Kitchen and Pantry

Here are the updates to the kitchen and pantry. 

The cabinetry was professionally built and installed along with the quartz counters.  I did however come up with the design and layout. The only other thing I really did was the backsplash. 

Since the original pantry was so uneventful, I did not really get a great before picture. This one is the best one I have which shows the shelving removed and the flooring installed. I started by taping my layout on the floor and walls to get a feel for how much depth is needed to make it still functional. 

My next task was to remove the small light fixture and replace it with a recessed light along with 2 additional recessed lights for a nice bright pantry. 

 

I then began to build the base boxes. I used a 3/4 melamine so that I had a stronger surface than just paint. I built the boxes in a way to allow for future drawers at the top and cupboards with pull-out shelves on the bottom. 

I then began to build the upper shelves. I did not want a lot of holes so I made the shelves permanent. I also tried to make them a little lighter by placing braces in the back rather than a full piece on the block wall. In hindsight, I would have preferred to put a full back piece on as I would have looked much better. It had to be at least 1/2" thick in order to have enough strength to secure it to the wall. 

I ordered this door on amazon and it came in slats and I had to assemble the door. The product turned out great. I love the door. 

I also added three additional  20 amp outlets in order to allow for additional appliances to be used in the pantry. 

I then began to add pine face frames to the cabinets along with a simple flat crown molding on the top 

I then went through and caulked all of the interior corners to make it look seamless, then added a background wall paper to add some color. 

The countertops were two butcher block counters from Home Depot seamed together. Since I made the cabinets slightly shallower than the standard 24" in order to make the space not feel cramped, I had to cut them down to allow for a 1" overhang. The cut edge is toward the wall. 

 

The last step was to add the tile backsplash which matches the kitchen backsplash to tie the two spaces together. 

 

I will eventually add some additional details on the lower cabinets including drawers and pull-out cupboards, but for now the space works great and Sheree loves the additional space for the additional appliances. 

What we love: The countertop space allows us to keep our kitchen counters free from clutter and its great to just shut the door when its a mess. 

What I would do differently: I used a water-based polyurethane on the butcher block which turned out nice; however, somehow when the kids have buttered their toast, grease stains have appeared. I would have preferred to use the original quartz counters that we used in the kitchen. Because we have the toaster, and air fryer, It would be nice to have a vent system in there to pull out any smoke. It would not be hard as the left wall butts against the garage.