Pantry Makeover Reveal

Smack in the middle of “I’m sure it’s just a case of flu that won’t go away” thinking, I started tearing apart my kitchen. I was hot to get the year started right and declutter any and everything I could possible declutter. The kitchen drove me kind of bananas because it never really felt that functional. It took a few days to complete but I love it so much more now that we have it all back in order. Everything is better organized and we’ve created zones for the way we actually use the kitchen space.

Well, you guys know how one thing always leads to another. In the midst of all of that crazy, I decided we should also give the pantry a little makeover with a fresh coat of paint and carve out a space to house party supplies and vintage dishes. I know. Just be sick for 5 minutes and go lay down, CoCo! When I got to the mandatory bed rest point…the dining room looked like this

and one side of the pantry looked like this. Mind you, this is a space that is used every day and multiple times a day at that. Both spaces looked like this for weeks. The visual clutter, oh my word, you guys, was nuts.

Thankfully, my family rallied and helped me paint the pantry walls in a shade of gray from Valspar called Silver Leaf. It’s the same shade that’s in the master bedroom.

By the end of the afternoon, I could feel a clean slate forming and the color made a huge difference. Since one side of the pantry will house vintage dishes, silver trays and crystal bits I decided to create that side first.

The wire shelves were still in good shape so we put them back in place. We used additional anchors to help stabilize the weight of the vintage dishes. Make sure you check all of the weight requirements for the shelves and hardware you’re using. Believe me, you don’t want the weight of the dishes to pull the shelves out of the wall and break everything.

After the shelves were secure and in place, it was time to start organizing all of the dishes which I chose to arrange by color.

Are you ready for an awesome before and after? This is how the dish side of the pantry looked before….

and after.

The grocery side of the pantry before was one of the few places in the house that stayed consistently organized month after month. I’m convinced it’s because every item had a well labeled and organized home. I changed out all of the chalkboard inspired paper labels using Pic Monkey and a roll of adhesive paper I picked up a Walmart. That way, I was able to create custom labels for the pantry and the spice drawer too. I’ll show a bit more of how to make these in February.

I kept the wooden chalkboard labels for the baskets. They’ve been working well in both the pantry and the refrigerator. They were a gift from my mom a few years ago and I love them.

Here is a quick look at the grocery side of the pantry before…

and after.

At this point, I thought I was finished. I had put everything away and all of the party supplies on the floor of dish side of the pantry. But I then realized we had a few dog supplies that needed a home, which got me thinking…

I showed the “finished” pantry to my bestie S and she was like, “What’s up with the wasted pantry space?”

We hatched an idea to organize the party supplies in a drawer we built with plywood, a nail gun, trim, casters, white paint and hardware from Hobby Lobby. We built two – one for each side. I’ll share more about how we built the drawers next week.

Then I thought about how the dogs needed a place for their treats and toys. This nightstand was part of the bedroom set my parents bought me when I was 2. It’s been hanging out in the garage for almost 6 years. It got a total facelift, which I’ll share with you in February. Talk about perfect fit. Now we also have a dog feeding station and toy storage in the pantry too.

Everything was really coming together but there was one last thing I wanted to create in the pantry – a chalkboard for the grocery list. If you read Wednesdays post you already know I make a monthly menu and weekly grocery list with my sisters. It’s totally awesome but there were times I would follow that list so closely I would forget other household needs like paper towels or contact lens solution. Now I can just take a quick picture of the list before heading out to the grocery store to shop.

The rug is from IKEA. I think it was around $5. I love that it adds texture without competing with the walnut floors.

The entire pantry is only about 21 square feet but it feels like a little corner of a boutique now, right? I still can’t believe how it all came together! Here’s a quick look at everything. The dish side of the pantry before…

and after.

The dry goods side of the pantry before…

and after.

A HUGE thank you to S for helping me build the drawers and finish the dog feeding station. It was a lot of late nights and I’m beyond grateful for your gifts!

We have lots of fun things to celebrate this weekend. I hope you have a safe and happy time with your family too.

We have a great week coming up next week. I’ll show you how we created the pantry storage drawers, time-saving kitchen cleaning tips, what’s been happening at my booth at The Pickers Market and on Friday we’ll say Goodbye January, Hello February.

See you on Facebook, on Instagram and on Pinterest over the weekend and back here on Monday for the Something to Talk About Link Party!

Many blessings,

CoCo