Pantry Project-She’s All Done!!

When we were last here in the pantry back in June, I had just finished painting and putting in the shelves and supports. You can catch up here.
I did continue to work on it and I finished it! I am actually really proud of myself for getting this done as it has several elements that I don’t care for including measuring (a hundred times) and figuring out spacing (also part of measuring)!! I am just always nervous that I will get it wrong and screw up the whole project!
On to the ultimate results.

Back to work

I put in the shelf supports, painted 3 coats and it was time to install the shelves. Along the way, and I don’t recall when, I decided that I would cover the shelves with paper instead of painting them. I decided to cover the shelves because while I love the dark color of the pantry, I knew I wouldn’t love it with dark shelves. I wanted to bring a bit of lightness to the space.

As you can see it’s a geometric design in blue and white. One of the things I learned in redoing the pantry is that it’s important to keep it simple in the pantry. Once the products are placed into the space, you really can’t see the “decor”! I got this paper from Home Depot. And as usual, my measurements were off and I did not have enough paper to cover the top and bottom of the shelves. At first, I thought that maybe I would paint the underneath to match the pantry but I really did not want to paint anymore. So, since the undersides are not going to be seen, I decided to simply focus on make sure the top was covered and used some other paper to cover the bottom. I did not want to leave the underneath undone.

As I was working on this part of the project, I started to realize that the really hard part was done. Covering the shelves was fairly straightforward as was attaching the shelves to the supports. I was kind of having fun because I realized that I was in the home stretch!

And Now the Fun Begins

The shelves are in and now the tetris of organization begins.

The important aspects of this makeover for me was that I wanted to be able to “see” everything in my pantry, be able to store extras, and have easy access to the items I use the most.
With any type of organization, you start with a framework and then you adjust. The part I find the hardest is creating space for the occasional items vs regular items. I also wanted to be able to store more kitchen equipment in the pantry than I had been able to in the past.

You’ll see in this first photo, I added a puck light next to the broom/dust pan. I did this because the top shelf seemed darker than the other areas. However, in full transparency, I don’t think I’ve used that light once but I’m glad it’s there just in case. I’m also pleased have my baking stuff one shelf area higher than it was. I reach for things on this shelf all of the time. And, because of the depth of the shelves, I am able to store extras behind the containers. So I have flour behind the flour container, sugar behind the sugar containers, etc…

The Finished Product

Everything is back into the pantry and it is working. I have a crate on the floor that holds others extras that don’t fit on the shelves. And I am also able to keep extra sodas and other drinks on the floor space. I also have some kitchen electronics on the top shelf including my juicer, nutribullet, and can opener. Accessories for the nutribullet are also in the pantry freeing up space in the kitchen cabinet!

I was able to hang my aprons back up in the pantry as well as my broom/dustpan and mop. My cook books and recipes are also on the top shelf but I do have other plans for them in the future.

I am very happy with the end result and am very proud of myself for finally tackling a project that I’ve been thinking about for many years.
Thank you for following along with me on this project. If you have questions, comments, suggestions, please share in the comments.
Time to move forward to new projects!