The problem with a tall cupboard is depth. Anything past the front eight inches disappears, and you buy a third jar of the thing already hiding at the back. A pantry solves that by bringing the shelves out rather than making you reach in.
A standard tall cupboard is around two feet deep with fixed shelves. In practice you use the front third of it. Everything behind that is out of sight, and out of sight in a food cupboard means bought twice and thrown away once, which is a surprisingly expensive habit.
The fix is mechanical rather than clever. Pull-out shelves on runners bring the whole depth forward so the back of the cupboard arrives at the front. A full-height larder unit does the same thing at scale, with the door itself carrying shallow shelves so tall jars have somewhere to live.
Which one suits depends on the width available. Narrow gaps take a tall pull-out; anything from about two feet suits a full larder. Both are built to what you actually store rather than to a standard shelf pitch. See pull-outs, accessories and custom cabinets.
Recent work
How it works
How a Pantry Is Planned
Empty the current cupboard
Genuinely. What comes out tells us the tallest item, how much of it there is, and what has been living on the worktop because nothing indoors would take it.
Width decides the type
A narrow gap suits a tall pull-out. From about two feet a full larder with door shelves works better, because the door carries the small jars and the carcass carries the bulk.
Set the shelf pitch
Varied gaps sized to real things rather than six equal shelves. Some fixed for strength, the rest adjustable, because what you store changes and the cabinet should not have to.
Specify the runners
Loaded pantry pull-outs are heavy, so runners are chosen against the weight rather than the width. This is the component that quietly fails when it is under-specified.
Getting it right
Shelf Spacing Beats Shelf Count
The commonest mistake is too many shelves at equal spacing. A cupboard divided into six identical gaps cannot take a cereal box, a bottle of oil or a stand mixer, so those end up on the worktop and the pantry stores packets. Fewer, varied gaps hold far more of a real kitchen.
So we ask what actually goes in before drawing anything: the tallest bottle, whether small appliances live in there, whether it holds a bin or a recycling stack. Those answers set the pitch, and adjustable shelving covers the rest as habits change.
Load matters too. A full larder pull-out with tinned goods in it is heavy, and the runners have to be rated for that weight or they sag within a year. It is the part nobody asks about and the part that fails. See drawer organisation, soft-close hardware and storage options.
Planning it
Other custom work
The Rest of What We Build
A pantry is a depth and shelf-spacing problem. These solve the neighbouring ones.
Pull-out against larder, shelf spacing, load and what fits where.
Depth. A standard tall unit is about two feet deep and you only really use the front third. Anything behind that is unseen, which is how people end up owning three of the same jar.
Width decides it. A narrow gap suits a tall pull-out unit. From roughly two feet a full larder works better, because the door carries shallow shelves for jars while the carcass takes the bulk.
Fewer than people expect, at varied heights. Six equal gaps cannot take a cereal box or a stand mixer. Size the gaps to real things and keep most of the shelves adjustable.
Only if they are specified for it, which is why we ask what goes in. A loaded larder pull-out is heavy, and under-rated runners sag within a year. It is the part that quietly fails.
Often, yes. A tall narrow gap beside a fridge or at the end of a run is exactly what a pull-out pantry is for, and custom means it is built to that gap rather than near it.
Rarely, and most rooms cannot spare the floor. A well-planned tall pantry holds more than people expect, because everything in it is reachable rather than stacked behind something else.
Yes, and it is worth planning for. A shelf at the right height with a socket behind it means the mixer stays plugged in and out of sight instead of occupying the worktop permanently.
Empty the cupboard before we visit. What comes out of it decides the shelf pitch, the runner rating and whether a pull-out or a full larder suits the space.
