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Pantry Makeover {Before}

We are still love, love, loving the new house. We could not be more thrilled to be in this new area and in our new space! We are finding new restaurants, stores, and places to explore every day. Our weekends have been filled with projects, shopping, and decorating. And yes, there have even been quite a few a late-night online impulse buys, lol! But thankfully I’ve been pretty happy with most of them. :) Even though most of the rooms are pretty empty since we decided not to bring any of our old furniture with us, we have now added a few things that have finally started to make our house feel like home.

And I’m happy to say that one of those things is a PANTRY!! :) You may remember this photo from when we first moved in of our makeshift baker’s rack pantry. We had to use this rack from the garage because one of the things our new house was missing was a pantry!

*Note: Realtor photo. This is not my furniture!

See this little door right off the kitchen? Wouldn’t that make the perfect spot for a pantry? When I was looking at the MLS photos of the house, I thought for sure this was the pantry.

Paint Color Check: Sherwin Williams Virtual Taupe.

From Laundry Room to Pantry Remodel {Before Pictures} www.kevinandamanda.com

Guess again! It was a laundry room! And it was a beautiful, perfectly nice laundry room. It had nice large cabinets, lots of space, and a huge sink big enough for Miley and Howie to take a bath in. It was full of potential. But… wouldn’t this be the perfect spot for a nice, walk-in pantry? :)

From Laundry Room to Pantry Remodel {Before Pictures} www.kevinandamanda.com

So…. We moved it! We’re turning this into a pantry! :) We moved the laundry room one room over to a little room near the garage entryway. We saved the cabinets and the sink and everything and definitely plan to reuse them. They’re actually already set up and functioning again, so I do have a working laundry room, lol!

From Laundry Room to Pantry Remodel {Before Pictures} www.kevinandamanda.com

After a little touch up paint we were ready to roll on our pantry project!

Paint Color Check: Sherwin Williams Basket Beige.

From Laundry Room to Pantry Remodel {Before Pictures} www.kevinandamanda.com

I really wanted a professional organizer / pantry designer to come in, look at my space, and tell me what I needed. I could’ve just put up shelves, but I wanted something a little more special for such a nice space. But I had no idea who to call or what companies in my area even did something like that. We don’t have a Container Store here! And I didn’t know anyone here who’d done something like this before, so I really didn’t know who to call or have anyone to ask for recommendations. That’s where HomeAdvisor stepped in. HomeAdvisor offered to help us with our pantry project and help us find a trusted, screened, and approved professional for our project in exchange for sharing our experience with them.

HomeAdvisor is a free service that will help you find trusted home improvement professionals in your area that you might want to hire to come in and do a project for you. They have all kinds of categories of professionals to choose from who have not only been screened and approved by HomeAdvisor, but also reviewed and ranked by homeowners just like you who have hired them.

From Laundry Room to Pantry Remodel {Before Pictures} www.kevinandamanda.com

When I first logged on to the HomeAdvisor site, I really had no idea what I was looking for, so I just typed in closet. And here’s what came up. Aha! Install Room or Closet Organizer! Yes, that is what I want to do!

From Laundry Room to Pantry Remodel {Before Pictures} www.kevinandamanda.com

I clicked on Install Room or Closet Organizer and it gave me lots of options to choose from. Walk in closet, kitchen pantry, and it even asked me what I wanted in my pantry. Shelves? Baskets? Drawers? Want recommendations? Yes! THAT is what I want. Someone to come in a make a recommendation!

I chose all the options I wanted and HomeAdvisor searched their database to match me with a professional pantry designer and installer in my area.

From Laundry Room to Pantry Remodel {Before Pictures} www.kevinandamanda.com

They matched me with Wilson Lumber, the company who had received the highest rating from other HomeAdvisor users. That weekend we took a little trip down to their showroom just to check things out. As soon as we walked in we saw gorgeous example closet setups galore! I knew we were in the right place. I had no idea we had something like this right in our area! Everyone we talked to was extremely friendly, helpful, and just all around great people. You could tell they really loved what they were doing, and this wasn’t just a job for them. Now I understood why they had received such a glowing review on HomeAdvisor. They said they could come out that very next Monday and give us an estimate on our pantry. When our designer came out she carefully looked over everything I would need to store in the pantry. She brought samples of all the different types of shelving they had available so we could hold it up in my house and see which one matched the best. She took lots of measurements and and wrote down dimensions. By Wednesday she emailed me three different pantry plans with lifelike 3D models and price quotes. I was super impressed. We loved what she came up with, and after a few tweaks back and forth, we had our final pantry plan.

I was so excited when they called to set up the install appointment. They said they could come the very next morning. They came on Monday, arrived promptly at the time they said they would, and were in and out and all cleaned up in two hours. I’ve been working this week on getting the new pantry stocked and organized, and I can’t wait to share the “After” photos with you! :)

Stay tuned… I’ll keep you posted! :)

UPDATE: Click HERE to see the “After” photos!!!

 

Can you see the pantry up there?? ;)

 

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35 Responses
  1. Kim G.

    I absolutely LOVE your before and after pics of room decorating/remodeling!! I get so excited when I see a new email alert :)

  2. Tricia Richner

    Woah, am I the only one freaking out that you are ditching a great laundry room with a sink for a pantry. Why not put food in the tons of cabinets in the kitchen. Sorry to be a doubter. . .but I’m really curious how this is gonna turn out.

  3. Holly Waterfall

    Such a Tease!!! I can’t wait to see it, and I kept scrolling and reading faster so I could see it, and then it wasn’t there! Hurry up and post the reveal… i LOVE pantry overhauls.

  4. Rachel @ Following In My Shoes

    Oh, THIS is genius … I can’t wait for more pictures so I can show my husband! This might be the solution for us too.

  5. Shaina

    Wow. I can’t wait to see what you did. That space had such great potential for a pantry closet. I know it’s going to be gorgeous.

  6. Thesha

    Thanks for the tip to use HomeAdvisor, we recently moved into a new home, in a new state and we are struggling to find everything…too bad it can’t lead us to home décor and home furnishing stores. Sigh…oh well, I can’t wait to see your finished product. You have a beautiful home!

  7. Sharon B.

    Now that is clever to move your rooms around and create a pantry there. That door IS meant to lead to a pantry! I’m squinting to try to see the new pantry in that teaser of yours! :) Post it SOON! haha – Can’t wait. :) Sharon

  8. ~*kristi*~

    *sigh* I should have gone to school to be a professional organizer LOL This excites me more than your food posts!! :P I can’t believe you’re making us wait to see the after!! Your new home is so beautiful, I’m jelaous. I’m stuck in a one bedroom apartment and dream of a day when I might own a home :) Can’t wait to see the after photos!

  9. Jen Chace

    Sneaky – I was so excited to see what you had done… LOL I can hardly wait. Your new home is beautiful. Know you are having great fun with it… Jen

  10. Mary Ann

    Loved your exciting article and can’t wait to see your new pantry!!
    I am sure it will be awesome!!
    Hugs and “happy designing” in your fabulous new home!!!

  11. Southern Gal

    It looks fabulous from what I can see. Any pantry that size would be fabulous to me! And it’s great you could move the laundry room to another area. Can’t wait to see the finished project.

    1. Becca

      Why do I keep getting emails that are linked to my comment here, from WORD PRESS?
      ANY IDEA?? I have them sent to my spam folder because they are just gibberish!
      Thanks

  12. Mary F Brown

    Amanda, you are so clever and fun. Only you can make wanting to see a pantry makeover so exciting. Thanks again for brightening my morning!!!

  13. jane crawford

    You are so mean!!! Can’t wait to see the new pantry. I’m sure that I will be jealous that you have a new, organized walk-in pantry!!!

  14. Anele @ Success Along the Weigh

    I’ll be honest, I’m glad you moved it. I don’t get it when they put a laundry room practically in the kitchen (or I have seen some washers and dryers in the kitchen under cabinets!) All that lint potential close to food, no thanks. I can’t wait to see the finished product, I know it’ll be awesome!

  15. Lori @ RecipeGirl

    This is super exciting! We are in the process of buying a new house, and I can’t remember if there is a pantry!! Isn’t that crazy?! I have a feeling we’re going to have to get creative on a few things and think like you’re thinking. Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

  16. Julie @ Table for Two

    Ahhh, I can totally see a bit of it through the opacity. I LOVE the curvature to the shelving. Omg, I can’t wait to see pics of it :) :)

  17. Barb

    What a great idea! We need to see the new laundry now, too, please! I can’t wait to see the pantry. Hurry and get it done! LOL!

  18. TidyMom

    no fair!!! you’re such a tease Amanda! lol

    Can’t wait to see! how many people have a window in their pantry! I bet it’s amazing!!

  19. Averie @ Averie Cooks

    Wow…can’t wait to see it! I bet it’s totally amazing and even just that rack you have with stuff on it…I need that. Urban condo living for us = no storage space. It’s a literal hodgepodge. I keep stand mixers in my coat closets :)

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Kevin and Amanda

We love to travel and to eat! Here we share our favorite quick and easy recipes, plus travel tips and guides for our favorite places around the world. If you have any questions about what camera I use or how I edit my photos, check out my photography tutorials.

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