Measure the pantry’s floor and ceiling and say how big the kitchen is. You get reach-in or walk-in, the shelf depth, where each shelf goes, and whether it holds as much as the kitchen designers’ guidelines ask.
Your pantry
A reach-in pantry with 16″-deep shelves5 shelves at 78, 62, 48, 30 and 6″ · 233″ of shelf frontage, the NKBA asks 230″ for a medium kitchen
Quick answer: pantry shelves are 12″, 16″ or 20″ deep (ClosetMaid’s pantry shelving), set from the ceiling down with 18, 16, 14, 18 and 24″ between them. Under an 8-foot ceiling that puts them at 78, 62, 48, 30 and 6″. A 3-foot reach-in with 16″ shelves holds the 230″ of shelf the NKBA asks for a medium kitchen, and the smallest walk-in with shelves on three walls is 5′ × 4′.
How to use the pantry size calculator
- Measure the floor: the width of the wall with the door, and the depth from it to the back wall.
- Measure the ceiling: the shelves are set from it down.
- Pick the kitchen’s size: it sets how much pantry shelf the NKBA asks for.
- Read the pantry: reach-in or walk-in, the shelf depth, each shelf’s height and whether it holds enough. Pick a depth yourself if you already have the shelves.
The rules behind the numbers
Shelf heights: ClosetMaid’s chart, from the ceiling
ClosetMaid’s “Pantry Shelf Heights” gives each shelf its clearance: 18″ for rarely used items at the top, then 16″ for baking supplies, 14″ for cans and boxed snacks, 18″ for bulky and heavy items and 24″ over the bottom shelf. Its shelf guide: “Remember to always measure from the ceiling to calculate your shelf height.” A wire shelf is cut to the width of the wall minus 1″.
Shelf depth
ClosetMaid makes its Close Mesh shelving, “for storing small pantry items”, in “6 in., 9 in., 12 in., 16 in. and 20 in. depths”. The calculator tries 12″, 16″ and 20″ and picks the shallowest that holds the NKBA’s amount, which leaves the most floor.
How much pantry: the NKBA’s shelf frontage
The NKBA Kitchen Planning Guidelines measure storage as shelf frontage: “Cabinet width in inches × number of shelf and drawers × cabinet depth in feet (or fraction thereof)” (Guideline 27). For the pantry they ask 180″ in a small kitchen (under 150 sq ft), 230″ in a medium one (151–350 sq ft) and 310″ in a large one, and “Storage areas that are more than 84″ (2134 mm) above the floor must be counted in the miscellaneous category”. The wall, base, drawer and pantry amounts “can be adjusted upward or downward as long as the recommended total stays the same”.
Walk-in: the walkway
“The width of a walkway should be at least 36″ (914 mm)” (Guideline 7). In a walk-in pantry that is the aisle between the shelves and the room in front of the back ones.
Reach-in pantry shelf frontage by width
Five shelves under an 8-foot ceiling, the shelf 1″ shorter than the wall:
| Pantry width | 12″ shelves | 16″ shelves | 20″ shelves |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24″ | 115″ | 153″ | 192″ |
| 30″ | 145″ | 193″ | 242″ |
| 36″ | 175″ | 233″ | 292″ |
| 48″ | 235″ | 313″ | 392″ |
The NKBA asks 180″ for a small kitchen, 230″ for a medium one and 310″ for a large one.
Pantry shelf heights
| Shelf | Room above it | Holds | 8′ ceiling | 9′ ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Top | 18″ | rarely used items | 78″ | 90″ |
| Second | 16″ | baking supplies | 62″ | 74″ |
| Third | 14″ | cans & boxed snacks | 48″ | 60″ |
| Fourth | 18″ | bulky & heavy items | 30″ | 42″ |
| Bottom | 24″ | miscellaneous | 6″ | 18″ |
Four worked examples
A 36″ × 24″ reach-in, medium kitchen. 16″ shelves at 78, 62, 48, 30 and 6″ give 233″ of frontage, over the 230″ asked; 12″ ones give only 175″.
A 24″ reach-in, medium kitchen. Even 20″ shelves give 192″: 38″ short, so the kitchen’s cabinets make up the rest.
A 5′ × 5′ walk-in. A U-shaped pantry with 12″ shelves and a 36″ aisle: 775″ of frontage, more than three times what a medium kitchen asks.
A 48″ reach-in for a large kitchen. 16″ shelves give 313″, just over the 310″ asked.
Common pantry mistakes
- Setting the shelves from the floor. ClosetMaid measures from the ceiling, so the top shelf keeps its 18″.
- The same gap everywhere. Cans need 14″; the bottom shelf 24″ for small appliances.
- Deep shelves that eat the aisle. A walk-in needs 36″ between them.
- Counting the top shelf of a tall pantry. Over 84″ the NKBA counts it as miscellaneous, not pantry.
- Cutting a wire shelf to the full width. 1″ less than the wall.
Planning the rest of the kitchen? The kitchen cabinet height calculator sets the cabinets, the closet size calculator the coat and linen closets, and the free 2D planner lays out the kitchen and pantry to scale.
The kitchen’s cabinetsRead next
- Pantry organization ideas
- Small pantry organization ideas
- Pantry and laundry room combos
- Kitchen organization
Pantry size and shelf questions
What are walk-in pantry dimensions?
At least 60″ wide and 48″ deep (5′ × 4′) for shelves on three walls 12″ deep, with the NKBA’s 36″ walkway between them; 68″ × 52″ with 16″ shelves. Narrower than that, it is a reach-in.
How deep should pantry shelves be?
12″, 16″ or 20″, the depths ClosetMaid makes pantry shelving in. Use the shallowest that holds enough: in a 36″ reach-in, 16″ shelves give a medium kitchen’s 230″ of shelf; in a walk-in, 12″ ones leave the widest aisle.
What is the best pantry shelf spacing?
ClosetMaid’s, from the ceiling down: 18″ above the top shelf, then 16″, 14″ (cans and boxed snacks), 18″ (bulky and heavy items) and 24″ over the bottom shelf.
How high should pantry shelves be?
Under an 8-foot ceiling: 78, 62, 48, 30 and 6″. Under a 9-foot one: 90, 74, 60, 42 and 18″, and the top one, over 84″, is for what you rarely use.
How big should a pantry be?
Big enough for the NKBA’s pantry frontage: 180″ for a small kitchen, 230″ for a medium one, 310″ for a large one. A 30″ reach-in with 16″ shelves gives 193″, a 36″ one 233″, a 48″ one 313″.
How wide should a walk-in pantry aisle be?
At least 36″, the NKBA’s walkway (Guideline 7), between the shelves on the side walls and in front of the back ones.