How to Add Rotating Shelves to Kitchen Pantries

Adding rotating shelves to kitchen pantries is a convenient way to keep your kitchen organized. In addition, the rotating shelves ensure that as you load fresh food items in your pantry, the older ones are pushed forward and utilized first.

Prepare the Pantry

Empty your kitchen pantry of all food items. Remove existing shelves and put them aside. Measure the length, width, and height of your original shelves to determine the measurements for your rotating shelves.

Cut out Rotating Shelves

Take the plywood and use your table saw. Cut out the shelves according to the measurements of your original shelves. Mark the exact position of the shelves in the pantry. For cans of average size, leave a distance of 8 inches from the top of the input shelf to the top of the subsequent output shelf. For larger cans, add 1 inch to these measurements.

The shelves will need to have a 1:12 slope. For every 12 inches run, make a drop of an inch. Using the router, make slots along the shelf lines marked above, in which to attach the shelves. The slots should be ¾ inches wide and ¼ inches deep. Take the remaining plywood and cut out slots to make rows on the shelves. Take can samples of different sizes to determine the size of the rows, which should be ½ inch wider than the can.

Attach Shelves

Take the shelf pieces and attach the row slots by using wood glue. Allow the glue to dry completely and then drive in the screws. Trim the shelves as necessary to fit into the pantry slots that will hold them in. Trim all input shelves at the back as well to create space through which cans will drop onto the output shelves. Take the shelves and insert them into the slots you made on the sides of your kitchen pantry. To fasten the shelves, drive screws through the sides of the pantry into the shelf edges. Two screws per shelf on all the sides are sufficient.

Make Can Barrier

Take the remaining plywood and cut pieces that are the length of your kitchen pantry. Attach the pieces on the front side of the pantry on all the shelves to create a barrier and prevent cans from falling. Take the pieces earlier trimmed from the back of the input shelves and attach them to the back of the output shelves. This will prevent cans from falling off the back once they slide from the top shelves.

Finishing Up

Label all the shelf rows on the front to identify the food items loaded on each row. Load your food items back onto your kitchen pantry.