Old farmhouse kitchens used to have little tucked-away rooms next to them that were used for separate pantries. These rooms provided the necessary storage shelves for jars of home-canned fruits and vegetables, large bags of flour and sugar, occasionally used cookware, and baked goods that the cook kept for a later meal. They needed this space because most kitchens had few, if any, cabinets to store food. However, newer houses were not built to have pantries. Instead, additional cabinets were added. Still, with all the things a modern cook needs to store, most women find their kitchen storage space inadequate. However, even in a newer kitchen, it is possible to add kitchen pantry cabinets to increase storage space.
Some pantries are add-on units that match the rest of the cabinetry and are designed to be installed at the same time as the rest of the cabinetry. However, in many kitchens this did not happen, but that does not mean that you cannot have a pantry. As long as you have space for the unit, you can buy something that may not exactly match your other cabinets, but will look good with them. These can be single or double door units that are fitted with numerous small shelves and pull out drawers to give you easy access to even those items stored in the back.
Another way to fit a pantry in your kitchen is to use the space in some of your existing cabinets. Companies make pantry inserts that fit into their cabinets and into the doors to create much more storage space than you had with the original cabinets and shelves alone. These inserts can be added to a single cabinet, upper or lower cabinets, and double cabinets. These systems include drop-down shelving that allows you to store far more canned or packaged goods than you ever would in a single cabinet and then freely access them. The units themselves are made from solid woods, like maple and veneers, so they look and last like high-quality cabinets.
There’s no need to pass up that great deal on a new appliance because your kitchen is too crowded. With a few simple changes, you’ll be able to nearly double your existing space and make everything more convenient at the same time. The cost of adding pantry inserts is much lower than if you were to buy the entire cabinet all over again, and you’ll be delighted with how you’ll be able to tuck all your kitchen paraphernalia out of sight.