"Photog" wrote in message
ups.com...
I am in the process of house-hunting in the DC Metro area, and am
quickly realizing that I'm too picky and need to take what I can get
for my price range. One of the prospects I've seen lacks a pantry in
the kitchen, which I'd consider essential, but I was wondering how
feesable it is to build a pantry (either DIY or hire someone)? What
things do I need to consider? If there's space, can I just frame-in a
pantry, dry wall it, add doors and voila?

Is a pantry a better value-add than a breakfast nook? (Meaning if I
build the pantry, I lose space from the eat-in area.)

You have many choices. We recently bought a ready-to-assemble storage
cabinet from Lowe's, 24" by 18 deep by 6 ft high - check out model ST24MP,
item no. 214988. Prefinished, with doors, and pretty decent looking, for
$118, much cheaper than you could have built. I would not recommend
diminishing a breakfast area - that will look cheap, temporary, and kill
part of an essential room. Find a house with a spare corner, think outside
the box and even consider a 45-degree door in an unused corner, that would
be hand built. It might be good to look at prospective houses with a handy
notebook of dimensions of various suppliers of cabinets. Good luck.