Odd pantry dimensions for the kitchen- any ideas?

[Jason Hirsch]

Hello-

If I am posting this in the wrong group I apologize- it seems the best fit.

I have an older house and have just completed remodeling the kitchen. Unfortunately the house would best be served by either being 3 foot wider or 3 foot longer. Since it is neither, I'm stuck searching for a pantry off the side of a fridge.

Here's the rub: The pantry can be 12" deep for 24" wide- leaving much of the fridge side exposed and wasted. Any deeper and it's difficult to get thru the wonderfully designed doorway. Thus I'd really like an angled pantry, nothing which is COTS available.

First, does anyone know of any commercially available angled pantries? I've searched (and asked) and come up empty. I've no qualms about building one, but to be honest I'm rather tired of building things lately.

An ideal pantry would be either angled or stepped like this: ___ | | -| | --| where both angles could be opened. But the 12" deep really limits my options. I did see some nice unfinished (relatively) oak ones by American Moulding at Lowes; unfortunately they are 24" deep and I was told they don't make them in any other size (and I'm not going to cut it in half, haha)

You can see a photo at to get an idea of what I'm trying to work with.

welcome!

Thanks in advance,

Jason

[Alan Bierbaum]

snip

You will have to build, or have built, a pantry with a 12" left side and a 24" right side. Hinge doors or left and add a 24" deep cabiet above the fridge for extra storage.

Alan Bierbaum

web site:

[Morris Dovey]

Jason...

I haven't seen an OTS unit that would gracefully fit your situation, so...

If you're tired of building things, take a break and use the time to consider how you might build a *wedge* shaped pantry. If that's a door to the garage/carport/driveway left of the fridge, I'd be tempted to leave the center section open so that someone coming through with groceries in both arms doesn't need to sidle past the pantry into the kitchen.

[Swingman]

You will either have to build, or have one custom built.

FWIW, I had a similar problem in my own kitchen... look to the left of the refrigerator (page 1 of my Projects Journal, Kitchen Cabinets) to see how I solved the problem with an angled pantry cabinet that went from 24" deep next to the fridge, to blending in with 12" deep base cabinets going into a hallway 2 feet away.

[Jason Hirsch]

Thats pretty much what I had resigned myself to making. The stair step one wouldn't be as visually appealing, but would permit easier door swings (3 hinges to fold smaller).

Your approach is what I had visualized earlier; I have debated between

18" instead of 24" only because of the tightness of that corner (would you believe they ran vents and water that far out?)

The kitchen was nearly finished until water decided to intrude via a bad roofing job. The guy that did it got tossed into jail for a little while; he's still being prosecuted for felony fraud (for some reason he doesn't seem to have a problem taking people's money and not performing the work).

Thanks much for the visual, Swingman - Pity you aren't out here in Rochester for contract work :) I'd love to have a shop that sized... someday.

[Swingman]

You're welcome.

If I were you, I'd set my sights a bit higher/wider/longer. :)

[Bob Bonn]

Here are a few thoughts ... whether they help with your situation, I dunno.

(1) What's to the left in the picture? Would it be possible to close the doorway, and make a new opening in the wall that's on the left? If so, that opens lots of options for a large, rectangular pantry.

(2) It wouldn't be hugely difficult to build an angled cabinet to go to the left of the refrigerator. The hardest part would be making it match the rest of the kitchen. You probably can order doors that match your kitchen cabinets. Put those on an angled pantry that you build yourself, and people will marvel.

(3) I don't know if any companies make an angled pantry, but I know they make angled base cabinets and angled wall cabinets. You could put in one of each, and have a little counter space in the middle. Between the two pieces, they wouldn't hold as much as a full angled pantry would, but it would be a big improvement over what's there now.

Again, I don't know if any of these quite fit the bill. Whether they do or not, good luck in figuring something out.

... Bob

[Robert Bonomi]

You've got a "problem", indeed.

There is only 36" between the refrigerator and that d*mn wall end. It is highly probable that that wall is load-bearing, which pretty much eliminates the option of 'move the entryway'.

Depending on locale, there may be building-code and/or fire-safety requirements for the minimum dimension of a passage to an exit.

Regardless of that, going under 32" of 'opening' will make for an 'tight' passageway. You can get away with 30", and maybe even 28", but 28" will seem 'uncomfortably tight'. Particularly if you try to go through it while _carrying_ anything.

I'd go with sets of shallow (like only 6" deep) shelving. One against the side of the refrigerator, and a 2nd one against the wall. You don't really even have room for conventional doors to cover things up. Consider a wood- slat 'roll up' door. Like the ones on a 'roll top' desk.

[RB]

[Robert Bonomi]

have the space to install it. Not even for just one side of it.

He's got a 36" wide space, in which he has to keep a _walk_through_ (front to left-side) passageway in, *and* which he is trying to shoe-horn some pantry storage into.

[Howard]

Most cabinet manufacturers will sell door assemblies incuding the face frame and hinges. That way you can exactly match your existing cabinet and just have to construct the interior shelves. You could end up with either a 30, 33 or 36 inch wide unit (on the slant). Basically you order a cabinet and have them not build the interior.

Second alternative is buying stock 12 inch deep wall cabinets and stacking them. There is a wall cabinet designed to form a corner so you end up with a finished 12 by 24 unit complete. The corner unit comes in left and right hands and is designed to adjust to fit the corner dimemsion. This would give you the "L" shaped unit completely finished.