Plain Pantry Made Awesome

Susan W Bosscawen
by Susan W Bosscawen
2 Materials
$500
3 Days
Advanced
We renovated a little cottage on a lovely lake in South Carolina. It had a bi-fold door pantry in the kitchen. Just think a mid-70s bedroom closet . . . right in your kitchen. It had three shelves covered in grease, dust, and unidentifiable spilled stuff. Twenty-year-old ick. This could not remain.

I wish I'd taken before and after pictures, but we were pretty sick during the reno. I got pneumonia and my husband's back and shoulder were bothering him so much so, that within a month of moving in, he had shoulder replacement surgery and an epidural for his back.

But here is a picture just after we finished the pantry redo.
Photo courtesy BarefootAffairs.com
The first thing we did was remove the doors, shelves, and gut the closet. We added bead board and additional electrical receptacles. I painted it with latex enamel from Home Depot in a blue similar to Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint, Duck Egg Blue. All trim is latex enamel white. You'll notice in the left corners, I still need to caulk.
Photo courtesy BarefootAffairs.com
We have three upper shelves and the stainless cart, which I ordered from Home Depot online. The shelving is 12" wide x 1" thick x 60" long. There are brace boards mounted on the wall under each shelf at both ends and along the back for support, as this will have a lot of weight on it from dishes and kitchen items.
Photo courtesy BarefootAffairs.com
I purchased white metal plates and metal spice boxes from The Container Store. These were mounted at each end on the side walls for some of my spices. The knife magnet holds larger knives I use most often.
Photo courtesy BarefootAffairs.com
I ran a string of Christmas lights under the bottom shelf above the cart and attached it to a timer. These lights come on twice a day, morning and night, for about 10 hours total. They lasted less than 10 months. I replaced them with LEDs. Much happier and they've now lasted 14 months. Cup hooks hold my mugs.


For more pictures and details about what I'd do differently, visit: http://barefootaffairs.com/plain-pantry-made-awesome/
Suggested materials:
  • Bead board and latex paint   (Home Depot)
  • Spice and knife magnets   (The Container Store)
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