You don’t necessarily need a full walk-in pantry. If designed and organized correctly, small pantry designs can reduce any kitchen clutter. 

When it comes to kitchen pantries, the most common instinct among homeowners in Northern Virginia is to want more space. That makes sense: gone are the days when entertaining meant throwing a ham in the oven for a few hours. While you may have a wealth of new ingredients and supplies, you don’t necessarily need a full walk-in pantry. If designed and organized correctly, small pantry designs can reduce any kitchen clutter.

At Closet America, we’re experts in making the most out of any space. Our innovative, small pantry designs mean that your kitchen pantry will be well-organized, accessible, and able to handle the demands of the modern kitchen in Northern Virginia. Here’s one of our favorite examples, from a renovation in Great Falls.

How a Small Pantry Design Could Transform a Great Falls Kitchen

Just across the Potomac lies the small, spread-out town of Great Falls. Drive through roads winding around hills and you’ll see large, beautiful houses dotting even larger fields. It feels like an older, more elegant place, and it is: it’s been around since the 1700s, a farming community that’s now a super-trendy place for people looking for a little nature.

But being an old area means older houses, which weren’t always built with walk-in pantries in mind. That was the case with one of our customers, who loved everything about their home save for the reach-in pantry with a handful of shelves. It was cluttered, and that clutter spread out to the rest of the kitchen.

Clearly, a new design was needed. When the lack of organized spaces and easy-to-reach cans became too much, the homeowners reached out to Closet America.

What Homeowners Need In A Small Pantry Design

Our homeowners knew what they didn’t have. They also knew exactly what they needed in their brand new pantry.

• Accessibility. Everything had to be able to be reached without having to take out a half-dozen other items.

• VIsibility. Before running out to the store, they wanted a quick and easy way to take inventory. It’s annoying to buy something you don’t need, especially if then you have to store two of those things in the same cluttered cabinet.

• Flexibility. A pantry that can’t be adjusted locks you into place. There are a lot of times when a needed new appliance isn’t bought because it wouldn’t fit on existing shelves, limiting your ability to make different dishes. An adjustable design means avoiding that problem.

• Variety. It’s not really helpful when you just have a couple of flat shelves. The items you’re going to be storing come in all sorts of sizes and shapes, so you want to take that into account.

• Durability. Let’s face it: you’re going to use your pantry a lot. It’s going to take a beating. You need pantry shelving and storage that can take it.

• Beauty. The kitchen is front and center in a house. With the emphasis on cooking and entertaining, people will want to see how the magic happens. You want your pantry to be part of the whole beautiful display.

The Best Features of A High-End Pantry Design

We know what goes into a pantry: everything you need to make your kitchen work. That can be foodstuffs, packaged goods, appliances, seasonings, olive oils, cans and bags, dinnerware… the list is nearly endless. So what goes into making an organized pantry?

With a Closet America-designed pantry, our clients in Great Falls received the following:

• Customized shelving units. Our Great Falls family knew that their needs and tastes would change over the years. Luckily, their pantry was designed to adapt as well.

• Drawers with soft-closing hinges. These are perfect for items you don’t always need but want handy, like linens, fancy dinnerware, or your collection of can openers and other gadgets.

• Heavy-gauge, chrome pull-out storage. These can hold heavier items, making them perfect for bottles and cans as well as boxes and foods like potatoes and onions. They are adjustable, so you can have them at the height you need.

• Slide-out wine and bottle racks. These are perfect for wine, olive oils, wine, other beverages, and of course, wine.

What our homeowners loved the most about their new small pantry design was that it had something for everything they needed. They could put their artisanal olive oils in front and had room for all their spices and seasonings. It gave them options. It gave them their kitchen back.

High-Quality Construction. Personalized Design.

One of the best parts of the process for the Great Falls family was just how easy it was. After doing some research, including talking to their friends who have trusted Closet America with the design and install of pantries and closets, and also finding that we’ve been recognized and rewarded across the area, they reached out and contacted us.

We went to their beautiful home for a free design consultation, during which we made a 3D model of the best possible system for their pantry. This wasn’t a matter of forcing our design into their existing pantry: it was a customized, personalized design taking into account not just their existing space, but of their needs, wants, and usage ideas.

From those precise measurements, we hand make the actual products in our Landover workshop. The shelves are durable and scratch-resistant and come with floor mounts to keep everything stable. The installation is done in one day. It’s always on time, and we always leave your house cleaner.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that this has transformed the way our Great Falls friends cook. They can glance in their pantry and know exactly what they have. They let that influence what they cook. They have more space overall to spread out and indulge their tastes.

It’s not just a pantry. It’s the point around which your whole kitchen revolves. With Closet America, you can make it exactly how you want. Schedule your free design consultation today. You’ll be one step closer to having the pantry of your dreams.