So the day after Christmas we decided that we would bust a hole through our living room wall to build ourselves a new pantry. This is in the corner of our living room just off of our kitchen, and consists of what used to be the far depths of the girls' closet. It took about two weeks to finish, and cost more money to build than we expected, but it is finally (almost) done. All that is left is to paint the door and trim, and to try to do a better job with the scrap of carpet I have inside.
We decided to take a leap and buy Elfa shelving from The Container Store so that we would have something adjustable that could change with our needs--especially since we weren't exactly sure how we wanted to use the space. It hurts a little bit paying for it--The Container Store is not normally the most affordable place to shop--but with their current sale it was about the same as buying similar Rubbermaid shelving from Lowe's. This was my first time using the Elfa shelving and I was very impressed that from start to finish it only took 23 minutes to install--including reading the directions and running out to the garage for tools several times. You would think that when all I need is a drill, level, and screwdriver that I would be able to do it all with one trip.
Our old pantry has 12" deep shelves, so I was amazed at how much stuff we were able to fit on these 20" shelves--and as you can see we could fit a lot more in there with some skillful arranging or possibly additional shelves. We were able to move so much stuff out of our old pantry, that we are actually thinking that we might be able to turn it into a laundry room! At least a laundry room with storage shelves, instead of the pantry with a washer and dryer that it has been so far.
I'm impressed!!! I wish I were brave enough to punch holes in walls. I have lots of dead space in my house that would make wonderful closets and clear up some clutter.
ReplyDeleteI spent a lot of time on the phone with Dad whenever I ran into snags. It turned out pretty nice, but the drywall on my new wall could be better. Oh well, you have to learn somehow! My only regret is that if the door were one inch wider, I could have installed drawers along with the shelves. With what I have it MIGHT fit, but there would only be about 1/8 inch of clearance to the door jamb, which means everything would have to align perfectly for it to work (And very little in my home is aligned perfectly).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the secret to completing a project like this really is to bust a hole in the wall...then you HAVE to do it!
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