Pantry Cabinet Decisions

[Mike Goetzke]

Hard to tell but to the right of the double wall oven I have two pantry cabinets with two doors each. The opening is about 17-1/2" wide x 53" talll. I want to install pullout drawers/shelves. I don't know exactly where to place the shelves so was looking at systems that allow you to raise/lower them but they don't look good. Do to my face frame construction the distance from the side wall to the edge of the open wall varies from 1-1/4" to 2". I would like to see how others have made this type of cabinet (wood blocks?) and suggestions on shelf spacing. Also, I used soft-close undermount hardware on all the kitchen drawers. Should I use them on this pantry application too?







Thanks,

Mike

[Gary Curtis]

Before I took up woodworking, we had a professional kitchen remodel. New walls, new cabinets, new appliances. We have a floor to ceiling pantry, 36", next to the oven. When I asked the cabinetmaker if he thought 36" might be too small for two people, he laughed. Go to the grocery store and fill the cabinet completely, he said. It will cost close to $1,000 to fill it.

He was right. The pull-out drawers are 6" high with a gap of 4". The bottom drawer only will hold wine bottles, and it has an 8" gap.

[Jeff Monson]

I built my pantry drawers with the blum soft close undermounts also. Yes you will have to make spacer blocks to account for the face frame and take into consideration how far the doors can open. You will have to deduct shelf width with a standard 110 degree blum hinge. I personally would not see the desire to have them adjustable. If you plan out the average heights of food containers you will have no problem coming up with spacing that will work in a pantry of this size. I had 2 upper pull outs for can goods, 2 for mid size boxes and 2 for taller boxes and jars. It worked out very well, I never had the need for them to be adjustable.