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The Pantry Project

Published on September 2, 2014 By Emily. Updated on September 2, 2014

On 5/2/13, as part of a list of the 5 things I liked best about the kitchen in our new house, I wrote:

The pantry! – This space is still very much a work in progress, but I love it already.  Eventually I’d like to get nice looking floor to ceiling shelves, but for now it’s wonderful to have the microwave out of  the way and a place to store the items I don’t use on a regular basis.

This weekend, my husband and my dad made that dream a reality.  They finally installed the wire shelving I’d been eyeing and we’d been debating for months.

old pantry 2

old pantry

As a reminder, this is what my pantry used to look like.  It really wasn’t bad, but it seemed like we could do better than a pair of particleboard bookshelves I purchased at a yard sale years ago.

empty pantry

We purchased the ClosetMaid shelving from Home Depot.  Our pantry is about 67 inches long so we decided to get 5 shelves of 5 foot long, 16 inch deep, basic white ventilated shelves; this would leave us with a bit of a buffer on the sides.  Originally we were going to get the 12 inch depth, but decided after a last minute measurement to go for the extra 4 inches.  We also purchased hang tracks, four vertical tracks, twenty brackets, and 2 packages of caps for the ends of the wire shelves.  The lovely people at Home Depot cut down the 6 foot shelving to 5 feet for us, but were unable to cut the 80 inch hang track.  Because we weren’t sure we’d be able to cut down the 80 inch piece, we also purchased a 40-inch and 24-inch, just in case.  Before installation, we also purchased the recommended screws from a local hardware store.

You may have surmised, from the previous sentence, that this was not the least expensive project ever.  Each of the components was relatively inexpensive, but together they really added up.  This project cost us over $300.  But it was worth it.

pantry shelving

I confess:  I had very, very little to do with this pantry update.  I put in my requests to Brian, I accompanied him to the store, I helped removed all the items from the pantry before the project started, and I offered a little input as the work went on.  In fact, my mom and I took the opportunity to run some errands and explore town while the guys worked.  I do know that my dad used a jig saw with a metal cutting blade to shorten the 80 inch hang track; we’ll be returning the 2 shorter tracks we didn’t use.  Getting only 5 feet of shelving was a good decision; taking into account the window frame, there isn’t much gap on either side of the shelving. 

new pantry

All in all, the project took my dad and Brian from mid-morning into mid-afternoon.  In addition to being more expensive than I expected, it was also more difficult.  Our old house with its possibly randomly placed studs and/or drywall over plaster apparently made it very difficult to determine where the studs were.  And it was really important to all involved that the hardware was installed as securely as possible.   I’d write more about the actual process, but like I said, I was absent for much of it.  A few extra holes were put into the wall, but most of them were covered by the hardware and the others aren’t noticeable.

In the end, I am very happy with my new pantry.  For one, it looks like a pantry.  I really like the look of the white wire shelving.  It’s clean and organized and now I have shelves from floor to ceiling.  I also have a lot more storage, which is always exciting.  We did a bit of rearranging in our kitchen and the pantry, though I’m not sure if the changes in locations will be permanent.  I’m really glad we went with the additional 4 inches of depth; 12 inches would have been too narrow and these shelves don’t stick out any further than the bookshelves did (and less so in real life than they appear to in the photos).  As an added bonus, we now have the 2 bookshelves in our entryway holding my cookbooks and our games.  We also have the 1 foot pieces of shelving that were cut off the 6 foot lengths at Home Depot that I’m scheming a place for…we paid for them, we might as well use them.

Thanks again Dad and Brian!

This post does not contain affiliate links.  I have no affiliation with Home Depot.

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Filed Under: home Tagged With: home improvement, kitchen, pantry

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Comments

  1. Kelly says

    September 3, 2014 at 9:50 am

    This looks great – and I can totally relate to the randomly placed old house studs, our house is the same!

    Also, tell me about the sharing plugin you have on the left! I really like how its nice and clean looking.

    • Emily says

      September 4, 2014 at 5:47 am

      It’s called Flare…it was really easy to install and customize. I’m hoping it encourages people to share my stuff more! (hint, hint)… http://filament.io/ will give you instructions to get started!

      • Kelly says

        September 4, 2014 at 9:39 am

        I’ll have to check it out, thanks!

  2. Duane Brunell says

    September 3, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    I agree that 16 inch shelf depth was the way to go. The additional storage capacity and flexibility gain is great if the space allows this additional depth, and in this case you had the room. Good move!

    • Emily says

      September 4, 2014 at 5:49 am

      The key for us was realizing that there was a 16″ depth available…obviously we weren’t going to do 20 inches or something like that, but we realized when we measured before heading to the store that 16 inches was perfect.

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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#igers413_food #igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #PublicEatAndDrink
New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #FallFoliage #FallColors #autumn #AshuwillticookRailTrail #JaeschkeOrchards #GreylockGlen
@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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