PANTRY!

I'm so excited to announce that we finally have a pantry!  It's only taken, oh, a few months.  The outside has been done for probably two months now.  However, I was hung up on the shelves (no pun intended).  At the beginning of the project, I bought these gorgeous maple melamine sheets that I wanted to use for the shelves.  However, these guys were big (4'x8'), and we didn't really have adequate tools to cut them down.  And I was determined not to have shelf brackets (which, based on the length of our shelves, honestly wouldn't have been possible).  So after a solid two months of listening to Noel say "Kirsten, just put in wire shelves, you'll be done in a day," I caved.  

I will say, the one thing I do really like about them is that they let light through, which lets you see everything in the pantry.  I was also astounded at how little we actually had to put in the pantry once all was said and done (granted, there are still a few baking supplies that we keep in the lazy susan in another cupboard).  I had a warm-fuzzy proud-of-us moment as I laughed at our empty pantry, and Noel goes "I don't think we'd ever have a full pantry because we basically eat no processed foods." That was followed by a "yay us" and a high five.  And then I momentarily felt dumb for building a pantry that was going to basically be empty.  

   

In reality, I'm so glad we built it.  It makes the awkward gap that used to be in the kitchen look SO much better, and the extra storage definitely is nice.  My favorite part about the pantry is being able to have a place to put all of the appliances we don't use on a daily basis.  And I'm in love with the fact that the Keurig is now off the counter and hidden away.  

    

I definitely wish that we would have finished this project a long time ago so we could have reaped its benefits for more than just a month or two, but here's to hoping our next home will have a stellar pantry (or at least a place to put one!).