Our New DIY Pantry: The Process

MBC Craft Room/Workshop

Friends! If you saw my last post, you know that we changed our workshop into a walk in pantry. So my utility room, turned workshop, is now my pantry!

So, let me back-up and explain how this all started:

So it all started when I bought these unfinished upper cabinets to create built ins in the sitting room. Although I had a vision for them, when I got them home, they just didn’t look right, so the cabinets sat in the way for about two months. One day, the hubs and I were doing our quarterly home project inventory, and we were discussing how we really needed to finish up the mudroom.

Clearly not the most flattering shot of this space, so much finish work was needed, but this is the original entry from the mudroom into the house.

If you recall we opened up the wall in the mudroom to create direct access into the kitchen last August, but we never fully finished the project. Deciding on the floor really stumped me, so the project was put on the back burner.

While we discussed what needed to be done, I brought up the idea of closing off one of the doorways, since there were now two, and making the workshop area, a walk-in pantry—something I’ve been thinking about for the longest time. My husband finally decided to finish off half of the basement for me to build storage shelves and to also use as a workshop type area–which meant that, this space was now free to become my pantry! Woot woot!

So I went ahead and began sketching up an idea:

Okay, not the best sketch, but it was really helpful in planning for this project.

So what did I do?

First, I tried out the cabinets in the space to see how it felt. I was actually considering stacking them right on top of each other and then grabbing one more to create a pantry cabinet wall, but decided against that because I figured it might be nice to have a bit of a counter, and by doing this it would make the space feel a little more open.

So I built a base out of 2×4’s and rested the first cabinet on top. I lined it up with the closet and then realized, I still had a foot of space behind it.

So we decided to frame a wall with 2x3s and use the leftover recess on the opposite side as a space to hold our coat rack. (more on this later)

Once the wall was framed, we installed the second cabinet to the 2×3 wall.

I used an oak stair tread, and q 1×2 oak board to fill the gap and create a sort of backsplash for the counter.

I used a 1/4 thick sheet of plywood to act as a side panel and secured it with 1x2s which also framed the front opening.

Next, I had about 13″ remaining on the right side of the cabinets, so I turned that space into cubbies/shelves to store baskets. I used 1x2s as shelf supports and then cut plywood down to size for the shelves.

I used 1x3s as the front face of the shelves and secured them with my nail gun.

Next, it was time for the Shiplap backsplash. I measured and cut my panels to size and installed them with brad nails, then Caulked and trimmed out any rough areas.