A Fresh Coat of Pantry

We are still thrilled with how awesome our kitchen renovation turned out.  It feels bright, clean and modern.  Exactly how we wanted our kitchen to feel.  But this newly reclaimed fresh feeling in the kitchen only heightened the feeling of nastiness that remained just beyond the basement door.  Behind this door...

was this...

and this...

So we recently decided to tackle this dark, ugly space and make way for some of that clean fresh kitchen feeling to seep into the pantry/basement steps.  Aside from a LOT of paint, we had to do a little bit of structural work to reclaim some of the space that used to be enclosed for the radiator, but ended up being dead space because we removed the rad.  

Enter: my manly husband and his power tools.  With the help of a hammer and a reciprocating saw, Jake had the space opened up in no time, and then built new shelves to span the reclaimed area.  

Then, of course, came the 8 hours of prep and painting to finish off the space.  It wasn't glamorous. It wasn't exciting. It wasn't even photo-worthy, evidently. (Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike plaster walls?)  But it was worth it.  We went with a semi-gloss white in the pantry and a cool grey on the walls down the stairs.  

 

In addition, we decided to change up the flooring a little bit.  We covered the closet floor with cheap peal and stick vinyl tiles (just for a slightly more finished look) and we "carpeted" the top steps and landing.  I say "carpeted" because we literally took old carpet remnants, cut them to size and staple-gunned the edges to the wood.  Don't look close, cause it's a little ghetto.  But it was cheap and now our footsies are a little more comfortable when stepping into the pantry.

And then of course I got to reorganize the pantry shelves. My favorite part.  Nothing too special here. Just a couple stacking baskets for onions and potatoes, and a few new containers for other random things.  

 

Hello clean(er), bright(er) pantry.  You aren't the glamorous walk-in pantry of the magazines, with great lighting and perfectly squared walls, but you'll do fine.  Just fine.