The idea of a designated pantry space blending both style and function has appealed to me since my earliest days of homemaking. Our first two houses had built in storage, whereas our last two homes have required some creativity. We have been in our current home for 19 years, so I definitely have put the most effort into creating and organizing storage space for our family here.
Throughout the years, like all families, our needs and desires have shifted. The changing seasons of life have brought about different priorities. For instance, when we first moved into our current home we had three small boys under the age of 6. The space that currently occupies our pantry was an open shelf in what was then the living room. The first few years here, I used the shelving for books.
A few years later, we took down the shelves and added hooks and beadboard-covered doors to hide the mess. We used the space to hang up our sweatshirts and light jackets. Thankfully, a few years later, we were able to add a year round porch/ mudroom to the back of our house which then housed all of our jackets and things.
A few years ago, I got the itch to turn the space into a pantry. By this time, we had torn down a wall and opened up our kitchen into the new dining room. It became one big kitchen space and it made sense to design a pantry to reflect the new area.
We carefully designed our new kitchen/dining area in a relaxed cottage style. One day, I asked my husband if we could please take down the hooks and add new shelving for a storage pantry. With three teenage boys at the time, this project definitely made sense.
At first, I just placed boxed and canned foods on the shelves and closed the doors so I didn’t have to look at it! That worked really well for quite some time. However, a few months ago my creative side kicked in and I found myself drawn to a pantry that could be both beautiful and practical. I wanted the area to feel organized and useful while still reflecting the relaxed cottage style of our kitchen and dining room.
So I went out to work on pulling this project together. With a little planning and preparation I really like how it turned out. The first thing I did was collect the glass jars I wanted to use. I decided on three different styles.
The top shelf has uniform, matching jars. Here is where I keep my rice and legumes. I display the items I use the most.
The second shelf has a mix of tall wide-mouthed mason jars and other pretty glass jars with glass tops. The foods stored here are: barley, coffee, cornmeal, popcorn, granola, oats, seeds, and nuts.
On the bottom three shelves are woven baskets lined up neatly. I have a variety of boxed/bagged pastas in the baskets on the third shelf. The baskets of the fourth shelf hold a variety of canned meats and extra bags of dried beans. On the last shelf I keep canned and dried fruits as well as chocolate chips. We like to assemble homemade trail mixes so this is handy.
On the floor I keep potatoes, onions and garlic in sturdy white containers. This may not be the prettiest look, but it is very practical and not as important visually as they are not eye level like the rest of the food is.
The last step to this process was adding decorative labels onto the jars. I found these labels here and they add just the right touch. This easy, inexpensive add-on definitely elevates the pantry and increases the cottage look I am going for.
There you have it, a welcoming and hardworking pantry that will benefit my family for years to come. These practical cottage-inspired touches have transformed a once unsightly space into an area I look forward to opening up and using. It has been fun for me reminiscing on the last 19 years in this house and the evolution of this small corner of our home. What about you? Do you have an area, or even an old cabinet that could be converted into a more beautiful, useful space that could bring just a little more joy into your days at home and in the kitchen?
Leave a Reply