| Deer Skye Quilt and Home Design

Apply a little creativity, a little planning, some of your design personality and a big dose of elbow grease to make a beautifully well thought out and designed pantry. Here are some useful ideas.

Start with a clean slate. Remove everything from your pantry.
Clean it well.Top to bottom. That means Swedish Death Cleaning.
You don’t need to spend a lot of money on containers. Get creative.
Take stock of your space. What do you want to store in your pantry?
Take stock of your space. What do you need to store in your pantry?
What would make your pantry the most efficient and easy to keep it clean in good order?
Be intentional about everything you place in your walk in pantry.
Add a chalkboard
Add your personality to this space.
Add some home decor to your pantry.
Make sure the in and out to your pantry is uncluttered and easy to access.
Add a stool or ladder if needed.
Create a spice rack out of a crate and metal corbels.
Use a hanging shoe rack into storage for canned goods and other items.
Add a rug.

After eight years of living in our home, we have begun remodeling our kitchen. I really want a wall in my kitchen without upper cabinets. However my hubby is resisting because he is worried that we won’t have enough places to hide all of our pots and pans, dishes, etc…So the light went on and an idea formed. Why didn’t I think of it sooner. I needed to organize and utilize my walk in pantry to its fullest!

In the process, I got pretty creative. I will share my ideas with you and you can take them and run with it in your walk in pantry. Tweak them to fit your space and to grace it and make it better. What do you do with a walk in pantry, here are several ideas just for you!

Clean Slate

Now just know that this might take a few days to whip your walk in pantry into shape. Start by removing everything. Everything! Take all the food, and pans out of your pantry. It is much easier to picture and plan what you need to do to make your pantry functional and beautiful at the same time.

Swedish Death Cleaning

This isn’t what it sounds like. You won’t die cleaning. You will clean thoroughly while getting rid of anything you don’t need or haven’t used for years. I bought some china when my husband and I married just like engaged couples do. Once, I pulled everything out of my walk in pantry, I started thinking, “Wait a minute!” I could downsize my plates and other kitchen items that I don’t use very much. My china was the first thing to go.

Truth be told I didn’t love it. I eventually will replace it but for now I have plenty of plates so I don’t need my china because I don’t love it and I don’t really use it much. Oh I could think of many reasons to keep it, tried to use sentiment as a reason but it didn’t fly because I really don’t like it that much. Out it went!

Back to the cleaning. Clean your pantry top to bottom. Wipe off shelves, sweep and mop floors. It is so much nicer designing a new space when it is clean and there is nothing in it! Throw out anything you don’t need or donate it to your local charity or thrift store. I promise it will be okay! I might mention that if you want to throw a layer of paint. on your pantry walls go for it! Maybe a new color or just plain white will add to your design.

Get Creative With Storage Containers

Look around your home and see if you have some baskets or containers you have sitting around your home that you can use to store food and kitchen items. I took a trip into my local dollar tree and found some simple popcorn containers, and white plastic baskets, along with a couple of square plastic baskets with handles on them. I had a wooden stool I picked up at my local thrift store Deseret Industries and painted it white. ( I was just looking for an excuse to use it.) Then distressed it a bit. I also found an old crate at my father in law’s home that I will turn into a spice rack kind of a trash to treasure project and I can’t wait to share the how to’s with you. You can use canisters, no. 10 cans, even laundry baskets.

Side note my canisters I will redo in a plaster type vibe. I will paint them with white paint mixed with cornstarch for a beautiful smooth plaster look rather than the shiny glossy look they have now.

Pantry List Of Wants

What do you want to put in your pantry? Want being the keyword! Your pantry will look different than mine of course. For example, we eat more fresh and frozen veggies than canned. I also have a food storage room downstairs with more canned goods so if I run out of something I can shop my own food store in my basement so to speak. Always good to have some extra on hand. What do you initially want in your pantry?

What you want to put in your pantry will determine how you organize it. So put some thought into this. My main sugar and flour are stored in large containers in my pantry. I have a main shelf that I store these on that are easy to get to because I use these two staples often.

Decide what you will put in your walk in pantry. You want to keep a clean spacious feeling if possible. I had to move a lot of extra boxes and house tools that had accumulated in my pantry over the years. I also moved my ironing board back into the laundry room which is fairly small but I can hang it on my wall if I have to.

Make a basic list. Not a real in depth list but enough to know what you need to store in your pantry.

What Do You Need To Store?

You know the difference between needs and wants right? We just tackled what you want in your pantry. Let’s talk about what needs to go in your walk in pantry. Consider your kitchen and its cupboard space. I put a few things in my pantry that will help my kitchen remodel. I don’t have a lot of cupboard space and I needed to help free up some cupboard space so I used some hooks I found at my local Walmart to hang my pans in my pantry. That’s right. I think my pantry was originally a tiny tiny mudroom however I needed a pantry more than a mudroom so I converted it.

How much room do you have in your kitchen for storing platters, extra kitchen appliances like a wheat grinder (I know not your typical kitchen tool however, you can substitute crock pot, kitchen aid whatever takes up a lot of space if you don’t use a grinder to make bread.) I don’t like kitchen appliances on my counters. So this was a good place for me to store a few appliances.

I like a certain type of flour because it is the best for making bread. Lehi Roller Mills Turkey Flour. Where I live is a bit remote and on the country side which I love however I have to sometimes buy online or in bulk when I go to the big city to stock up. So one of my needs was to use some of my pantry space to store platters, pans, and my large flour and sugar containers as well as flour and wheat.

Take stock of what items you need to store along with the food that you need to store in your pantry. What would compliment your kitchen storage? What would make it easy for you to grab and cook dinner? This is what you should consider when you plan what you will put where in your walk in pantry.

Make It Efficient

The whole point of having a pantry is to make your life easier RIGHT???? You want to arrange and plan your pantry in such a way that you can easily determine what you have, what you need to replace, then keep it clean and stocked. Look at your shelves and decide what you will put where. Make sure you organize and label your containers if you need to so you know right away what is in each one. No clutter allowed!

Be Intentional

Everything you place in your pantry needs to have a reason to be there. So it should have a place. You know that saying, “A place for everything and everything in its place.” At least I think that it is the saying. Each can of food, each kitchen appliance, cookie cutter, whatever, needs its very own spot so make sure it should be in there. This will take a bit of work and planning. It will be rewarding and worth it when you finish! With everything out of your pantry, it should make it easier to place things back in your pantry and will help you to be intentional because you will want it to look and be polished and organized!

Chalkboard

Adding a chalkboard to your pantry is a really smart idea! You can keep track of what you use and run out of so you can replace it the next time you go grocery shopping. Add menus to your board and this could keep you really efficient not to mention the added fun look to your pantry. With your chalkboard, you can “chalk” it up to decor because it can help dress up your walk in pantry space. Get creative.

My simple chalkboard was made using a board from a bookcase and sprayed with black chalk paint. I hung it on the wall with command strips. Very simple but chic!

Add Personality To Your Space

Be you in designing your pantry. Add some of your personality in the way you organize and the way you put your pantry together. White says clean but you can add a splash of color if you want to. What makes this space sing to you? Put a piece of art work on a shelf or a wall if you have room. Even hang it on the inside of the door. The little touches make a space uniquely yours so put your touch on this space and make it work for you.

I have seen wreaths hung on a shelf in a pantry and I love that look! Also hang a sign that you love or just a sign to say pantry. A sign could help elevate the look of your space.

Home Decor Makes It Beautiful

I know your pantry is behind closed doors but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make it a beautiful space. Add a wreath, like I mentioned a painting or drawing, chalkboard, vase of faux flowers, even your containers can provide decor. Just a touch makes it look like an inviting space. If by chance you have a window in your pantry, you can use curtains or shutters to add to your decor.

Uncluttered Access

My pantry is unusual in that it has two entrances. As small as it it, there are two doors in my pantry. Make sure you keep the entrances and exit to your walk in pantry which is most likely only one entrance, uncluttered and easy to access. You don’t want to be tripping over yourself as you run in and out getting dinner last minute.

Stool or Ladder?

How tall are your shelves? Do you need to install one of those adorable sliding library ladders? You see them in a lot of magazines in kitchens and in offices. Maybe you should consider having one if your shelves are very tall.

Or if a small step stool is all you need, you could diy a stool or purchase one. Then when you need a step up, you will have it available and at the ready. Leave an open space under your shelves to slide your stool underneath. Then it has its own spot and you will know where it is whenever you need it.

Crafty Spice Rack

Old wood catches my eye. What can I say. I am always bringing home pieces of wood or things that are rusty. I guess because old things have what I call character. So when I saw an old aged crate sitting outside my father in law’s home by the garage laying on top of a small wood pile it spoke to me.

I decided to bring it home. It hung on my wall by my back door for awhile until my husband accidentally knocked it off the wall carrying a big beam from the ceiling we are remodeling out the door. I loved the display I had sitting in it now destroyed and lying on the floor however! Out of trials come good things right?

I had a new idea for this old crate. A new life for this old hunk of wood.I had been wanting a special place to put all of my spices. I was so tired of searching for the spice I needed for my recipes and since we are slowly remodeling my kitchen now was as good a time as any to create a new spice rack.

Here is how I made my spice rack.

First I white washed the aged crate which had aged a gray color.
I had 6 small metal corbels purchased from Hobby Lobby a while ago. I painted them with white chalk paint.
I painted thin wood shelving (glued 2 pieces of wood together for each shelf) again with white chalk paint.
I attached the metal corbels to each side of the crate with glue. I like Gorilla Clear Grip Glue.
Set Shelves on corbels. Secure with Gorilla Clear Grip Glue.
Add spices to your spice rack.

I put it on a shelf in my pantry while we remodel the kitchen. Then once the remodel gets done, I may find it a new home in the kitchen. For the first time in a lot of years I can find each spice easily and quickly. Don’t know why I didn’t do this a long time ago! It makes so much sense to organize your spices.

Hanging Shoe Holder

Sometimes creativity comes in the oddest of ways. My pantry is small so I have to utilize every inch of space. Then it came to me like a lightbulb turning on in my head, I should use a hanging shoe holder for canned goods, garbage bags, drinks, etc…Whatever you would like to store in it ,hang it on the backside of your pantry door. Instant organization.! You can dress it up with some lace or other trim if you like. I just knew I was looking for a white or cream colored shoe holder. It worked like a charm. Frees up shelf space and when you use an item from a pocket of the shoe holder replace it your next shopping trip. (Jot the item down on your chalkboard so you won’t forget.)

I like having my roll of garbage bags in a slot because it keeps it altogether so it doesn’t unroll in a box or get all over my shelf because those bags are slippery and sometimes hard to keep nicely put together. If you need to,( just an added tip), put an elastic rubber band around your roll of bags before placing in a pocket of the shoe bag.

Add Pizazz With A Rug

A rug can make any space cozy. I found a colorful one for my pantry in the most unlikely of places. Ace hardware! I decided it was just right and the price was around five bucks so even better! It is cushy and softens the space. Love how I feel when I walk into my organized, clean, and decorated pantry! Now it’s your turn. Get those wheels turning in your head and design a place just right for your walk in pantry space that you will love! I believe in you! You got this!

What Do You Do With A Walk In Pantry?