Kitchen Pantry is Finally Done

The Pantry, the little room off the kitchen, was a big selling point when we toured this house. It was full of cabinets and had a door on it that was ideal for storing platers and appliances, and tossing things I didn't want people to see while hosting. 

But, it was also an afterthought to the owners. The cabinets were shoe-horned in, the floor was still an ancient linoleum and the counter was clearly just remnants from another job, which was clear due to a big crack in one piece. But it had a door, so it was livable.  

I laid out the vinyl floor tiles when we first moved in five years ago. But they've since started to wiggle around on the floor. So a decision needed to be made, do I replace the moving tile pieces, or do we go for the renovation we've been putting off thanks to bigger projects. 

This pantry should have been done with the rest of the kitchen, but budgets got tight, so it became a phase 2. Well ... it was time to tackle it because another vinyl tile job wasn't worth the time and effort when the estimate was low for Andre, our contractor, to come in and do it. 

The design was pretty simple, since we wanted to match the kitchen: black hex tile floors and white subway tiles. Plus, a whiteish quartz counter to make it all bright. I liked the blue on the walls but decided I'd add beadboard paneling in white to bring in that colonial look. 

The cabinets were left as is. They're in fine shape. The one idea I was playing around with was removing a few top cabinets in favor of open shelving, but I'll put a pin in that for a few years. 

Here's the floor done, and my start on the paneling. It was a very simple project and I used a few scraps from the garage to make the beadboard look taller.

And ... voila!  

Here is the final results. YAY. It's brighter AND feels larger! I can't understand it but there seems to be more counter space. The quartz countertop has a bit of honey veining that compliments the cabinets really well. 

 And I really like how that paneling and that behind-the-door wall turned out. The pot hanger is a little lower than I initially wanted, but I like the way it turned out. 

Finally, Dave had one more idea .. 

The new door with the white frosted glass adds a little style to this corner. It's funny, because I always wanted to keep this door closed to hide this ugly, little room. But now, I like when this door is open and you can see into this pretty space. 

It feels so nice to have it complete, as it's been hanging out there undone for so long. 

We love this house, and these improvements just make it a more relaxing and pretty place to live.