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jcannuck

pull-out pantry vs individual slide out

jcannuck
15 years ago

Need an opinion here - we have a couple of full-height pantries planned in the new kitchen. I grew up with a PoggenPohl kitchen and was all set to get a full pull-out set up where every "layer" is attached to the cabinet door and you access it all from the sides. Our KD is suggesting that we get regular opening doors and that each pantry shelf would be able to roll out/ pull forward individually. He thinks it'll be easier to open (not as heavy) and more durable. Everything is custom and the pantry shelves will be plywood.

I liked the full pull-out from the perspective that you can see everything. It did get heavy, but, heh, I used it when I was growing up so it couldn't have been that bad! It had wire sides and I wonder if the plywood sides would make it hard to see the cans etc. We could always get the KD to put in wire sides I suppose! Thoughts???

Comments (17)

  • loves2cook4six
    15 years ago

    LOVE love love my pullout. It is one of my favorite kitchen features and the only thing I can say is wish I had done more of them. This one was just squeezed in to utilize otherwise empty space. Had I known how amazingly efficient it is I would have put 3 more 12" wide ones in the pantry. I love that nothing can ever get lost on these shelves. You can access from both sides - perfect.

    Ours is 12" wide so doesn't get too heavy, tupperware modular mates fit it perfectly although I am ashamed to admit I didn't think of that, it just worked out that way. Our cabinet maker attached one of those toe kick openers so it stays closed and "locked" when shut.

    It's in my baking center so when I need something, just pop the door, get what I need -put it back, get next ingredient - put it back, etc. No doors in the way, no opening and closing inner drawers.

    Open:

    Closed:

  • jcannuck
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    That is COOLloves2cook4six! The millwork and your hardware are stunning. 2 of our pantry 'zones' are

  • eandhl
    15 years ago

    Though no inlay or a fancy pull like above I do have a pull out and I love it. Get a good quality glide. Mine slides flawlessly and nothing shakes, tips, slides off a shelf.

  • caryscott
    15 years ago

    Someone, rmkitchen maybe (not sure), has one of those tall pull out pantries and really didn't like it. If I remember correctly the issue was a lack of space efficiency - she though she could have gotten a lot more into the space with a more standard configuration of pull out shelves. With the particular one she had she was also found real limitations to the adjustability of the shelves. I'll do a search but it was quite some time ago.

  • morton5
    15 years ago

    I have a 15"-wide pullout in my prep area and love it. Mine is kind of a hybrid, though. The top and bottom drawers are attached to the door, but other interior drawers are pulled out individually. Two advantages that I can think of to this set up are (1) the pullout isn't so heavy, and (2) I can position the other interior drawers at whatever height works best for me. The cabinet is Ikea, and the interior drawers are those European metabox drawers. I can see a lot of what is in each interior drawer before I pull it out.

  • caryscott
    15 years ago

    It was rmkitchen. Under a heading of things we got wrong she wrote:

    "#2 thing which drives us crazy
    -Pantry pull-outs. HATE them! Maybe hate is too strong a word (not really), but we realize now we would have been so much happier with standard shelves, not even roll-out shelves! (although those are divine) We have the pantry units from Rev-A-Shelf and find a) they are "adjustable" in name only, b) they donÂt hold as much as youÂd think, and c) a space-waster. If weÂd had shelves we could have stacked cans or seen at one glance all our dry-goods. As it is, we have to pull out three separate units and honestly, we think itÂs crap. Never again!"

    Will say from experience with roll out shelves, make sure they are a decent height - we missed that and I am building them up using old plexi glass over the holidays. My Mom kept some stationary shelves and they did come in handy for some things.

  • morton5
    15 years ago

    Another thing to think about is that if you have a regular door and interior pullouts, the hinges on the door may interfere with where you want to position the pullouts. With a true pullout you don't have the hinge issue.

  • zelmar
    15 years ago

    loves2cookfor6's pull-out is beautiful!

    I guess it really depends on the space you have available. Full pull-outs only seem useful if they are quite narrow. The beauty of individual pull-outs is that you have access to the items from both sides, FRONT and TOP. I like pulling an item off the shelf without having a shelf above blocking access and light. In my mind, the full pull-out doesn't function much differently from fixed shelves except for giving access to 2 sides.

    I used to love going into Ikea showrooms and opening the full pull-outs. They were fun and seemed so clever! But when it came time to choose a 15" wide Ikea pantry for our laundry room, I abandoned the full pull-out (which I really thought I wanted) for the practicality of the individual pull-outs. I couldn't think of a single functional reason for getting the full pull-out.

    In our house, having drawers on the bottom of our kitchen pantry works well since only the bottom drawer is blocked if something is left on the floor in front of the pantry.

    I keep my most used items in the front of our pantry shelves. I just have to open the cabinet doot to grab one of these items instead of pulling out anything.

    {{!gwi}}

  • biner
    15 years ago

    I purchased the full pullout fom Ikea and shortly after converted it to a pantry with a door and interior drawers for all the same reasons posted above. Much happier with it but you do need the 153 degree hinges to allow the drawers to be puuled out.

  • Prateek Shah
    8 years ago

    Sorry to resurrect a an old thread, but I think loves2cook may be able to help me with my current dilemma. Do you know what hardware (glides) were used for your pull out pantry? I am looking for something very similar. Also how has the pantry held up over the years? Are you happy with it?

  • loves2cook46
    8 years ago

    Very happy with the pantry. It's 9 years old already (gosh I can't believe that) and still one of the kitchen favorites. Ayr Cabinetry in Nappannee IN made them and they may be able to tell you what glides were used. The toe kick latch still works flawlessly and no issues with the the glides either. Hope that helps :)

  • Prateek Shah
    8 years ago

    it does. thanks so much.

  • numbersjunkie
    8 years ago

    I'm looking at Ikea now and noticed the new line no longer has the full height pullout.

  • Blaire Going
    8 years ago

    Hi guys!! Hoping to get some feedback from you all regarding my pantry I have posted a pic. It's about a 12" opening and the door will be inset. I am debating between a full pull-out or individual pull-out shelves. I was told by DH that I will loose about 3 inches of space for pretty much any pull out option due to hardware plus the space the actual shelve takes up. Is this true?

    Also my cabinet is an odd depth but I would like to be able to utilize the entire depth with whatever option I choose. For this reason i am leaning towards individual pull out shelves.

    What do you guys think? does that waste so much space? should I try to find a full pull-out pantry? If so what brand do you recommend Rev-a-shelf and Hefele are the only ones I have seen online so far. Since we are major DIYers it has to be something we can order/buy and install ourselves.

    ALSO this may be important... we have a walk-in pantry under the stairs which is close to the kitchen area so this would be for "need to have close" storage only BUT it will be the only food storage in the actual kitchen area aside from a very small spice/oil cabinet.


  • sherri1058
    8 years ago

    My cabinetmaker also told me that I would lose extra inches if I wanted individual pull outs. Placement of slides, perhaps? Just a thought, can the depth be completely custom or are there standard glide sizes which may restrict you?

  • sjhockeyfan325
    8 years ago

    You're going to lose space either way - even a full-size pullout needs room for the "baskets". I have this Hafele pull-out for my condiments (love the easy clean melamine shelves in the baskets) and as stated in the specs, the inside width of the cabinet needs to be the basket width plus 1-5/16", which means in a 12" cabinet, you'd have to get a 9" pullout (I designed my cabinet to accommodate the 12" pullout). Hafele pullout