Hallelujah! The Pantry is Finished!

First of all, just let me say... WOW that took a long time!!!  This pantry thing was a BIG undertaking!  So, I left off last time right after I had painted the first coat of paint in the pantry.  It looked like this...

 

I also left you with the teaser about something special for the paint job... oh the suspense....

So what was the big plan?  STENCILS!!!  As I scoured Pinterest for inspiration, I noticed that all of my favorite pantries had some sort of a pattern behind the shelves.  All that Pinteresting (new word??) had me itching to do some stenciling.  I had never stenciled anything before, so I figured the pantry would be a good place to start.  It's a small space that I could easily hide if I didn't like it.  With all that in mind, I headed out to Michael's for a stencil hunt.  Let me tell ya', some of these things can get expensive!!  I ended up choosing one out of the cheaper section for $5.99.  

Like I said before, I'm a newbie when it comes to stenciling, so I wasn't sure where to start.  First of all, I knew I needed to hold it against the wall somehow, so I put a little piece of painter's tape on each corner.  Then came the decision of how to actually paint it.  I started off with a cheap-o foam paintbrush, kind of stomping the paint on it... I quickly realized that this was anything but quick.  So, I decided to try out my roller.  I used a 4" skinny roller, and it work perfectly!  

Once I had the process down, I was on a roll!  10 minutes later and I had that row done!

Then, I realized that I had around 5000 other things that I had to do.  I work a full-time job during the day, so I only have evenings to work on things.  My week went about like this-

Tuesday- First coat of tan paint

Wednesday- Second coat of tan paint

Thursday- First row of stencil, church

Friday- very stressful day at work, so when I got home it was all about ice cream and Drop Dead Diva on the DVR... until 6:30, then I had another church service to go to.

Saturday- left for my Mom and Dad's house (2 hours away)

Sunday- still at Mom and Dad's house

Monday- got home from Mom and Dad's house, then work on stenciling

Tuesday- FINALLY finished the pantry!!

So, after a long, but good week, I finished the pantry and finally got the kitchen back into shape.  After stenciling the entire pantry, and painting the trim, here was the result...

Hallelujah!  I LOVE it!!!!  Seriously when I look at it, it makes me wanna sing, dance in place, jump, run around the house... you get the point.  I put everything back in place with some new pretty storage solutions and..... drum roll please.....tada!!

I was afraid that after all that work, you wouldn't even notice the stencils behind all the food, but I think it really adds depth to the space.  Here's a little breakdown of the organization.

• Potatoes and onions went in a basket in the bottom.
• Water bottles went in a basket in the bottom. 

•  Sugar, flour, brown sugar and powdered sugar went in air-tight canisters that I painted with chalkboard paint here.

• Spice packet and gravy mixes went into this cute little wooden container I scored at JoAnn Fabrics for just $1!  If you look at the overall picture of the pantry, you'll notice I had a couple bigger boxes that match these, they were only $2!  Gotta love Labor Day sales!

 

• Snacks went into a photo box re-purposed as pantry storage. (I still have to make a label for it)

•  Since I didn't want to spend any more money on canisters, I used mason jars for pasta, rice, chocolate chips, basically anything that I couldn't close back after opening. (I love mason jars, I think it gives a nice vintage industrial charm)

•  Stuff that I've canned went on the top shelf, mainly because it's pretty :)

• All the small stuff needed for baking went into a pretty basket.  (vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, food coloring)

• Store-bought canned foods went on the bottom shelf (they're not real pretty).  

So, after a week of hard labor, I finally have a pantry that I can be proud of.  Hey, I can even leave the door open when people come over!  I'm sure I'll be tweaking things as I work in the kitchen, but for now, it's perfect.  Sigh....  I told Chris I was gonna sleep in there... haha...

Just cause I love 'em so much, here's the before and after.

Before-

After-

Next project- I've gotta clean out those kitchen cabinets... the pantry is putting them to shame!

OPERATION KITCHEN ORGANIZATION continues!!!

Brooke