UTRUSTA Shelves Hold Their Own in IKEA Pantry Design

Custom IKEA cabinets with solid-bottom UTRUSTA shelving are essential for kitchen pantry organization.

Whether you have a walk-in pantry the size of a small bedroom, a closet-sized pantry, or only a spare cupboard, there are a few functions every pantry should fulfill. It should be organized, sturdy, versatile, accessible, and – dare we say – even nice to look at?

IKD’s kitchen designers are people, too. People with pantries. And we create IKEA pantry designs that are more than just a pretty face for ourselves and our customers. To achieve a beautiful (but affordable) aesthetic that will rise to the challenge of curious toddlers, ravenous teens, and the most exuberant home chefs, we use IKEA SEKTION cabinets and UTRUSTA shelves.

Why do I need a custom pantry?

Part of our philosophy is that every homeowner should have a home that works for the way they really live. Unless you design and build your home from the ground up, it’s very unlikely you’ll love everything about it. When push comes to shove, it was built for someone else.

Our designers spend all day every day finding ways to maximize storage for our customers based on their individual needs, and that’s especially beneficial in a kitchen pantry. Get ready to go on a Costco shopping spree and use every corner, nook, and cranny with a custom IKEA pantry design from IKD.

Why choose a SEKTION pantry design with UTRUSTA shelves?

We’ve mentioned that laundry rooms are often an afterthought regarding design. They are utilitarian, not meant to be seen, so who cares how they look? Pantries often get lumped into the same category. Slap some shelves in there, and it’s good to go, according to most contractors.

But the practical parts of your home are important, and you should enjoy the way they look. We often find that if the aesthetics were given little thought, the functionality of these rooms is lacking, too.

For example, you have a few types of materials to pick from when choosing shelves for your pantry. The most common choices are wire, wood, and laminate. We typically opt for UTRUSTA laminate shelves (particleboard with melamine foil) when designing an IKEA pantry for several reasons.

1. They don’t have gaps.

White wire shelving is one of the more common pantry shelving options we see, and while it’s easy to install and doesn’t look bad, it’s also not ideal for storing certain items. Small packages like fruit snacks slip right through the gaps, and if a bottle of syrup gets knocked over and leaks, you know everything beneath it is getting soaked, too.

“We have customers who insist on wire shelves for their walk-in pantries, but I always try to steer them towards UTRUSTA. I don’t make any additional money by suggesting it, but I went from wire to UTRUSTA in my own kitchen pantry, and the difference is astounding. It’s a huge upgrade. The pantry feels more solid, more permanent, and it’s just nicer to look at. I want to keep it clean and organized, and that never felt possible with wire shelves.

It helps that IKEA cabinets are designed to work with UTRUSTA shelves. I use SEKTION tall cabinets as pantries regularly in my kitchen designs, and I recommend customers purchase about six shelves to store all of their food items, or pair UTRUSTA shelves with the UTRUSTA pantry pullout organizer.”
–Merari, IKD designer

Merari adds that customers who still want to use wire shelves must be more intentional when it comes to containing items. IKEA VARIERA boxes or the VARIERA lazy Susan are must-haves for shelves that do not have solid bottoms.

2. They can carry the weight.

A 36” W x 12” D white wire shelf by ClosetMaid has a weight capacity of 30 lbs., while a 36” W x 14 3/4” D UTRUSTA shelf has a capacity of 55 lbs. If you only plan to store marshmallows, rice, and cereal boxes on your shelves, weight capacity probably isn’t your top priority.

But if you want to store small appliances, like a crockpot, or you just don’t want to have to worry about how much weight is on your pantry shelves, then UTRUSTA is an excellent choice. The size of the UTRUSTA shelf will determine how much weight it can carry.

The smallest UTRUSTA shelf system is 12” W x 14 ¾” and holds 22 lbs. However, our designers often incorporate the UTRUSTA reinforced ventilated shelf, which holds 331 lbs. Even the IKEA pull-out pantry shelf (UTRUSTA pull-out work surface) can hold almost 40 lbs.

3. They are easier to maintain than wooden shelves.

“We installed wood shelves in my mother’s house,” says IKD designer Javier. “We cut them to size, stained them, and added a few coats of polyurethane before putting them in the closet. This is before I joined IKD and learned about all of IKEA’s products. Even after all that work, my mother added shelf liners to stop staining and wipe off the dust easier.

When it was my turn to do my pantry, I went straight for UTRUSTA. Even though I had to trim some of the shelves to fit them in the utility space I was using, it took a few minutes instead of days of prep.”

UTRUSTA shelves come in a variety of sizes, from 12” W to 36” W with depths of either 14 ¾” or 24”. This makes them ideal to use in both SEKTION cabinet pantries and custom-built walk-in pantries. (And don’t forget, our IKEA pantry designs include instructions for any necessary IKEA hacks, like trimming shelves to fit.)

Maintenance is easy with UTRUSTA. Just wipe them down with a damp cloth and mild detergent.

4. They are adjustable.

Nothing in life stays the same for long – and neither do the things you store in your pantry. When paired with SEKTION cabinet frames, UTRUSTA shelving height is easy to adjust, thanks to the included supports and the variety of placement options in SEKTION cabinet frames. If you’re a new homeowner living off pasta and cereal, you’ll need pantry shelves that make room for tall items. As you become an adultier adult, you may need to add or rearrange shelving to make room for extra cutlery, placemats, and tablecloths. One day, you might need to readjust to store bottles, baby food, and bibs.

Instead of tearing out old shelves, drilling new holes in your pantry, or trying to make do with standalone racks, you can easily adjust the height of your UTRUSTA shelves in a SEKTION cabinets.

5. They are easy to pair with IKEA pantry cabinet hacks.

We’re highlighting UTRUSTA in this article, but SEKTION is the star of the IKEA pantry show. SEKTION cabinetry gives your pantry a built-in feel and framework that supports both open and closed storage. Our designers use UTRUSTA shelving but also utilize IKEA cabinet hacks to make custom-sized cubbies and incorporate closed storage in the form of MAXIMERA drawers.

When using the pantry to store glasses, dishes, and other attractive items, our designers may recommend UTRUSTA’s glass shelves. When paired with glass doors and MITTLED lighting, this adds a bit of luxury and contrast to the rest of the pantry storage.

“Even I’m amazed by how much we can achieve with IKEA pantry designs. We’ve put IKEA countertops in large pantries to create extra work surfaces and coffee bars. We make the most of corner storage by hacking panels to create staggered corner shelves or incorporating Rev-A-Shelf internal organizers.

Our designers always have great ideas for how to use the storage space, too. For example, IKEA has really attractive 12.5” tall BRANAS baskets, so we’ll ask customers if they want to use those and make the cubbies to size.” – Mike, IKD founder

Some customers dislike the look of the holes in SEKTION cabinet frames that make UTRUSTA shelves adjustable. To solve that issue, our designers either create custom cubbies using SEKTION panels, or we include VARIERA cover plates in the extra items list included in all kitchen design packages.

An IKEA pantry design from IKD helps keep your kitchen organized.

The key to organization is creating a maintainable system. UTRUSTA helps our designers do that for customers and themselves. When everything is easy to access, and your pantry looks just as lovely as the rest of your kitchen, you’ll enjoy spending time in the heart of your home.