Move Over, Soup Cans — the Kitchen Cabinets Are Here

We come to love the pantry to the plethora of foodstuffs it covers and holds. However, the pantry can be an ideal place for keeping small appliances out of view but within reach.

Kim Duffin for Sublime Architectural Interiors

The conventional pantry is where we store our menagerie of canned and dried goods, oils and spices. However, if it is big enough, the pantry can also hold small appliances, such as the mixer, toaster, coffeemaker, food processor etc.,.

This pantry, by Kim Duffin to get Sublime Architectural Interiors, allows its owner to open a hidden kitchen within a kitchen. Appliances are at counter top height and plugged in, waiting to be used.

PA, Platt Architecture

Evaluating space. When designing a pantry from scratch, measure each of your appliances which you are thinking about storing side by side. Though you may not be able to accommodate every product, you will likely be able to save your most frequently used appliances for easy access.

For this butler’s pantry by Platt Architecture, a spacious countertop houses small appliances. This way none of the bulky pieces have to reside in plain view on a kitchen countertop or be stowed at a height that’s either too high or too low for somebody to comfortably lift them.

Because of its generous dimensions, this pantry also is able to host a plethora of other, larger appliances, like an integrated 15-inch-wide ice maker, a 15-inch-wide wine fridge plus a 27-inch-wide two-drawer refrigerator unit. Within the countertop space is a 24-inch-wide sink, allowing food prep within the pantry. A number of wall sockets allow the appliances to be used in place.

Susan Brook Interiors

Size issues. The truth is that most kitchens can’t accommodatea butler’s pantry. For those a pantry of the size may be more sensible. Designer Susan Brook made this pantry, including its base drawers, to measure 69 inches wide and 96 inches tall.

Susan Brook Interiors

Location, location, location. When the doors open, they show an inside shelved space that’s 60 inches wide and 62 inches high.

“I worked closely with my customers throughout the design and asked for many appliance measurements and frequency of use before store drawings were created,” says Brook. “These appliances would be the most often used amongst the appliances that the customers had, or so the cupboard was designed around them.”

The French Tradition

Let there be light. Having proper lighting near a wall pantry is vital, but consider including a light fixture inside too.

YLighting

Koncept UCX Undercabinet Light – $202.50

Undercounter lighting strips provide task lighting exactly where you require it.

Crisp Architects

Choose your elevation. Lighter appliances can be stored at reduced prices, leaving the counter-height shelves to get items which are used with much more frequency.

This pantry, designed by Crisp Architects, measures about 3 ft deep and 61/2 broad. Its reduced two shelves are reserved for easy-to-lift appliances, keeping them out of the way until needed but always in sight, so they won’t get lost.

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