen, and I'm very happy with the results. But if a lot of people are opposed to an idea - with legitimate reasons, like hollysprings (as opposed to "I prefer one look over another"), you should carefully consider those opinions. These folks know what they're talking about, and want to help you make your kitchen the best it can be.

    Good luck!

  • practigal
    9 years ago

    I really like a corner pantry, in the right corner. My recollection is that the pantry in the proposed design would have broken the straight-line of the countertops and that would look very odd. Also as you work on either side of the pantry you would lose elbow room to your right and to your left depending upon the side of the pantry you were trying to work on, this would be a loss of usable space in addition to the lost space of the pantry walls, To avoid this I would have tried to put a walk-in pantry somewhere else in the kitchen if possible but I don't recall that it was.

  • akl_vdb
    9 years ago

    I have a corner pantry. One designer suggested to take it out, I thought he was nuts. Then I read up on GW. I understand they take up a lot of room. I'm also sure I could have a much better designed kitchen, but it works for us (and you should have seen the look on my DH's face when I told him about taking out the corner pantry, he thought I had gone insane, and he puts up with so much from me ;) )

    But I'm also 5'1", I can put stuff in there like crazy, keep a stool in there and it's all good.

    Plus for us, it would have been mucho dollars to take it out, and replace it with cabs. Didn't make sense to us. I still like my corner pantry even if it a space suck.

  • blfenton
    9 years ago

    There is nothing wrong with corner pantries - in the right place. If I remember your original plan, the corner pantry was going to be in the middle of your work triangle, there was some cross issues with appliance doors and pantry door and some traffic issues.

    If you have posted your new plan, I missed it so I don't know how it now works. And has been mentioned, GW can point out better ways of doing things technically, but not necessarily practically for your own needs. Only you can decide what will work on a daily basis.

    I have a U-shaped kitchen (sort of) with the DW around the corner from the sink, something frowned upon here, but it works for us and did in our old kitchen as well.

  • missymoo12
    9 years ago

    I have a corner pantry in this house and LOVE it! So much so that I have two of them going in our new kitchen. I know they are not current and look out dated; but are, for me, ever so handy. I hate digging stuff out of drawers and cabinets. There will be plenty of counterspace.
    I have antique glass doors on them and did struggle about door swing but if its inconvenient after we move in they can come off. Open stained oak shelving.
    So yeah, not much for cool factor but I still like them.

  • Fori
    9 years ago

    Depends on the overall plan (I haven't seen yours) but I odn't think it's inherently bad.

  • eandhl
    9 years ago

    I remember your plan. Knowing where I would prep, between sink & range, I didn't mind you corner pantry. What I would have changed is - the 2 end cabs after the fridge & ovens. I would do one after the pantry, fridge, second cab then the ovens. You need load, unload space for each of the appliances.

  • Liesl123
    9 years ago

    I had purchased a home with a corner pantry. When planning a remodel, the kitchen designer wanted to remove it but my husband and I thought it was a great use of space and couldn't understand the desire to eliminate it.

    Now, in our new build, we are planning to have a corner pantry in the kitchen as well. The kitchen layout is very similar to the one in this picture.

    I'd be curious to see if anybody sees issues with the corner pantry in this layout?

    Here is a link that might be useful: [Houzz[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/new-kitchen-floorplan-with-the-common-wall-removed-captures-a-fresh-lifestyle-traditional-kitchen-dallas-phvw-vp~6190881)

  • ainelane
    9 years ago

    The esthetic reasons the corner pantry is not desirable: it usually looks like a hulking box which interrupts the lines of the kitchen and takes away feelings of openness. To me, they usually (but not always) have a kind of "builders-special suburban tract home" feel.

    Usually (but not always!) people just throw up some plywood shelves and call it a day. This is not the pantry of people's dreams from Houzz. I lived in a house that had one and it felt like having to constantly open an awkwardly placed door to go into a gloomy closet space.

    I think some people get caught up in the romanticized vision of having a walk in pantry and sacrifice way too much to cram it into a kitchen where it doesn't really fit.

    Functionally, I would much rather have a bank of roll out pantries or cabinets with roll out tray shelves. Having used both corner pantry and roll out, I feel that the roll out has a more "at your fingertips" feel that I prefer. It feels cooler and more organized.

    Regardless of what you ending up choosing, I just wanted to say "kudos" to you for starting this thread. I saw from your layout thread that you were quite attached to the corner pantry and so good for you for investigating and trying to learn more about it. It's not easy to question strongly held ideas sometimes. Whichever way you go, you will know it was a well thought out decision.

  • debrak2008
    9 years ago

    "I think some people get caught up in the romanticized vision of having a walk in pantry and sacrifice way too much to cram it into a kitchen where it doesn't really fit." I so agree with that!

    I like/need uninterrupted counter. I can carry stuff/food/pans, etc from the sink to the range over the counter. With a corner pantry you have to go around it when its right in the middle of prime prep area.

    Of course it depends on the whole layout.