The point of a pantry is that the kitchen stays calm. The toaster, the kettle, the coffee machine and the appliance you use twice a week all live in here, plugged in and ready, instead of taking up the bench you actually cook on. So the first thing we work out is what is going to sit on the pantry bench permanently, because that decides where the power goes and how much clear run is left.
After that it is storage. Floor-to-ceiling on at least one wall, with adjustable shelves rather than fixed ones, because what you store changes. Deep drawers low down for the heavy things. A second sink if the room is big enough, which turns the pantry into somewhere you can actually wash up during a dinner rather than a cupboard you hide in.
We finish the pantry on the same paint line as the kitchen, in the same colour and the same sheen, so opening the door does not feel like walking into a different house. If the doorway is wide, that matters even more, because the pantry is visible from the kitchen most of the time.
