creating a walk in larder/pantry

[MarmiteAndPB]

We have an old boiler recess type space in the corner of our kitchen which we would like to convert into a sort of walk in pantry/larder. We think that it would require knocking out some woodwork, putting in a stud wall and opening up into a doorway, installing shelves and probably a custom door. Might also need to box around some currently exposed pipes, or insulate them somehow.

So at the moment it's basically an open, empty space with three walls and a wide, too tall door frame.

I was wondering whether anyone has any advice on the kind of workman we should be looking for (carpenter?) and how big/small a job this would be. Rough costs. And how to go about finding someone!

We've had fairly poor luck with finding workmen in our area - have had a couple of bathrooms done, and it was hard to get people to quote for them, and we weren't massively impressed with the ones that we went with. Basically we don't have a clue where to start with this and any advice would be helpful!

You could ask neighbours for recommendations, look at notice boards in the area or try googling.

Thanks JoJo. Neighbours haven't really been very helpful for things like this in the past and my Google-fu hasn't been getting reliable results. But maybe local notice boards would work. There's a village hall and a library which we could check out.

Have you tried Checkatrade?

I hadn't tried Checkatrade yet, thanks. I did try Rated People and couldn't figure out which category it would come under - fell at the first hurdle! Checkatrade seems to be a bit more flexible in the search terms, so I'll see whether anyone on there is interested in quoting. Thanks!

Try mybuilder website

I hadn't heard of mybuilder - thanks! I'll definitely give that a go as well!

I have done similar

stud wall made of timber and make door frame (joiner/carpenter)
Insulate between studs with rockwool
Inside cupboard faced with backerboard then tiled (tiled whole pantry) tiler, you could use tongue groove painted wood panelling instead. (Carpenter)
Kitchen side of stud Faced with plaster board that needs to be skimmed (plasterer)
Shelves installed by carpenter. They could be fixed positions or you could use an adjustable system. Decide on layout, spacing and depth of shelves based on the items you will store (killer jars, boxes etc) . Draw it out to scale.
What shelf finish do you want? Oil ed Wood, painted wood, melamine, marble, etc.
Do you want a light installed? (Electrician) I have one that turns on with motion sensor so I won't forget to turn it off?
Do you want any wall sockets?
Is one of the wAlls external? If so add brick air vents to keep pantry cool one low and one high up.
Do you want doors with small shelves attached to them inside?
(Carpenter)

In summary
A multi trade builder could do basic set up
But finer carpentry might require a carpenter.

Key thing for recruiting trades is having a detailed drawn out spec.
So their time isn't wasted whilst you make decisions

Wow thanks user1499169579, that's really helpful! I hadn't even thought about lighting but that's a really good point. Doubt we want wall sockets, but all the other things you mention are likely necessary.

Could I ask your opinion on shelves, as you've done similar? I was thinking that we would want deeper shelves at the bottom (not height, the depth of the shelf itself), but narrower at the top so that you can see them and reach them more easily. Is that what you did? Or did you go for the same size shelf all the way up?

If it's not too nosy or outing, would you be willing to put up a photo of yours so that I can see how it turned out? I have a idea of the kind of thing that I want as my grandparents have had one for years, but can't find many examples online to see the various options. Most people seem to go for those pre-designed larder cupboards but our space is much squarer than those are.

We have a large pine cupboard which makes a lovely larder cupboard which i bought over 20 years ago for about £300 - its been used in all sorts of rooms over the years and is now in the kitchen. A lot cheaper than having one made......

Thanks for the pictures bilbodog, that looks amazing. I've been wanting something like this for ages and I'm very jealous. We have this dead space in our kitchen from where the boiler was, so having one built in makes more sense in our case, but I agree from a functional POV your cupboard is serving the same purpose!

If look for an artisan type carpenter, someone who can make the doors and shelves.

Also think about that you want in there, e.g. do you need room for recycling or similar

Thanks Ladybird Space for recycling would be good, and we get big 20kg bags of rice so some floor space for that kind of thing too I really can't wait until it's done and I can have a lovely organised part to the kitchen where I can see and access everything easily (the rest of the kitchen needs doing but will have to wait a long while!)