How to conveniently and rationally equip a kitchen pantry
Any hostess will confirm that there are not many storage systems, especially this thesis applies to kitchen facilities. It is good if there is an opportunity to place a small pantry near the kitchen, where it will be possible to place a lot of items necessary for working kitchen processes. What to do for those who within the framework of a city apartment or a private house do not have the opportunity to allocate precious square meters for additional storage systems? In this publication, we would like to show examples of how you can organize a pantry directly in the kitchen and beyond. We hope that practical and rational images of storage systems will help you create an orderly storage of food products that do not need to be placed in the refrigerator, spices, drinks, oils and various kitchen utensils.
Pantry in the kitchen as part of the furniture ensemble
In foreign design projects of kitchens of various sizes, you can often find a large kitchen cabinet, inside which a whole world of storing spices, oils and other seasonings is placed. Such storage systems are becoming popular among our compatriots. This is a very convenient way to streamline access to items that are often needed in the cooking process and the ability to do without additional room under a separate pantry.
You can make the inside of the pantry in the same color as the facades of your kitchen set, or you can add contrast to the bright room of the kitchen and design the interior shelves and drawers in darker colors.
Your closet can be made in any modification. Here is an interesting embodiment - a semicircular shape. In the bowels of such a cabinet there are a lot of spices and bottles with all kinds of oils and sauces. An interesting way to prevent collisions between glass bottles is fine wood stoppers that create mini-cells for each item on the shelves.
Even a small corner niche can be an excellent option for installing a closet. Yes, there is much less space in it than in a full-fledged deep cupboard, which are often equipped with kitchen sets, but it is important to use any opportunity that the available area provides for organizing storage systems.
Inside the closet, there are many options for organizing the process of storage and distribution of products in the available space. For some housewives, it is enough to have several shelves on which containers with small items and large dishes or rubble appliances are placed. Others need a more streamlined system - small shelves on the doors, in which it is very convenient to store small jars with spices and sauces.
You can add shelves to the cabinet doors during the subsequent operation of storage systems. Even if their presence was not originally planned, and later it turned out that there was plenty of free space in the closet, you can use thin metal shelves that are easy to find in any construction or hardware store.
It is most convenient to place spices and seasonings that you use most often in the upper part of the pantry cabinet. And the lower part of the storage system should be equipped with drawers, which store dishes or kitchen equipment, rarely used. To speed up the search for the desired item, you can organize labels on boxes and containers. You can do this on your own or order this function at the furniture manufacturing stage.
Pull-out trays, similar to those used for transporting bread, for example, are very convenient in organizing the storage process at the bottom of the pantry. They are roomy, but do not require special costs in the manufacture.
Pull-out trays located in the lower part of the closet can be made of the main material of the furniture - wood, and can be made of metal, for example, stainless steel. In this case, arranging the inside of the cabinet will look more harmonious if you can use stainless steel as limiters for open shelves, for example.
In shallow shelves that can be pulled out and folded like a book. It is convenient to store not only cans with spices and containers with cereals, but also packs with breakfast cereals.
Another interesting way to organize storage in a sufficiently deep cabinet is by turning metal shelves mounted on one vertical tripod. As a result, it will be very easy for you to get food or spices located deep in the cabinet space and inspect the contents of small shelving trays.
If access to an electrical outlet is organized in your closet, you can arrange a place for making breakfast in a closed storage system - put the coffee machine or coffee machine and toaster on a separate shelf.
If you plan to organize a place for making breakfast in your closet, then electricity will definitely be supplied to this roomy piece of furniture. In this case, it will not be difficult for you to take care of highlighting the internal space of the cabinet and especially the shelves with household appliances.
Someone stores spices and various types of oils on open shelves or in cabinets near the stove, and completely different items are intended for placement in the closet. See how you can organize the storage of such large-sized household appliances as a vacuum cleaner. In a cabinet closed from prying eyes, you can "hide" a water heater or gas water heater, it all depends on your needs and wishes in how to organize working kitchen processes.
If the kitchen space allows, you can organize not just a roomy closet, but also a piece of furniture that you can enter to take the desired item. It is very convenient to install a motion sensor or door opening in such mini-pantries, so that the light turns on immediately and you can see all the contents of a capacious storage system.
Another way to organize storage systems as part of the kitchen is by pulling racks with metal shelves-limiters. This option of organizing the storage of products that do not need refrigeration is suitable for homeowners who are not averse to deviate from traditional solutions and try something new in the field of kitchen furniture.
Separate storage room
If near your kitchen there is an opportunity to organize a separate room for storing any kitchen utensils and products, then you should not miss this opportunity. Even a small corner of space can accommodate a whole range of storage systems, which will offload a lot of the kitchen room, where there is always a shortage of shelves and cabinets.
For a separate location of the pantry, a room or part of an absolute of any shape is suitable - complex geometry, strong sloping ceilings, nothing will stop you from integrating a rack that will exactly repeat the shapes of your pantry. Obviously, using every available square meter of housing is not only rational, but also pleasant for the homeowner.
A separate pantry, as a rule, is equipped in a very similar way by homeowners around the world - open shelves from the ceiling merge with drawers or swinging low cabinets at the bottom of storage systems. If the ceilings of your pantry are high enough, and the households all have average growth, then it is better to worry in advance about the possibility of access to items located on the very top shelves. An access ladder with the possibility of fastening in the upper part to the handrail, which makes it possible to move it around the perimeter of the pantry, is a great way to access dishes or containers under the ceiling.
Open wooden shelves in the upper part and closed cabinets of the type that are installed in your kitchen are a full-fledged option of arranging a pantry. It is very convenient to use cabinet doors with glass inserts, so you can see the entire contents of the storage systems of the lower tier.
White color for the execution of shelving in the pantry is the best option for a small space. Bright shelves and finishes visually expand the space of modest sizes and make it easier, from a psychological point of view, to transfer being in a small enclosed space.
For a fairly spacious pantry, you can use unpainted wood as a material for the manufacture of storage systems. And the systems themselves may not be in the form of racks with open shelves, but in the modification of cabinets with swing doors, if there is enough free space to open them. In such a pantry, you can not only store the necessary kitchen utensils and food, but also perform part of the work processes using stone countertops.
If there is a window in the pantry, then you will not have to worry about insufficient lighting and the danger of an enclosed space. So you can use more contrasting combinations for arranging storage systems. For example, dark shelves with open shelves will look very impressive against a light background of wall decoration.
If there is no window in your pantry, then the issue of lighting the space is quite acute. The organization of the built-in illumination of open shelves will become not only a reliable and practical option for creating a sufficient level of lighting, but will also add originality and attractiveness to the storeroom.
In the space of the pantry or near it, you can install a refrigerator for wine drinks. For wine lovers and collectors it will be more convenient to integrate a household appliance into a cabinet. Thus, you can not only save the useful space of the pantry, but also bring aesthetics into its arrangement.
Even in such a small space as a pantry, you can find a way to express yourself in terms of arranging the premises in accordance with one or another style. For example, using strict open stainless steel shelves, you get close to the tech tech style. By installing unpainted wood shelves and using wicker baskets as containers or drawers, you bring the closet aesthetics closer to country style.
If your kitchen is located near the stairs leading to the second floor, then not using the free space under this staircase will be an unforgivable oversight. It is amazing how spacious a niche can be, which was simply not used before. The usual open shelves, which you can install yourself, organize for you a spacious pantry under the stairs.
Mini cabinet in the pantry
In order to organize a small workplace in the pantry, you need a little - just make one of the shelves wider than usual so that it can serve as a small desk and put in a chair or mini-chair (depending on the size of the pantry). Here you can record recipes, fill out invoices, keep the necessary documentation, or just be alone with yourself while the broth is cooking in the kitchen, for example. The main thing is to take care of the sufficient level of coverage of your mini-office.
If there is a window in your pantry, the location of a small desk for a mini home office near it will be an ideal place. In daylight, it will be possible to write or read without lighting the light, and in the dark - use a desk lamp.