4 Pantry Must Haves

One thing I loved about our floor plan is that it included a pantry. Like a real, grown up pantry. The standard was a few wire shelves, but I knew this pantry needed to shine in all its glory. We eliminated the shelving during our building process (we received a small credit back, in case you’re wondering) and we planned on adding cabinets further down the road. One thing we did add through our builder was a transom window. I love how light and bright our pantry is and so glad we added this window.

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After moving in, we quickly realized we needed pantry storage asap, so I researched the heck out of pantry ideas and settled on adding cabinets with a countertop. We thought we were going to go with the IKEA Sektion kitchen cabinets, but didn’t have the time to DIY them. Plus COVID lockdown started just as we were designing our pantry and who knew when we’d actually receive an IKEA order.

I ended up meeting with a local company who helped design our kitchen cabinets through our builder. After we met with them, we nailed down a design. During my research phase, I came up with a few must haves for the pantry of our dreams (with a budget of course).

1. Cabinets and Countertop

I know, I know, not everyone can have cabinets nor afford them, but this was a must for me. We didn’t have a spot for a microwave in our kitchen so we had to have this in our pantry. If your wondering where our microwave is, it’s on the counter to the left, right when you walk in. I love that we were able to match our kitchen cabinets to create a seamless, cohesive space. You know, that whole flow from room to room thing. A pantry is a room, right?

2. Pull Out Trash and drawers

We have a pull out garbage and recycle cans in our kitchen, but I thought we’d need one in our pantry. I was planning on our toaster, small appliances, coffee machine and microwave in the pantry, it would be nice to have a trash near by. We don’t use the trash as much as I thought, but I still love the convenience of it.

I love drawers so we added a side of drawers for all the snacks. You heard right, we actually have food in this pantry. What! It’s just hidden in all those cabinets. Adding the garbage and drawers did hike up the cost by about $500-$600 from our original estimate with just cabinet doors.

3. Open Shelves

If you know me, I love open shelves. I love styling them and switching them up often. Earlier last year, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Shelfology on these Aksel Wood Floating Shelves in Alder. Aren’t they a dream? They were so easy to hang up as they have a metal rod system that you mount to the wall and slide the wood shelf onto the rods. The hardest part is finding the studs (which really isn’t that hard).

Backsplash Tile // SMEG Toaster // Woven Glasses // Pitcher // Coffee Table Book // Knobs

4. Pretty but Functional

As much as I love pretty a pretty pantry, my main goal was to design a functional pantry that worked for us. It looks pretty on the outside, but still houses all the snacks and food. The shelves hold dishes that we use daily, as well as baking goods. It’s so pretty and functional that we keep the pocket door open 100% of the time. Not sure if this pantry even needs a door. Ha!

Refrigerator // Rug // Light

Of course there were things I wanted to add like an appliance garage and a small butler sink, but I had to stick within a budget. Here’s a few more common questions I receive about our pantry. Hopefully this clears things up for those of you who’ve wanted to know more.

Our pantry is just over 5.5’x5.5′. Not too big, not too small, in my opinion.
The cabinet color – I haven’t been able to nail this one down yet, but it’s very closet to SW Shiitake (maybe a shade lighter).
The cabinet depth is 21″ instead of the typical 24″ kitchen cabinet.
Our Shelves are 10″ deep and 69″ long and they are the natural Alder finish.
The countertop is Cote d’Azur by Wilsonart. I really wanted to do quartz, but that cost 5 times as much (on a budget, remember).
Our flooring is Pinnacle Peak laminate in the color Mushroom.
Our pantry walls are SW Pure White.
Our pantry door is an 8′ pocket door.

Anything else I’m missing? Drop it in the comments below! Keep reading for our pantry cost breakdown.

Backsplash Tile // SMEG Toaster // Woven Glasses // Pitcher // Coffee Table Book // Knobs // Rug // Light // Basket

So what does this pantry actually cost you ask? Here’s a breakdown of all the costs included in this project:

Custom built and painted cabinets – $2273 (we could have saved money by installing these ourselves, but watching the installers struggle in this small room, I’m so glad we didn’t DIY this one)
Premium Laminate Countertop – $737
Cabinet Knobs – $32
2x Alder Floating shelves from Shelfology – $1348
Tile backsplash (Cloe tile in White) – $160 plus supplies (I got the tile on sale and we installed it ourselves. Loved that we saved money by not paying for install)

So the total for our pantry was $4,550 and don’t forget that includes CUSTOM cabinets and install for the cabinets/countertop. So what do you think? Do you love a walk-in pantry? What are your pantry must haves? I’d love to hear!