The saga of our kitchen continues

Almost 4 years ago, Easter weekend to be exact, we demoed our kitchen. You'll be pleased to know that the kitchen was in fact (mostly) finished back in in 2005. But what we were unable to finish at that time, was our pantry.

We had opted not to demo that room to the studs as we had in the rest of the kitchen, and instead the walls had been covered with 1/4" drywall and a new light fixture put in. It was cleaned up, but not very functional(see photo). After that oh so long road to finishing our kitchen, we were weary and took a little break. Then came the 2nd floor and the summer of the wood pile. The pantry took the back burner.

Our kitchen was clean and functional, but we still had loads of stuff stored in the basement. We longed to be reunited with all our cooking instruments, pots and pans. I feel the same way about my books, most of which are as I write, stored in the basement awaiting the creation of built-in bookshelves.

I can't remember exactly when we started on the pantry project. I kind of dropped off on blogging around that time. I have a memory of staining the shelves in the basement in the fall maybe. Steve had to cut open the wall and add more blocking and then do some taping etc... And we had to find jusssst the riiiggghhht braaaccckkettts. These things take time you know.

Then came the holidays and our wedding. But in January, we got back to it. Steve worked outside in the cold like a trooper.


And now...it's mostly done! Just the bottom shelf and some trim remain to be finished.

Look at that- even a place for my beloved Dyson vacuum. At last!

Originally, we had planned to fit a pot rack in the pantry that would hang from the ceiling. This turned out to be a classic eyes bigger than actual space moment. It won't fit! So, we considered hanging it in the kitchen over the stove. Too cluttery for us.

So now, we have decided to add a few more cabinets. One over the fridge and a double door over the stove. Then, we'll be done with our kitchen. Until we decide to redo the counter tops. I really want soapstone...

Sticking Points

It is inevitable that one gets stuck on occasion. Sometimes you are waiting on materials or perhaps you sprain your ankle- things happen.

In this case, we've run into a bit of a problem with our pantry project. Nothing disastrous, but just one of those things that you have to problem-solve.

It started when we decided to put the microwave in the pantry. After all, who wants to look at a microwave in a more period style kitchen? Plus, they are space hogs and only used (by us) to heat up leftovers or Steve's coffee, which he likes super hot.

We had ordered the same brackets that we used for the upstairs pantry from Vandyke's. We liked the design and the price was right. But then we realized that to fit the microwave on our shelving, the shelves would need to be deeper and subsequently the brackets larger. Fortunately Vandyke's takes returns.

To be exact, we need brackets that are 11"- 13" for the shelf support and about 9" for the wall mounted part. Not easy to find as we have found. Or rather, not easy to find in a style we consider appropriate for the style of our home. In fact, I have found a definite shortage of arts and crafts style iron brackets on the market. Most are Victorian in design- you lucky Victorian homeowners!

We found two options during our rather extensive googling. One was an iron bracket in an Eastlake style from goantiques.com. This company says they may get more in October, but they will not give out a phone number- a red flag in my book. Not to mention how difficult it was to get a straight answer via email.

The other is solid brass and twice the price ($40/pair). The more I look, the more appealing these become.

Then, I found these from our friends over at Rejuvenation. They are $29 each and we need 16 of them!

Eastlake is not the most period appropriate for us of course, but for some reason we feel better about that style than more flowery Victorian.


Other than this issue with the brackets, things are moving along with the pantry. Here you see the cabinet grade 3/4" birch plywood we got for a steal at Owl Lumber because it was off size and they wanted to get rid of it. It's a shame to cover it up. In case anyone is wondering, we had to open up the wall to add more 2x4s and decided to add plywood for more support. We also added an outlet for the microwave.

Steve has been faithfully going to the wood shop and gluing up the shelves. They are now ready for me (the helper) to sand and stain them.


The plans are on the wall. This pantry has been planned out in great detail. When it comes to storage in our small home, we do not mess about.

I am very excited to finally have a place for my beloved Dyson vacuum cleaner and to be able to finally unpack the kitchen contents still stored in boxes in the basement.

And that is my way overdue pantry update!