Modular kitchen
Pantry Units
Pantry Units, planned around how the room is used before how it looks — layout, hardware, services and the six house styles we draw it in.
Overview
Pantry Units, in plain specification
Written for the decision, not for the mood board.
Pantry Units is engineered before it is styled. The layout, the services behind it, the hardware carrying it and the clearances around it all get resolved on a drawing long before a finish is picked. Done in that order, the finish becomes a free choice. Done in reverse, the finish becomes a compromise.
The parts of pantry units that fail first are the parts nobody looks at — hinges, runners, seals, fixings and the edge nobody sealed. That is why our specification names hardware by model and the substrate by grade, and why our estimates look different from ones written by category.
Where pantry units interacts with services — a duct, a drain, a conduit, an AC route — the service wins. Every attractive detail that ignored a service has been rebuilt at some point, usually at the client’s cost, which is why we resolve them together on one drawing.
Six house styles
Pantry Units in six personalities
The same brief resolved six ways. Each carries its own material, finish and detailing.
Minimal Pantry Units
Serene Minimal treats pantry units as chalk · pale oak · linen: nothing decorative survives unless it also does work. Counter height: 870mm. Work triangle: 3.6m total. Carcass: BWP ply, matt sealed.
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Bold Pantry Units
Bold Contemporary treats pantry units as charcoal · oxblood · smoked oak: high contrast, confident mass, a single saturated move per room. Counter height: 900mm. Work triangle: 4.2m total. Carcass: BWP marine ply.
See this styleHeritage Pantry Units
Modern Heritage treats pantry units as teak · cane · antique brass: indian craft detailing on a contemporary frame — jaali, cane, inlay and hand-finished brass, used sparingly. Counter height: 860mm. Work triangle: 3.9m total. Carcass: Teak frame with ply infill.
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Photo: Jeremy Levine Design · BY 2.0Classic Pantry Units
Classic Luxe treats pantry units as ivory · statuario · gold: proportioned panelling, cornice and moulding, book-matched stone and warm gilt detail on ivory. Counter height: 880mm. Work triangle: 4.0m total. Carcass: BWP with moulded panel.
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Photo: Jeremy Levine Design · BY 2.0Scandi Pantry Units
Indo-Scandinavian treats pantry units as birch · chalk · sage: pale timber, soft daylight and muted green — nordic restraint adapted for indian light, dust and humidity. Counter height: 870mm. Work triangle: 3.7m total. Carcass: Birch-faced ply.
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Photo: Jeremy Levine Design · BY 2.0Deco Pantry Units
Art Deco Glam treats pantry units as emerald · brass · lacquer: fluting, fans and geometry. Counter height: 900mm. Work triangle: 4.1m total. Carcass: BWP with lacquer core.
See this styleSpecification
Pantry Units specification, style by style
This is the table we issue to the factory and the site. It is also what a warranty is enforced against, which is why it reads in grades and dimensions.
| Specification | Minimal | Bold | Heritage | Classic | Scandi | Deco |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Layout | U-shaped | Island | Parallel | Peninsula | Open L-shaped | Straight-line |
| Counter height | 870mm | 900mm | 860mm | 880mm | 870mm | 900mm |
| Work triangle | 3.6m total | 4.2m total | 3.9m total | 4.0m total | 3.7m total | 4.1m total |
| Carcass | BWP ply, matt sealed | BWP marine ply | Teak frame with ply infill | BWP with moulded panel | Birch-faced ply | BWP with lacquer core |
| Shutter | Suede-touch laminate | High-gloss acrylic | Hand-rubbed teak veneer | Hand-painted PU with beading | Matt laminate, square edge | Fluted lacquer with brass reveal |
| Countertop | Honed quartz, 20mm | Leathered granite, 20mm | Black granite with drip groove | Statuario-look quartz, mitred 40mm | Pale composite quartz | Green marble with brass edge |
| Tall unit | Full-height pantry, tandem runners | Larder with pull-out | Traditional larder | Pantry with roll shutter | Pantry with wire baskets | Pantry with lacquer front |
| Ventilation | 90cm chimney, ducted | 90cm island hood | Ducted with masala shelf | 90cm ducted | 60cm ducted | 90cm ducted, glass |
Before you commit
How to choose pantry units
Six checks that prevent the failures we are most often called to fix.
- Count the drawers, not the cabinets. Drawers are what make a deep cabinet usable, and they are the honest difference between two quotes.
- Plan the Indian working reality: a wet zone that takes standing water, space for a masala pull-out within reach of the hob, and a dry-store the family actually uses.
- Specify hardware by brand and model in the quote. Runners and hinges are the parts that fail first and cost most to change later.
- Decide the appliance list before design freeze. A dishwasher added later takes a cabinet, a plumbing point and a socket that were never planned.
- Ask where the electrical points sit relative to the backsplash. Sockets discovered late get surface-mounted, and that is what you will look at every day.
- Fix the plumbing and the chimney duct route before the layout. Everything else can move; those two cannot, and they decide where the sink and hob land.
Bangalore
Pantry Units in Bangalore
What the city's climate, water, housing stock and society rules mean for this specification.
Most of our work is in Bangalore, and the city sets a few conditions worth knowing before specifying pantry units. The climate is the kindest in India to timber and joinery — no extreme dry heat, no coastal salt — but the monsoon runs long, and humidity between June and October is what tests every edge, seal and ventilation gap in a home.
Dust along the metro and ORR construction corridors is a real specification input. Sealed joinery, washable finishes and casement or sliding windows with good seals pay for themselves in these pockets in the first year.
Balcony enclosure rules vary sharply between societies, and a few refuse them entirely. Anything involving a balcony gets checked against the society's own rules before design, not after — including in Indiranagar and Koramangala, where older buildings often have their own restrictions.
The mild climate is a genuine advantage: solid timber and veneer move far less here than in Delhi or Chennai, which makes craft detailing more durable and more affordable than it would be elsewhere. It is one of the few Indian cities where that is true year-round.
We survey in Bangalore at no charge, take our own dimensions and come back with a layout, a material direction and a line-by-line estimate.
Sizing
Pantry Units by home size
Sizing below is what we plan pantry units to in each home size. These are working dimensions from completed projects, not catalogue minimums.
| Home size | Typical scope | Planning note |
|---|---|---|
| 1 BHK | Compact, single run | Compact planning, one clear gesture |
| 2 BHK | Standard, two runs | Standard scope, most common brief |
| 3 BHK | Full specification | Full scope with storage planned in litres |
| 4 BHK | Extended with island or dresser | Extended scope, bespoke elements |
| 4+ BHK / Villa | Bespoke, villa scale | Villa scale, bespoke throughout |
Cost
What moves the price of pantry units
We quote line by line rather than per square foot, because these are the items that actually differ between two estimates.
- Hardware brand and the count of drawers versus shelves.
- Countertop material and edge profile.
- Shutter finish, which is the largest visible variable in the estimate.
- Appliance package, often a third of the total and frequently underestimated.
- Civil changes: moving a drain line or a chimney duct is a small item that carries a large consequence.
Process
How the work runs
Five stages, with the decisions each one locks.
We measure the space ourselves rather than working from the builder's drawing, note the services, water quality, daylight and society rules, and write down how the room is actually used. Pantry Units is specified against that survey, not against a catalogue.
Plans, elevations and details, with the specification written as grades and dimensions. You approve an elevation, not a render — this is the stage where changes cost nothing.
Material, finish, hardware and services are locked, and the estimate becomes a line-by-line document. We tell you exactly what this date locks and what can still change afterwards.
Factory production runs to the approved drawing while site work is prepared. Material is checked against the approved sample on arrival, in daylight, and stored correctly until the programme calls for it.
Installation, testing, snagging and a documentation file with drawings, warranties, decor codes and hardware models. A first-year service visit is scheduled at handover.
Living with it
Maintaining pantry units
The honest routine, and the mistakes that cost the most to undo.
Care and maintenance
- Wipe the counter–backsplash joint weekly. Silicone there is a consumable; expect to renew it every two to three years.
- Clean the chimney baffle filters monthly. A loaded filter is the reason a kitchen smells of last week's cooking.
- Check the sink cabinet base for a slow leak every few months for the first year.
- Adjust hinges once at the end of the first year — every kitchen settles and doors go out of line together.
What goes wrong
- Putting the hob under a window or hard against a side wall, which makes flame control and cleaning permanently awkward.
- Choosing a recirculating hood in a kitchen that cooks Indian food daily.
- Deep corner cabinets with no pull-out mechanism, which become storage nobody can reach.
- Locking the design before the appliance sizes are confirmed.
Detailing
Pantry Units detailing notes
The small decisions that separate built work from assembled work.
Under-cabinet lighting is not decorative in an Indian kitchen; it is the only light that reaches the chopping board once you stand at the counter.
A drip groove machined into the underside of the counter edge keeps water off the shutter faces at the sink.
Leave a serviceable panel at the sink cabinet base. Every kitchen needs plumbing access eventually, and cutting it in later ruins the run.
Set the tall units and the wall units to one common top line. The mismatch between them is the most common thing that makes a kitchen look assembled rather than designed.
Questions
Pantry Units — answered
How long does a pantry units take to build?
Four to six weeks from design sign-off for a factory-built kitchen, of which about a week is on site. Delays are almost always civil or appliance-related rather than joinery.
What is the right layout for my room?
It follows the room's plumbing wall and its door positions more than personal preference. A parallel layout suits a corridor kitchen, U-shaped suits a room with two usable walls, and an island needs at least 1.1m clear on all sides.
Which countertop material lasts best?
Quartz for a low-maintenance surface, granite where hot vessels land directly, and natural marble only where the family accepts patina. All three outlast the cabinetry.
Can appliances be integrated?
Yes, if they are chosen before design freeze. Integrated appliances need exact aperture dimensions, ventilation clearances and dedicated circuits, none of which can be improvised later.
Is a pantry units warranted?
Factory cabinetry, hardware and finishes carry a lifetime warranty on our standard scope. Appliances carry their own manufacturer warranty, which is worth registering at handover.
How much storage should I plan?
Count in running feet of drawer front, not cabinet count. A working family kitchen needs roughly 12 to 16 running feet of drawer storage plus a full-height pantry.
Do you work on pantry units projects across Bangalore?
Yes — Bangalore is where most of our projects are, from apartments along Sarjapur Road, Whitefield and Hebbal to independent homes in Jayanagar, Indiranagar and Malleshwaram. We survey the space ourselves, work within the society's access and working-hour rules, and hand over with a documentation file. There is a dedicated page for our work in the city if you want the full picture.
Does Bangalore's climate or water affect this choice?
The climate helps and the water does not. Mild year-round temperatures are kinder to timber and joinery than almost any other Indian city, so craft detailing lasts. Hard borewell water in the eastern and northern corridors is the real constraint — it scales glass, chrome and stone, and it changes what we specify and what maintenance we ask the family to commit to.
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Next step
Planning pantry units for your home?
Send your floor plan and we come back with a layout, a material direction and a line-by-line estimate. Free survey across Bangalore.