Houses built in the last century had a large storage area off the kitchen that was referred to as a pantry. It was used to store food items in addition to large pots and pans. This was necessary because those older houses had much fewer kitchen cabinets than houses today. The pantry provide the additional storage space for groceries and other kitchen necessities.

Houses built today are larger than what they were just a few decades ago. In the early 1970’s the average home built in the United States was approximately 1,400 sq. ft. and increased to 2,100 sq. ft. by 2010. With this increase in overall square feet the kitchen sizes remain approximately the same size, too small with insufficient storage. Pantries became a thing of the past resulting in most homes today with kitchen storage issues.

The solution to kitchen storage problems is to build a pantry in the garage. Building a pantry closet in the garage is an inexpensive way to add additional storage space and it is much less expensive that installing additional pantry size cabinets for the kitchen. In addition, as most garages are somewhat oversized they have sufficient space to add a pantry closet.

How to build a garage pantry closet:

Most kitchens have an access door from the garage. For convenience the ideal situation is to install a pantry closet near the kitchen access door. Building the pantry closet in a garage corner only involves adding two additional walls and a door in one.

An ideal garage pantry closet is 4 x 1.5 feet (6 sq. ft. of floor space). By installing four shelves increases the storage space by an additional 24 sq. ft., giving you a total of 30 sq. ft. of storage space. This is a great deal of additional storage space to compensate for insufficient kitchen cabinets and no pantry.

Depending on the size of your garage the garage pantry closet can be larger or smaller. The walls can be built using 2 x 3s or 2 x 4s. Cover the walls with ½ inch sheetrock or ¼ inch plywood and install a standard 2-6 (30 inch) door. It isn’t necessary to install sheetrock on the inside walls unless you want a completely finished look. Make the shelves from stand shelving material or plywood and your garage pantry closet is complete.

This project can be complete in a single day by most DIY homeowners using standard household tools. It is a great way to increase your kitchen storage space at a reasonable cost.

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