Hidden Potential: From Tiny Closet to Walk-in Pantry

Though it's not the biggest or fanciest renovation project we've done over the years, the one I love most is our kitchen pantry.

When we first moved into our home seven years ago, the pantry was just a converted coat closet, which even still had its hanging rod. It was tight...really tight.

For months my husband and I noticed that the walls surrounding the pantry went much deeper than the pantry itself. One cold Autumn day we drilled a hole through the wall of the adjacent laundry room to see if our hunch was right--sure enough, there was more than three extra feet behind the back wall of the coat closet/pantry. Leapin' Lizards! Needless to say, I was beyond excited.

I immediately started tearing down drywall and we were soon in the throes of our first renovation project as a married couple.

First, we came up with a plan that allowed for 12" shelving on the side wall and 16" shelving on the back wall. Here are the before and after layouts:

We pushed the back wall framing back more than 2 feet, leaving just enough room for the vertical air duct which {fortunately} wasn't right in the middle of the space. Along the way, my husband found a beer can left by the original builder, and replaced it with a Coca-Cola can bearing the 2008 Winter Olympics logo.

We also needed to shift the door over to one side to allow for additional shelving.  While daunting, this was a critical step because it provided us with the space we needed to add 12" deep shelves. Many thanks go to my amazing father-in-law, our "contractor", who took time out of a family visit to help reframe the wall and reposition the door!

Since we were going from a tiny closet to a walk-in pantry, we wanted to add a light fixture and switch. We also included an outlet inside the pantry for rechargeable gadgets. My darling husband and his father handled the wiring, using instructions from Wiring A House by Rex Cauldwell, while I found an amazing deal on a light fixture from Lowe's. It's nothing fancy--and it originally had a rust finish--but I couldn't pass up the $3.33 clearance price tag. Some oil rubbed bronze spray paint was all it needed.

After securing ClosetMaid wire shelves to two walls, we accented the third wall with a custom spice rack set in between the studs. It was a team effort--I built the box, and my husband built the shelves.

I can't wait to share photos of the space all nicely organized.