Design RE:Look

I can’t tell you how many times I crashed about rummaging in my pantry to get to some obscure item. I step over warehouse size boxes of snacks and two gallon ketchup bottles tripping and muttering words I’d rather my children not hear. I’d find a step ladder and balance precariously reaching for the bread crumbs which are behind the hot chocolate mix on the higher shelf. When I finally reach it with the tips of my fingers it tips sideways on the blasted wire shelves, the ones that builders love, and get knocked over and out of my reach. The only positive of the wire shelves is that I can slip my fingers up from underneath and jimmy the breadcrumbs to a more forward position on the shelf where I can now grab it and finally have the ingredient in my hands. I am exhausted and I haven’t even started cooking.

Well no more. I have taken a few extra moments and years of pillaging to finally decide and plan a better design. It was so easy and it cost me just over $200.00 (itemized list to follow). Let me share the steps with you, the worst part being the massive catastrophe that hit my dining room.

First: I realized what was wrong for me with my pantry. Let me try to explain. The first wire shelf was about 2 feet off the ground and 12″ deep. Then each consecutive shelf was spaced 2 feet above the one below it. In addition, there was another shelf on the adjacent wall that was 18″ deep making what you would think was ample shelf space. What actually resulted was the wrong type of shelf space. The shelves started too high so that most of the easily accessible space was used with one shelf and the 18″ shelves were too deep which caused me to loose items in the back and have to reach behind multiple items to reach one. Therefore, I decided that I was going to start with wall of shelves lower and closer together, solid laminate surface and smaller scale depth and width. My mother thought I was crazy and asked me three times if I was sure I was going to fit everything in this new design. I was sure, I think.

Second: I emptied out the entire pantry onto my dining room table and took down every shelf, every piece of hardware and the light switch cover. I then patched all the holes, sanding and priming until they were smooth. I then choose an accent paint that would complement my kitchen since the pantry is directly off of it. I believe strongly that primed only closets and pantries and laundry areas need to look more finished. If you use white, then you need to set it off with accents to make it look finished. Anyway, I digress, I happened to have a great dark mossy green half empty can of paint in my basement and decided to go thrifty and use that. It was perfect and had the contrast I was looking for to minimize the walls so they would smooth out the background and pop out the white shelves so that the items on them took precedence.

Third: I went to Ikea because I love and have used in numerous storage scenarios their PAX and Komplement system. You have to be careful when you specify this stuff because there are so many options. When designing a clothing closet I always use the 22″ depth, but in this scenario that depth would have taken up the whole pantry and you know I wanted a shallower depth. So, I settled on their

13 3/4″ Depth X 30″ Wide X 27″ High Unit and I purchased three of them to span my 60″ pantry. When measuring for this type of project please remember to measure inside the baseboard, the extra 1/4″ to 1/2″ could make all the difference. I also purchased from IKEA the shelves to go with the system and a wire basket pull out drawer that is also designed to work with the system. When you use the 22″ depth there are many more choices for the wardrobe inserts.

I also wen to Lowe’s to find the right wooden shelf supports, I wanted a more solid structural look for the shelves. If you had some metal shelf supports from a flea market find or corbels that would have served the same purpose. Then, I ended up at Home Depot to get a long enough shelf to span the width of the pantry. I thought of a piece of wood routed and painted, but frankly it was too much. Then I thought of a pre-made shelf but they were too deep and too short. So I finally decided and noticed that the laminate shelves came in the 9″ depth I wanted and the 60″ I wanted (71″ length that I had to cut down). I took all my treasures home and began constructing and organizing. I primed and painted all my wooden shelf supports with Rustoleum White primer and spray paint (I tell you I wanted this simple).

Fourth: I put together the IKEA Pax units and placed them in the pantry. I only had to move the shelves once to get the pantry items to fit well. Then I put up the wooden shelf supports and the shelves, with great help from my honey. Who shakes his head, but lets me do what I do and sometimes he’s even pleased when all of a sudden there is a table to put his soda on. I tell you I work miracles. Finally, it is time to replace all the items from my pantry and get my dining room table back.

Fifth: I did buy a couple of airtight storage containers from IKEA for cereal and I wanted to put them in a prime location so that the kids could maybe get themselves breakfast one day soon!! Then I started with the food and organized by type; soups, canned vegetables, side dishes, and so forth. I did realize that I did have other items in my pantry way up high like small coolers and boxed wine glasses and that I could probably store them in the basement or laundry area. So I pulled them out. I then tried to organize the small items like sprinkles and sanding sugars in one area and then I moved on to spices. They had to be organized in a better way, so I found some baboo boxes I had around and divided the spices into two categories baking and cooking. Done!

Details:

Spices in Boxes

Shelf Supports

Wire Drawer

Shelf

Itemized Costs: (Will be available in our Next Blog – Coming Soon)

IDEAS!!! I have this blank wall on the far left side of the pantry.  Any ideas for filling it up and making it useful.  I thought of a tack board, but that may get too busy.  Still pondering, but looking for a innovative ideas.