Open Shelving Pantry

We re-did our entire kitchen for under $3500 – see all of the amazing before & after pictures here!

DIY open shelving pantry:

I am beyond excited to share my open shelving pantry with you – because it means our kitchen is finally being put back together!  We have been working on this kitchen remodel since November, and I am dying for it to be over!  I cannot wait to share the full kitchen reveal once it’s finished!  In the meantime, I share all of my updates on Instagram (follow my feed and then look at #christinaskitchenremodel for all of my previous pictures of the project)

Let me first tell you that our pantry started out in a coat closet (in a room adjacent to our kitchen).  It worked for a few months, but it was far from pretty.  Then I moved my refrigerator to that coat closet (another post for another time) and decided to make my pantry beautiful.  I wanted it to not only be functional, but serve to add personality and style to our small kitchen.

We definitely did not have a big budget for this pantry – so it took some time and creative thinking. 

The pantry consists of two big elements: the shelving and the contents.

Let’s start with the shelving (affiliate links included for your convenience)

I wanted to keep the shelves streamlined and simple.  I originally found my inspiration in Holly’s kitchen makeover, and decided I wanted shelves like these.  I bought pine boards from Home Depot and had them cut the boards down to size.  I then took them home and stained them with my new favorite stain:

It’s called “weathered oak” and it has a very Restoration Hardware-ish feel.  I then finished them with finishing wax instead of polyurethane. 

Next came the time to choose brackets.  Ugh.  This was so hard for me!  Did you know that brackets tend to be very expensive??  I had no idea!  After much deliberation and frustration, I ended up getting brackets from IKEA (no longer sold – sad!) I am so glad I made this choice – I love the clean lines, and since they were $6 a piece, it was a really reasonable purchase.  Plus, I got to take Isaac to IKEA for the first time, and an excuse to eat swedish meatballs is always fun!

We measured the appropriate heights for the shelves, and attached them to the walls.  We used molly bolts where we just went into the drywall, and wood screws where we hit studs.

Now that the shelves were in place, it was time to figure out how I was going to organize/style them!

I spent almost two months picking out reasonably priced glass containers at all different stores.  I found the best deals at IKEA, Zulily & Ross. 

The one in the middle is part of a set from IKEA, the jar on the left is from Ross, and the container is part of a set from Zulily:

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These are from Ross:

(I wasn’t kidding when I said I eat a LOT of steel cut oats!  Here’s my favorite recipe)

Here’s some great options for glass jars you could buy online:

Obviously having a hodge podge of different containers can look sloppy, so it’s nice to have something to tie them together.  I bought these labels on Etsy, and love how they bring everything together:

I didn’t label every jar – I just labeled our staple items.  I wanted to flexibility to switch things in and out of some of the unlabeled jars too.

Now, obviously I was not going to put peanut butter and canned goods on display.  Because that’s just ugly.  So I decided it would be a fun twist to use a dresser (handed down to us from a friend) for the things we didn’t want on display, but wanted easy access to.

The dresser is perfect for hiding these things:

I decided to put the “leftovers” of what didn’t fit into the glass containers in the bottom drawer of the dresser.

AND we happen to have shelving space at the top of our (scary) basement stairs (which is directly to the right of the dresser) that I’m using for our cans.  I could’ve easily put them in our drawers too, but this way I have extra space if needed.  It’s not pretty, but it’s functional!

Can I just tell you that I am in LOVE with this open pantry??  I couldn’t be happier with it!  Stay tuned for the rest of the kitchen makeover – I’ll give you a hint and let you know that those shelves will make another appearance somewhere else in the kitchen!

Like this post?  You’ll also like:

1.  14 Clever Kitchen Organization Ideas

2.  Planning Our Kitchen Remodel

3. DIY farmhouse kitchen remodel – all the before/after pictures