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-
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
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