28 Pantry Ideas to Make Your Kitchen More Stylish

Decorated pantry painted sage green. — Photo: Ashley Montgomery Design; Graphic: MyDomaine

There are a few spaces in your home that don't get the same stylistic attention as, say, your bedroom and your living room. One such place? Your pantry.

Whether your pantry is a spacious room or a few shelves on a bare well, it's easy to let it collect dust while you focus your energy on other spaces. After all, your pantry probably isn’t a houseguest hotspot. Even if you had the time to deck it out, it’s hard to imagine what a well-decorated pantry looks like. But, your pantry doesn’t have to be an afterthought. With the right design choices, pantries can go beyond their roots as food storage systems and become spaces worth spending time in.

Stumped on what you can do besides pouring dry goods into matching containers and throwing out old food? Don’t fret. We’ve rounded up some pantry design ideas that will transform your food storage set-up.

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Paint Your Pantry a Pretty Color

A sleek pantry with white shelves and mint green cabinets — Ashley Montgomery Design

One easy way to dress up your pantry? Paint it a pretty color. Stick with a light shade to keep the space bright and clean, and remember that you don’t need to paint every inch of the room. A few colorful cabinets should be enough to liven up your pantry, even if the rest of the space is white.

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Line the Floor With Playful Tiles

A pantry with a striking white door, well-organized shelves, and playfully tiled floors — Mindy Gayer Design

Don’t overlook your pantry floor. The compact room is the perfect place to make a decorative statement, so set the scene with sleek hardwoods, or add a pop of personality with playful tiles.

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Build a Set of Sleek Shelves

A white kitchen wall dressed up with sleekly lined wooden shelves — Design: Natalie Walton, Photo: Lynden Foss

A separate room isn’t a prerequisite for a tasteful pantry, so if you’re low on walk-in space, invest in sleek shelves, instead. The open-storage solution will dress any wall in your kitchen, and if you pair your kitchen essentials with some decorative accents, your pint-sized pantry will look as perfect as any other.

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Tuck Your Pantry Behind a Curtain

A sleek white pantry or kitchenette tucked behind a printed green and white curtain — Studio Peake

Curtains aren’t just for windows. If your pantry is out in the open and you want to more clearly define the space, close it off with a curtain.

In addition to dressing up your pantry, curtains will segment your space without cutting off the flow between your kitchen and your pantry.

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Snag Some Simple Storage Hooks

A kitchen with blue cabinets, a printed tile backsplash, and a set of sleek white hooks lined with kitchen essentials — Design: Emily Henderson, Photo: Sara Ligorria-Tramp

Some pantry essentials shouldn’t live on shelves. Cleaning tools, cooking utensils, and pots and pans all look great hanging from storage hooks. So invest in a set of simple storage pegs, and mount them in your pantry or your kitchen.

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Soften the Space With a Rug

A food storage area with green cabinets, a metallic tiled backsplash, and a printed rug — Brophy Interiors

One underrated way to decorate your pantry? Invest in a pretty rug. Since pantries get lots of foot traffic, the accent will make your space much cozier. And it’ll make your pantry floors prettier, too.

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Line Your Pantry With Wallpaper

A pantry with wooden French doors, blue and white tiled floors, and walls lined with beadboard and wallpaper — Ashley Montgomery Design

Decorating with wallpaper can get intimidating. But your pantry is the perfect place to take the risk. Why? Pantries are compact and closed-off, so you can experiment with small doses of wallpaper without disrupting the rest of your space.

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Invest in Marble Countertops

A food storage area with white cabinets, a white tile backsplash, and white marble countertops — Chelsey Freng

As you outfit your pantry, don’t just scrimp and save anywhere you can. By lining your pantry with marble countertops, you can make the space feel more like part of the home—and less like a forgettable food storage area.

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Sneak Shelves Inside Your Cabinet Doors

A light blue cabinet door lined with space-efficient, food-lined shelves — Design: Emily Henderson, Photo: Sara Ligorria-Tramp

Low on storage space? Make your cabinets do double duty. By lining your cabinet doors with space-efficient shelves, you can create a miniature pantry fit for storing spices, sauces, and compact food jars.

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Streamline Your Storage Essentials

A white pantry lined with matching woven baskets, glass storage jars, and black wire bins — Cambridge Home Company

Even the prettiest pantries can feel bogged down by haphazard cereal boxes, chip bags, and bottles of seltzer. So take a day to clean out your space and streamline your storage essentials. By snagging matching jars, bins, and baskets, you can make your pantry feel lighter, airier, and much easier to navigate.

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Give Your Pantry a Bold Entrance

A kitchen that leads into a pantry through an open arched entrance — Maison Blonde

Pantries don't have to be cold, cramped spaces. With the right entryway, you can make your pantry feel like an extension of your kitchen—and a stunning one, at that. So don’t just stick your pantry behind a plain ol’ door. Instead, invest in an architectural entrance, like a rounded rectangle or an on-trend arch.

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Stock Up on Pretty Storage Jars

Well-organized kitchen shelves lined with matching jars full of dry goods — White Sands

One clever way to dress up your pantry? Let your dry goods double as decor. Take your favorite pastas, sugars, and flours out of their mismatched packaging, and store them in matching jars, instead. The right jars will keep the ingredients fresh, while making them pretty enough to showcase on your shelves.

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Paint Your Ceiling a Striking Color

A pantry with slate gray doors, navy cabinets, and a navy ceiling — Design: Humphrey Munson, Photo: Paul Craig

Add some unexpected flair to your pantry by painting your ceiling a fun color. Keep things streamlined by picking a shade that matches your pantry shelves and cabinets, or go all out with a statement ceiling that brings a new color into your palette.

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Build Shelves on the Side of Your Island

A blue island lined with built-in shelves holding jars of dry goods — Design: Emily Henderson, Photo: Sara Ligorria-Tramp

If you don’t have space for a walk-in pantry, there’s no need to fret. With some effort and imagination, you can build shelves onto the side of your kitchen island, creating a small-scale pantry that can hold all kinds of snacks and necessities.

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Line Your Pantry With Backsplash Tiles

Kitchen shelves backed by a printed tile backsplash — Ashley Montgomery Design

Backsplash tiles can take your kitchen from simple to statement-making—and they can do the same for your pantry. Find a set of backsplash tiles that you love looking at, and line your pantry walls with them before installing your shelves.

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Invest in a Label Maker

Organized pantry shelves lined with matching food storage containers and uniform labels — Mika Perry

Cut down on visual clutter by moving your dry goods into matching containers and creating custom labels for each one. This step may sound like overkill—but mismatched packaging can take a toll on your pantry’s aesthetic.

With streamlined containers and labels, you can make everything you own look like a matching set.

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Use Your Pantry as a Wine Cellar

A door leading into a pantry that's been converted into a wine cellar — Design: Kate Lester Interiors, Photo: Amy Bartlam

You don’t have to put food in your pantry. If you have ample food storage space and need a spot to put your wine, turn your pantry into a wine cellar, instead. Line your walls with shelves fit for holding your favorite labels, and make sure to temperature-control the space to keep your bottles in tip-top shape.

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Hang Art on Your Walls

A pantry lined with navy cabinets and decorated with a small painting — Light & Dwell

Art may sound out of place in a pantry, but if you have wall space to spare, consider hanging a painting or two. Even small works of art can transform your pantry, making it feel more like a room worth showing off—and less like a place you pop into to grab a midday snack.

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Make the Most of an Oddly Shaped Space

A wallpaper-lined kitchen with an oddly shaped pantry that's been painted pale yellow — Keltainen Kahvipannu

Designing a pretty pantry is all about working with the space you have. If your pantry is oddly shaped and stuck in the middle of your kitchen, paint it to match your walls, top it with decor, and streamline its contents. After all, if your pantry is visible from your dining room, you want its interior to look as good as its exterior.

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Spread Things Out on Your Shelves

Kitchen shelves lined with spaced-out spice jars and other essentials — Design: Emily Henderson, Photo: Sara Ligorria-Tramp

One easy way to make your shelves look nicer? Spread things out. Leaving space between your spice jars will make your shelves look clean, rather than cluttered. And the same rule applies to all the other snacks, dishes, and essentials you need to store.

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Turn an Armoire Into a Pantry

A dining room with a black armoire storage cabinet built into the wall — Katie Martinez Design

If you don’t have a traditional pantry, get creative. Find an old piece of storage furniture that’s fit for holding food, and convert it into a freestanding pantry. The accent will look great displayed in your kitchen or dining room—and you can even save space by building it into the wall.

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Invest in Statement Lighting

A storage-packed kitchenette with a black tile backsplash and a sleek black pendant light — Design: Becca Interiors, Photo: Rikki Snyder

No pantry is complete without some kind of lighting. And while recessed lighting is usually the go-to, other options exist. Sconces, pendant lights, and chandeliers can all dress up your pantry. And if you coordinate your pantry lighting with the other fixtures in your home, you can create a cohesive design scheme that flows from room to room.

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Give Your Pantry Door a Makeover

A kitchen with navy cabinets, a marble kitchen island, and a pantry with a beautiful wood and glass pantry door — White Sands

Your pantry door is the first thing someone will see when they approach your pantry. So make that first impression count. Upgrade your pantry door with a fresh coat of paint, emblazon it with a playful “pantry” label, or replace it with a statement door that makes your entire space more stunning.

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Make Your Island a Portable Pantry

A rustic kitchen with a rolling kitchen island topped with plates, food, and storage crates — Design: Becca Interiors, Photo: Rikki Snyder

Enhance your storage set-up by turning your island into a portable pantry. Stock it with all the snacks and tools that just didn’t fit in your cabinets. Or use it to store a few must-haves that you always want within reach.

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Use Frosted Glass to Soften Your Palette

A kitchen with semi-transparent cabinets lined with frosted glass — Mary Patton Design

Glass cabinets are a popular way to store kitchen essentials—but they make for a pretty overwhelming pantry. Why? Pantry items come in a veritable rainbow of colors. And all those hues can throw off your palette. So if you need to use kitchen cabinets as a small-scale pantry, line them with frosted glass. The material will soften the colors of the items behind it—without totally obstructing your view.

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Treat Yourself to a Sliding Ladder

A white pantry with wooden shelves and a bright red sliding ladder — Reena Sotropa

Make your tallest pantry cabinets easier to reach by installing a sliding ladder. And be sure to have fun with the accent piece. It’s the perfect place to introduce a new material—or to add a punchy pop of color.

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Build a Pantry Cabinet Next to Your Dining Nook

A banquette built on top of small storage cabinets and next to a tall storage cabinet — Cathie Hong Interiors

Make a freestanding pantry feel like part of your space by placing it somewhere intuitive. If your home boasts a built-in dining nook, frame the space with a pantry cabinet. Or sneak in some food storage space underneath your banquette.

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Top Things Off With a Fun Doorknob

A pantry with a wooden pantry door and a black and white doorknob — Milk & Honey Life

Add a pop of personality to your pantry door by switching out your doorknob. The swap may seem simple, but it will change the way your pantry door feels. So trade your current doorknob for something shiny, antique, printed, or textured—and watch as it transforms your pantry’s exterior.

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