Pantry Cabinet

However, how do you know if you have a suitable piece of kitchen furniture or cabinet to use as your kitchen pantry? Several characteristics make a cabinet a pantry cabinet right for storing your non-perishable food. For example, a pantry cabinet should have many shelves, not just one or two. The shelves should be relatively close together when compared to other kitchen cabinets because canned goods and most food packages are small and if your leave large space between shelves, you will be wasting valuable storage space. The shelves will be different from other piece of kitchen furniture in another way, as well. You should be able to see the entire shelf easily and not have to reach in too far to get items out of the back. As a result, the shelves will be shallow or moveable. Pantry shelving can move in one of two ways, first the pantry shelves can be on rollers and pull out and in like a drawer. Alternatively, the pantry shelving could be a series of Lazy Susans that turn around to reveal the contents at the back.

Even though most pantry cupboards have similar characteristics as described above, we will briefly describe some distinct kitchen pantry styles here. Other sites like BNS Kitchen Furniture might give information that is more detailed if you are interested. The first variety of kitchen pantries is the pantry storage cabinet. These items are separate pieces of kitchen furniture and generally not part of your cabinetry scheme. You would be most likely to find one at the edge of the kitchen after the counters and cabinets have stopped or in an area between the kitchen and where the breakfast nook table is, which is sometimes called the kitchen nook. These pantries are very simple and will not have moving shelves or other gadgets. Instead, they will be shallow furniture pieces for the kitchen so that you can see the back of each shelf easily.

If you have a pantry that is incorporated into the rest of your kitchen cabinetry then the cabinet will be much deeper than the storage cabinets depicted above. To accommodate for that depth, some pantry cabinets for the kitchen are designed with swing out shelves. You can see this variety of cabinet below and it might be easier to understand if you look at the photo. The doors swing open toward you and generally have shelves adhered to the inside. Behind the door shelves, there will be a second set of shelves that swing out, as well. The second set of shelves is kind of like another set of doors. Behind there you will find a third row of shelves attached to the back of the cabinet. The main advantage of this kitchen pantry style is that you can fit a lot of food in there and there are many different shelves to aid you in organization. The main disadvantage is that the swinging shelves and doors could be heavy when loaded full of canned goods.

If you do not want to move around heavy shelves like in the kitchen pantries described above, then you might consider using the deep cabinet space of your pantry cupboard differently. If you install a pole from floor to ceiling in the center of the pantry, you can install Lazy Susans around that pole for each shelf. You will be able to access the back of the pantry cabinet by turning each shelf individually. They will definitely not be as heavy and will be easier to handle, which is an advantage. However, you will not be able to store as much in this variety of kitchen pantry because they generally only have one door and are no wider than they are deep so that the circular shelves can fit.

The past style of pantry cabinet we are going to discuss is the thin man pantry cabinet, which really is not a cabinet at all. This kitchen pantry is also a separate piece of kitchen furniture and is not part of your kitchen cabinets. However, it is designed to fit in between cabinets and appear as though it is part of them. The thin man pantry is a series of shelves on a set of casters that fits in between cabinets and appliances and can be pulled out in its entirety to reach the high-sided shelves for food storage. The shelves do not move individually, but rather the entire unit is moveable. You can access it from both sides and the front is usually disguised to look as if it is a normal cabinet door.