THE PANTRY PROJECT........

The Pantry Project oh my.......  can we just say this was a project I thought would never get started and once started I didn't think it would ever get finished.... nuf said here is what happened.

We had our kids coming last Christmas, (oh that would be 5 adult children and their spouses, and a total of 9 grandchildren under the age of 6 for a grand total of 19 extra people insert huge smile here)  and I thought it was a wise idea to clean out the pantry, like empty the whole thing and get it organized since I knew with everyone coming the weekend before Christmas I would have lots of groceries to buy.  So, I cleaned it out and upon doing so realized what a mess we had.  This old house is old, old, old like it was built in 1899..  a zillion years ago .  The back half which was added onto in the late 60's with a room in between an apartment which is my mother in laws quarters in the very back.  The newer half needed a new roof for a few years before it was actually done two years ago and there was some water damage between Our kitchen and the addition which was in the pantry area.  So back to my story about organizing for the Christmas Season.... Well when I emptied it out we realized just how bad the damage was and exactly where those stinking mice were coming into the house at.  So realizing how bad it was and discovering the whole pantry needed to be gutted some of the joists replaced and the outside wall replaced, we decided it needed to wait for warmer weather.

So........ I waited, and waited and waited some more. You'v got the picture I was a bit impatient!  We hired a local carpenter to come do the repairs late spring to early summer with us doing the finishing work on the inside to save some money.  We have house guests for the summer (Megan my stepdaughter and her hubby Kevin graduated with their Doctorate of Physical Therapy and moved back to the area, found jobs and are in the process of purchasing their first home) so Mark took advantage of Kevin who more than willingly lended a hand to help get the inside work finished.  They (Megan and Kevin) are quite handy to have around and to say the least we will miss them when they are out on their own although I am sure they are more than ready to start the beginning of the rest of their life in their own home although they won't be that far away just a few miles.  OK back to the story.....

I had gotten along without this pantry for 7 1/2 months and FINALLY the walls were finished, I got them painted, the floor laid, bought a zillion containers and it is done, finished.  I am sooooooo HAPPY!  The one thing I do know, is that down the road when we build a new home, it WILL. HAVE. A. PANTRY!!!! IT MUST!!!

So without further ado here is the before and after shots of our now awesome, beautiful, efficient, organized pantry!!!!!  It is so cute I want to have a pantry party!  We even had room in the corner to put a small fridge for those times which has been all summer that we needed extra room in the fridge!

I have reorganized my kitchen cabinets since I was able to get all of this stuff out of my cupboards!!!

I am doing the happy dance!

And here is my Hubby working diligently trying to get this project finished.....  Thank you Mark!!!!

Oh Yes, here is a BEFORE picture in all of its ummmm ugliness as Mark is tearing rotted wall board off and discovering all the damage...........

I cannot find my "in progress" pictures until we got to this point...... (trust me I am sparing you the details because the outside wall got torn out to the outside, yes folks you could feel the breeze!  :)

and the Pantry Door.....

And Mark added trim to the edge of the shelves to give it that special "look"!!! I love it!

Oh yes, I did stencil the walls also just to glam it up a bit.....

AND just to be REAL here.....  This is what my kitchen looked like in the process of organizing but it was SOOOOO worth the mess.... I worked an entire day just organizing the pantry and reorganizing my kitchen cabinets.....

As if organizing all of this wan't enough I got busy and made a "Grocery" sign!

I am in the process of making a zillion labels for all of the containers and jars.  I looked at many containers and loved the OXO brand of click clack or flip it, but they were really expensive!  I know it is surprising I went for a cheaper version which I had already been using for some time  What I went with fit the bill completely, I could see what is it in and how low it is, (whether I needed to purchase more)  I have labeled mostly all the container with my P-touch.  (I almost went with Chalkboard Labels)  So what I bought you can find at Walmart it is Better Homes and Garden Brand Flip Tite  No Walmart has not paid me to say how great they are (are you kidding me?)

On the bottom shelves are some baskets, one has baking mixes, one has tea, one has baking items so I can just grab that basket when I decide to bake and take it to the kitchen!!! LOVE IT!!!  The Baskets came from Dollar Tree (and you guessed it for just $1.00 each!)

I was hoping to have some room to store some of my decorating items and it looks like there may be some room to do so! :)

AND isn't this just the cutest?  A canister just for cupcake papers!!

The Fridge top gave me a good place to store my mixer!

*******Updated to add the inside of the Pantry Door*********

Here is the inside of the pantry door....  and yes those are screws you are seeing, but trust me they will be covered up and you will never see them!

So there you have the newly renovated pantry!  What a job it was and so glad it is finished!!!  It is so nice to walk in there and find what I am looking for!!  Talk about appreciating a "space"  well this is appreciated!!!! 

Nancy

**** I have linked up to the following:

If it's not Baroque Link Party

and

Flaunt it Friday

and

Metamorphis Monday

and

Ivy and Elephants

and

Chase the Stars