How to plan the perfect pantry: Storage, shelving and temperature

With Covid, supply shortages and temperaments frazzled by working from home, parenting and the rest, is it little wonder that we’re trying to impose some order on our lives?

Certainty, security, supply and succour all help create a sense of stability, says behavioural psychotherapist and interior designer Cathriona Edwards.

“In the current instability we’re all feeling a little insecure. In popular culture this is evidenced in the big appetite for period dramas like Downton Abbey and The Crown. At an individual and domestic level, the need to impose control is evidenced in the rise of the picture-perfect pantry.”

At a subliminal level, if we believe we’re tidy and ordered then everything is going to be okay, she explains.

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Even before Covid the pantry’s power has been rising like a well-proved loaf of sourdough. In the digital realm the hashtag “pantry porn” will take you to several racks worth of statement set-ups, covering all sorts of top, middle and bottom shelf pictures of beautifully stacked boxes, tins and Kilner jars – all full of raw ingredients, all waiting to be liked.

Marie Kondo’s regimental regimes may have helped to kick-start demand but US TV series The Home Edit brought it to a whole new level. Then last January, Kim Kardashian shared a video of her intimidatingly ordered shelving on Instagram and broke the internet.

But it’s not just a digital phenomenon. In real life, Olive Donovan of Dundrum-based The Organised Store has seen a 50-60 per cent increase in demand for pantry-related products in the past 12 months. “While demand may be inspired by such platforms, a pantry is a look that is very achievable, especially when compared to bigger ticket purchases like a complete new kitchen or interior refurb.”

Another reason for its popularity is the visibility it gives would-be squirrels looking to store nuts, grains and pulses. Whether glass or plastic acrylic, you can see at a glance the foodstuffs that are running low, she explains. Jars that are stackable also maximise the use of space you have. A set of three round glass jars with silicon lids, pictured, cost €29.95. Canisters from The Home Edit acrylic range, which The Organised Store stocks, cost €9.99 for a small, €12.99 for a medium and €16.99 for the large. The store also sells a vast range by Elfa; catnip for your inner organista.

Before the Kardashian pantry exposé, influencers Gwyneth Paltrow, Zoella and our own Indy Power had all shown us inside theirs. In Power’s case it did more than just increase her digital footprint. It helped to sell her home in Blackrock last December when it sold for in excess of the asking price for €735,000, according to the Property Price Register.

“A pantry is also about taking the clutter out of the kitchen,” explains Ed Rhatigan of Rhatigan & Hick, one of the kitchen companies credited with its revival. His firm has been designing pantry units since it set up business in 2005. “We used to do a lot of work in old period houses where there would have been a cold room and a butler’s pantry. All these homes had these features. All we did was bring them back to life”.

He says its beauty, if the space allows it, is you can have all your small appliances, including the Kitchen-Aid, set up permanently on the pantry counter. The grey design with marble top, pictured, is perfect for making pastry or rolling dough, and has been divided into two distinct areas with the back baking area screened off by a glass-panelled wall.

A pantry should be kept at a cool temperature, he counsels. Traditionally it was usually constructed on the north-facing side of the house. A sink is a good addition and he suggests keeping heat-generating appliances such as a fridge or a second oven out of there.

How much space do you need to install the walk-in kind? It depends on how you plan your kitchen layout, Rhatigan says, explaining that a small walk-in pantry of 2.25sq m can offer a better use of space and storage than three 60cm wide and 60cm deep larder cupboards. Prices start from about €4,000 for a basic design.

While a walk-in pantry lets you leave mess behind closed doors, you will use only about 60 per cent of its space, says Sinead Curran, senior designer at The Design Yard. She says most kitchens nowadays have a pantry cabinet rather than a walk-in. Tandem mechanisms within cabinets give you storage shelves on the door as well as shallower shelving within the unit, giving easier access to foodstuffs. Internal drawers can be used to store bread rolls, crackers or fresh vegetables.

If space is even more limited, consider a trolley that you can wheel to the counter on a needs basis. You could line up several of these affordable black frame Nissafors designs, 50.5cm long by 83cm high, just €20 each from Ikea; one stacked with spices, another with baking essentials.

You can also make a pantry cupboard stand out by painting it in an eye-catching colour like the marshmallow pink of the design by London-based Day True while furniture maker Ledbury Studio makes smart use of pocket doors that fold back on themselves to reveal shelving and internal drawers for tableware and serveware, as well as pull-out larder units on either side of a double-oven set-up.

English kitchen company Tom Howley offers further smart solutions in its Hartford collection that includes fold-back doors for above-counter units and a pull-out corner unit for below-counter use.

thedesignyard.com; rhatiganandhick.ie; organisedstore.ie; ikea.com/ie-en/; daytrue.com; ledburystudio.com; tomhowley.co.uk