You probably spend a lot of time in your kitchen, especially if you have a family or love entertaining your friends. It’s not unusual for people to gather in a kitchen during a party. Not only is that where the food is, but it’s often considered the heart of the home.

Designing the right walk-in pantry can greatly enhance your kitchen’s functionality and organization. You’ll love how easy it is to access all your food, appliances and other tools—and how beautiful your kitchen looks as a result. Here are our best walk-in pantry design tips to get you started.

Plan your budget

Your budget is always the first and most important part of any remodel or redesign. How much can you afford to spend on your remodel, and where do you want the money to go? Once you have a budget and some main priorities outlined, your kitchen designer can help you figure out the best way to achieve those goals.

Think about “why”

When you’re designing your new kitchen panel, think about the “why” as well as the “how” and “how much.” Why do you need this specific functionality? What benefit will it add to your day-to-day life? When those details are ironed out, your kitchen and pantry designer can help you put together a smart design that will meet all your needs.

Consider the layout

Above all, you want your pantry to be functional. You don’t want to walk in there and think, “Where did I put the dried pasta?” You should already know exactly where each thing you plan to store will go, whether that’s food with a good shelf life or that KitchenAid mixer you use once a week. One pro tip: Even if deep shelves seem like a good use of your space, they make it a lot harder to reach items at the back.

If you plan to use closed cabinets for anything, think about what they are and why. It might be a smart choice if your plan is just to keep dust off your smaller appliances—or it might be a hassle if you just want to reach in and grab a can of artichoke hearts.

Shelf height matters

Generally, you should plan to keep the smaller and lighter objects on smaller shelves at the top, whereas bigger ones can be stored on taller shelves at the bottom. This distributes weight better and makes it easier to find what you’re looking for.

Think about lighting and décor

Here’s the best part about your new pantry: it doesn’t have to be strictly utilitarian. In fact, your new pantry can and should have good lighting in order to make it easy to spot your desired goods. On top of that, you can decorate it to match your kitchen, giving it a seamless appearance whether the pantry doors are open or shut.

You don’t have to DIY your pantry remodel, especially when you could work with Covenant Woodworks instead. Call us today to learn more and get started with a consultation.