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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.

Related Posts

Life Without a Microwave: 2 Months In
Nobody’s Perfect
A Letter to Our Kitchen Elf
My Essential Pantry Items
Did you enjoy this post? Share it!

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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I don't have answers, but I'm trying to take care of myself and my biological and school families. I'm saying "I love you" a lot to my children and my students. I'm closely following and sharing the work of @everytown while contacting my state and federal representatives and the president. I'm going for walks and getting fresh air and trying not to overload on news. I'm sharing good resources in my stories as I see them.
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Author Kendra Adachi has been one of my favorite voices in recent years. Her principles (shared through her first book, The Lazy Genius Podcast and her Instagram) have helped me focus my priorities and give myself more grace. 

This book is NOT a cookbook (it has just 2 recipes), it is a kitchen guide - to help you "have what you need, use what you have, and enjoy it like never before". It is beautiful (full color!) and thoughtful.

I'm very excited to send this book to one of you.

TO ENTER: Leave a comment below with one of your greatest kitchen struggles. 
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