Finishing the Pantry!
Okay so this took me a little longer than expected. The Blog post I mean, not the pantry, kinda. Can you imagine us moving in at the end of February and leaving all of our food on the counter while trying to finish this pantry!
Now granted, even though its finally finished I still have some little nips and bits to do to it, that are purely cosmetic but those can come later down the line.
Being that this was my First ever DIY project, I am so happy and proud of how this turned out. I feel like since we moved in in February, I have really proven myself to some of the neigh sayers out there that thought I would totally mess this up. A little Foreshadowing, I didn’t. And to be completely honest, as I am writing this, May 7th, I literally just finished the pantry two weeks ago. I didn’t feel right writing a Ending Blog Post without actually being satisfied and done. The Nits and Bits that I was talking about above, if they never got done, it wouldn’t be a deal breaker and the pantry would look fabulous without them.
Ok, now lets Just recap, when I started this and wrote in Part One:
I put up all the trim, and shelving, now on to the Step by Step guide for Part Two.
Let’s Finish this Thing:
So this is where we left off -
I felt like the shelves were definitely up there and secure but just for good measure I decided to put support planks underneath. I have a toddler y’all, and a Toddler BOY at that, he climbs everything! I wanted to make sure that (God Forbid) if he were to climb up on the shelf it would hold his weight and whatever other stuff it had on it securely.
I also added some L Brackets to the sides that were attached to the walls just for a bit of extra support. (These were probably unnecessary but better safe than sorry!)
Once all the “important” stuff was done, like the actual shelving and supports it was time to start fancying it up a bit. I decided to cut trim pieces to cover up the raw wood edge and the supports. I used 1/4 inch thick pieces of trim for this. My dad suggested I use thicker pieces but honestly because this pantry is tight to begin with, I thought we would need every square foot, or inch, lol. Now let me tell you, this whole project but especially this part would have been 1000X easier if I would have had a brad or pin nailer to work with, but my dad said he didn’t have one so it was back to basics and I had to use a good ‘ol fashioned Hammer and trim nails.
Pro Tip: if you are a perfectionist or have any level of OCD, don’t use a hammer and nails, find someone with a Brad Nailer.
It was time to Wood Fill, literally everything! I really liked working with the wood filler, it was super easy to do and VERY satisfying. This is where we are all thinking, Alex there has to be something that goes wrong, it’s going way to well at this point…
Sanding 101: 1. Wear a Mask 2. Wear Eye Protection 3. For the love of God don’t get Latex Wood Filler if you’re going to sand it and you’re allergic to Latex. Worst mistake ever! But really who is that stupid to sand a latex based product when they are allergic to latex, Me, that’s who. Oh and if you’re even smarter, don’t wear black! I should have done some YouTubing about sanding before starting this, but Surprise, I didn’t. You’re supposed to start off with a rougher sandpaper and then level up to a finer paper so that it doesn’t take as long. To putit in leimans terms, or really girl terms, think about a nail file. One side is rougher and can file down your nail faster and the other side is finer, more for details and getting the right shape.
But after I sanded and wiped everything down, it was time for the Paint. I personally like to paint, I know a lot of people don’t. The only thing I don’t like about painting is priming. I think priming is the stupidest thing ever and it is 2024 and every paint should have primer built in by now.
Unfortunately for Robert’s Wallet and my Mental Health, I happened to stumble upon my friend Makenzie’s TikTok about how she put up floating shelves and on them she put tipping rails. Now if you are a bit confused on what tipping rails are, according to Google is a rail that keeps everything in its place, think like a metal velvet rope for the edge of your shelving. People who have them usually are on boats or where earthquakes are prevalent, I wanted them just so I felt fancier. I need a little bit of Fancy in my life and these were getting it for me, now the hefty price tag that comes with them was not. I scoured the internet trying to find affordable tipping rails and the cheapest version I could find was a little over $400 for me to do all the shelves I wanted. And honestly that wasn’t in my make believe budget. This is how I know God is looking out. My mom and I were at IKEA a week or two after I got done painting and I noticed IKEAs pantry door handles. These were brass skinny handles that were about 13 inches long, they were detailed but simple, and they were perfect. So for $10 a handle, I grabbed 8 and went on my marry way! I installed them that weekend and Social Media had a field day! I guess people don’t believe in being fancy or going the extra mile just for the heck of it, but one viral video later and I have my fancy tipping rails!
Y’all thought I was going to just stop there with the beautiful shelves and rails that I had just put up. But while I was painting the shelves I noticed how much I hate Agreeably Grey. And if I was going to make these shelves and this pantry fancy and a dream, I needed to do something about this basic grey that everyone and their mother puts in their house. So I had the bright idea of Wallpaper. I got nostalgic one night after showing my Papal all of the progress that I made and I was thinking about my Nanny and the Farmhouse that they lived in when I was growing up. When they lived there my Nanny had put Strawberry wallpaper around her whole kitchen and dining room and from that moment on, I need strawberry wallpaper. I searched high and low for the perfect print, and I even recruited my cousins to help me decide. I eventually chose Loomwell’s Gemma Wallpaper, and it turned out go be perfect.
Looking back on the entire project, I would have been able to live with the wire shelves but it would’ve been such a dull spot in the house that I always would’ve wanted to cover up. Now, if Finny goes to get something out of the pantry and doesn’t close the door, its not a big deal because the pantry itself is so dreamy and is subtle but eye catching. I will probably paint the bordering walls inside the pantry eventually but for right now I think it looks really good.
I saw a interior designers TikTok the other day that said to never busy baskets because you will never find the same ones again. I have to agree with her because I would pick up baskets for the shelves, here and there but I’ve never been in love with any of them so they are kind just thrown in there. I would, however, like to find like 12 or 15 of the same look so it can be more uniform but I also refuse to buy baskets at $25-30 a pop. Ill let you know if I find some at a good price!
I have gotten a ton of different questions through out this entire project and I would like to permanently answer some of them here, because there are no stupid questions!
FAQ’s
How much did it cost you in total?
I haven’t crunched the numbers completely, but I am guessing about $400-500 from start to finish.
Where did you know where to start when you decide to makeover your pantry?
Honestly, I have this toxic trait where I just fake it until I make it. Lol but I knew I needed some way to put the shelves up so I started with the underneath trim.
What kind of wood did you use for the shelves?
I used Pine boards.
Now that this is completed, I have to say I am so proud of myself for completing this. It turned out so much better than I ever could have imagined and I can’t wait for y’all to follow along for the next project. I’m Thinking the next House project will either be the Garage or the Office, what do you think?
