"My Painted Pantry"

Last week was Sherwin-Williams' National Painting Week. 

 

While I didn't get a chance to make it to Sherwin-Williams, by Friday I had the burning desire to paint something.  There is absolutely nothing like paint to completely transform a space with a few strokes of a brush and very little investment. 

 

Since the rain completely screwed up my original plan for Friday afternoon gardening (more on that later this week), I decided to tackle an indoor project instead.  A quick visit to Lowe's and a stop by the "oops" paint shelf (It's the place where they stash all of the returned paints and sell them for a fraction of the original cost) yielded a quart of super fun aqua paint for $5.00.  Jackpot! 

 

 

 

 

Now, here comes the scary part.  To say that my pantry is a mess is a gross understatement.  It looks like the grocery store exploded, like it was hit by a category 5 hurricane.  Seriously.  I can't believe I'm even showing you before pictures.   

Told you it was bad.  Anyway, after removing the contents and throwing away all of the expired inventory,  I really wasn't left with all that much.

I had been thinking about painting the pantry for a while.  I figured maybe if it were "pretty" I would be more likely to keep it organized.  True or not, it was worth a try. 

After taking out the wire shelves, I realized that the brackets weren't nearly as easy to remove. I decided that it would be much easier to just tape them off and paint around them.

 

Since this was really an organizing project, I decided to call in reinforcement.  My friend Jennifer, of Pure and Simple Organizing made a number of recommendations.  First, she said that those wire shelves were a nightmare.  She suggested that I line them with cardboard. Now, because she's function and I'm fancy, I took that suggestion and crafted a similar (more fancy) option with blank canvas, leftover drapery fabric and spray adhesive. 

 

 



 

Simple enough.  I actually only made two liners since I knew I'd be storing more boxes than bottles on the top two shelves.

 

 

 

Jennifer also recommended that I NOT buy any organizational products (i.e. bins, containers, etc), until I had finished the project.  This would allow me accurately assess what I really need.  At her advice, I didn't go out to purchase anything until I knew what I needed. 

 

 

A late night run to Goodwill yielded three baskets that were prefect for storing loose items, at only $5.00 for all three!

 

 

I love the result. It makes me happy every time I open the door.  I also love that while the color scheme is bright and fun. It still ties in with my kitchen décor.

 

And there you have it.  A quick (four hours), cost effective ($10 plus tax) and easy way to update

your pantry or storage space.

 

 

 

P.S. Jennifer also recommended that I relocate my brooms/mop. They were making a bad situation worse.  Why didn't I think of that?  Thanks Jennifer!!!