I went to Joann's promptly and bought $78 worth of white lace.
Later when we discussed the project, he was teasing me about the old lady pantry and said, "Welcome to my Doily Closet," followed by a description of a conversation where a homeowner is giving a house tour and their guest asks where the pantry is.
Later when we discussed the project, he was teasing me about the old lady pantry and said, "Welcome to my Doily Closet," followed by a description of a conversation where a homeowner is giving a house tour and their guest asks where the pantry is.
"Oh, we had it converted," says the homeowner. "It's the latest in luxury. A closet lined in lace with only a chair for an old lady to sit in while she makes doilies."
"Dear, I can't see anything in here! It's too dark!"
"Hush up! Make that doily by Braille!"
And then the conversation got inappropriate.
So without further ado... Welcome to my Doily Closet!
Let's go through the process. Here it is Before. I couldn't find a damn thing in there, and I pride myself on being semi-organized. For the record, we left the door untouched, and the built-in spice rack in place for now. We have a tall, narrow cabinet next to the dishwasher and stove that would be perfect for a pull-out spice rack in the future, but for now, we have this.
Everything was just shoved in and I would take out what I needed from the front main shelf, the one here with all of the jars of tomato sauce on it.
When we started taking all of it out, I found quite a few treasures, like this box that I filled with weird candy that I gave Bean for our 6 year wedding anniversary, back in 2013. We follow the traditional wedding gift rules, and have done so every year.
The food that we tossed in the trash or donated included, but was not limited to: 4 different types of vinegar, two jars of pickles (nobody in our family eats pickles), rock hard marshmallows that we hid from our child and forgot about, sherry (what is that anyway?), pear tea that was purchased for a baby shower for my friend who had her daughter 7 years ago and never opened, candy canes that weren't used from our company Christmas party, stale taco shells, a five-pack of Bubble Yum from my 80's themed birthday party last year, Himalayan sea salt, a gravy packet, crushed pineapple, a half-used container of Ovaltine, and an unopened and expired container of almonds.
I don't even like almonds, but probably bought them because they are so healthy and everyone should eat more of them.
After throwing out the expired stuff and recycling as many jars as possible, I put together this container to donate. It included 5 bags of white chocolate chips, some Louisiana deep frying mix, and coffee filters. We don't drink coffee and have a Keurig.
The main problem with the pantry was the angle of the shelves, and the fact that those shelves each had a tall lip on the front which made losing things very easy. Even after we double checked, we found food hidden after Bean started ripping out the shelves.
Our little helper is learning how to work a broom.
We couldn't tell until it was all out, but it looks like they tried to spray paint something in this pantry at some point- either the walls or shelves, we have no idea.
Goodbye, disgusting wood!
I patched the holes and did some floating to even out the textures.
Then I primed and painted it the same color as our living room: Graphite by Restoration Hardware. Of course I had it color matched in Sherwin Williams Duration Home Matte. It was perfect for this because it was free since we already had it sitting in the garage.
I also got a little crazy and spray painted this gas line so it would look sweet for this poorly taken photo. I did also paint the trim, the same color that we are slowly converting all of the trim in our house: Buttermilk by Restoration Hardware, mixed in Sherwin Williams Proclassic Waterborne Semi-Gloss.
The dark pipe, gray walls, and creamy trim are what I want to look at all day long, in every room of my house!
Someday we will get there...
And here it is with the lace on the back wall. Boom. It's awesome.
I did go through a change of plans here. I wanted to save a few bucks, and when I first pinned the lace up on the wall to make a plan of attack, I noticed pretty finished edges that I thought would look nice running down each side wall. The lace covered about half of each wall, and I figured the pretty edges would show in between the shelves once they were installed.
I originally purchased a little over 7 yards. The back wall took about 3 yards, and I figured if I could get back that money by returning the difference, still have lace in the pantry, and have the project be less work, the combination of all of those factors would make me very happy!
The only issue was I had to take it back with my receipt and have them cut it for me, otherwise I couldn't get any money back. So I had to take out the pins, drive to the store with my kid, explain it to the lady, where she gave me a crazy look when I told her what I was doing with it, keep my kid from breaking the home decor items while she figured out how to process the return, and keep myself calm in the process. It was worth it because I got $49 back! So awesome.
My process was simple: pin up the lace along the top edges, then I used border adhesive (it comes in a quart at Sherwin Williams) and a mini roller, and just rolled the adhesive over the surface of the lace. The roller held enough of the glue that it just made the whole thing stick. Super easy!
To make sure the edges were crisp, I smooshed the adhesive into the corners, essentially gluing the lace onto the side walls and ceiling.
At this point, I realized that in my gusto, I hadn't paid much attention to the lace on the side walls being equidistant to each other, and they were definitely not even on each side. It was Thursday night, and I needed to be done with the lace by Friday so that we could install the shelves on Saturday morning.
So I changed the game plan again, and decided to go back to find more lace to apply to the side walls.
They didn't have the one with the pretty edge, so I gave up.
At this point, I was feeling like this project was slightly annoying for such a small space, but it was mainly the changing plans that was annoying. We would just have to stick with the back wall only, even though it would eventually be covered up with the shelving system.
At the end of the day, I got to try a new technique that I couldn't find any info about online, and basically made up the process for, and I would have a new organized pantry, with lace in it.
After it was dry, I used a sharp exacto knife to trim along all of the edges, using a ruler as a straight edge. When I peeled the lace away, it took a bit of paint with it, but nothing too crazy. This wallcovering is completely removable, and all you would have to do is touch-up the paint. Don't quote me on that, since I didn't try to remove the whole thing, but it peeled off very easily around the edges. Notice the random cord that it hid at the top- it comes out of the wall, then snakes along the top edge of the wall where it meets the ceiling. It
A few touch ups and it was looking sharp!
Soon enough Bean and his naked helper were installing the top rack of the Elfa shelving system. We put it in our Master Closets and loved how it's customized to our space. Also I had a coupon.
Top rack and side rails installed, ready to get the shelves and food back in!
I threw down some cork on the floor because the tile was gross and that tile stretches through the entryway, hallway, kitchen, and breakfast nook so it will be a big project when we decide to change it out.
Here's the after, with all of the food back in!
My favorite thing is the drawer system with a huge compartment for recycling, then there's a snack drawer for Abby to start getting her own snacks, and a drawer for sandwich ingredients.
Then from bottom to top, I have our dry goods containers (new labels coming soon!), cereal and other random ingredients, chicken stock and pasta sauce and pancake mix, and then two more shelves of random stuff. The main thing for me is that I have the flexibility to change it around when our needs change and I can also keep it looking as neat as possible, and organize it like a store. I love that the lace is still semi-visible behind some of the containers, so it's subtle.
We are thinking of doing the lace technique in another space in the future. Bean says he wished the lace wasn't a floral pattern, which is funny because when I went back to try and re-purchase the lace to do the side walls, I found an awesome lace with a more rustic/straight chevron pattern that made me think of the feathers on an arrow. I loved it, and I knew he would have preferred something like that. I'm eyeing the dining room, where I already plan to paint the wood paneling navy, and was considering wallpaper in the top panels, but this lace idea will be much easier in the long run!
I love how organized we can be with this new pantry. I forgot to mention that we also added motion sensor battery powered lights that turn on when we open the door and shut off 30 seconds or 1 minute later.
After the hallway project made such a big difference, we decided to keep going on our journey and just do whatever project is calling to us at that time- every inch of this house will be done eventually!
For now we are debating between the laundry room, the back hallway (that's in the lead because it's mainly paint), Abby's current bathroom, or her future big-girl room. The kitchen and dining room combo is a juicy project that we can't wait to dive into but it is so big that it will be a couple of years before we are ready. I'm planning some #TBT posts to showcase our Master Bedroom and Bathroom remodel that we did over a year ago and I never posted, plus the nursery, living room, and game room. I hope you enjoy reading about these projects as much as I love doing them and writing about it!
Let's go through the process. Here it is Before. I couldn't find a damn thing in there, and I pride myself on being semi-organized. For the record, we left the door untouched, and the built-in spice rack in place for now. We have a tall, narrow cabinet next to the dishwasher and stove that would be perfect for a pull-out spice rack in the future, but for now, we have this.
Everything was just shoved in and I would take out what I needed from the front main shelf, the one here with all of the jars of tomato sauce on it.
When we started taking all of it out, I found quite a few treasures, like this box that I filled with weird candy that I gave Bean for our 6 year wedding anniversary, back in 2013. We follow the traditional wedding gift rules, and have done so every year.
The food that we tossed in the trash or donated included, but was not limited to: 4 different types of vinegar, two jars of pickles (nobody in our family eats pickles), rock hard marshmallows that we hid from our child and forgot about, sherry (what is that anyway?), pear tea that was purchased for a baby shower for my friend who had her daughter 7 years ago and never opened, candy canes that weren't used from our company Christmas party, stale taco shells, a five-pack of Bubble Yum from my 80's themed birthday party last year, Himalayan sea salt, a gravy packet, crushed pineapple, a half-used container of Ovaltine, and an unopened and expired container of almonds.
I don't even like almonds, but probably bought them because they are so healthy and everyone should eat more of them.
After throwing out the expired stuff and recycling as many jars as possible, I put together this container to donate. It included 5 bags of white chocolate chips, some Louisiana deep frying mix, and coffee filters. We don't drink coffee and have a Keurig.
The main problem with the pantry was the angle of the shelves, and the fact that those shelves each had a tall lip on the front which made losing things very easy. Even after we double checked, we found food hidden after Bean started ripping out the shelves.
Our little helper is learning how to work a broom.
We couldn't tell until it was all out, but it looks like they tried to spray paint something in this pantry at some point- either the walls or shelves, we have no idea.
Goodbye, disgusting wood!
I patched the holes and did some floating to even out the textures.
Then I primed and painted it the same color as our living room: Graphite by Restoration Hardware. Of course I had it color matched in Sherwin Williams Duration Home Matte. It was perfect for this because it was free since we already had it sitting in the garage.
I also got a little crazy and spray painted this gas line so it would look sweet for this poorly taken photo. I did also paint the trim, the same color that we are slowly converting all of the trim in our house: Buttermilk by Restoration Hardware, mixed in Sherwin Williams Proclassic Waterborne Semi-Gloss.
The dark pipe, gray walls, and creamy trim are what I want to look at all day long, in every room of my house!
Someday we will get there...
And here it is with the lace on the back wall. Boom. It's awesome.
I did go through a change of plans here. I wanted to save a few bucks, and when I first pinned the lace up on the wall to make a plan of attack, I noticed pretty finished edges that I thought would look nice running down each side wall. The lace covered about half of each wall, and I figured the pretty edges would show in between the shelves once they were installed.
I originally purchased a little over 7 yards. The back wall took about 3 yards, and I figured if I could get back that money by returning the difference, still have lace in the pantry, and have the project be less work, the combination of all of those factors would make me very happy!
The only issue was I had to take it back with my receipt and have them cut it for me, otherwise I couldn't get any money back. So I had to take out the pins, drive to the store with my kid, explain it to the lady, where she gave me a crazy look when I told her what I was doing with it, keep my kid from breaking the home decor items while she figured out how to process the return, and keep myself calm in the process. It was worth it because I got $49 back! So awesome.
My process was simple: pin up the lace along the top edges, then I used border adhesive (it comes in a quart at Sherwin Williams) and a mini roller, and just rolled the adhesive over the surface of the lace. The roller held enough of the glue that it just made the whole thing stick. Super easy!
To make sure the edges were crisp, I smooshed the adhesive into the corners, essentially gluing the lace onto the side walls and ceiling.
At this point, I realized that in my gusto, I hadn't paid much attention to the lace on the side walls being equidistant to each other, and they were definitely not even on each side. It was Thursday night, and I needed to be done with the lace by Friday so that we could install the shelves on Saturday morning.
So I changed the game plan again, and decided to go back to find more lace to apply to the side walls.
They didn't have the one with the pretty edge, so I gave up.
At this point, I was feeling like this project was slightly annoying for such a small space, but it was mainly the changing plans that was annoying. We would just have to stick with the back wall only, even though it would eventually be covered up with the shelving system.
At the end of the day, I got to try a new technique that I couldn't find any info about online, and basically made up the process for, and I would have a new organized pantry, with lace in it.
After it was dry, I used a sharp exacto knife to trim along all of the edges, using a ruler as a straight edge. When I peeled the lace away, it took a bit of paint with it, but nothing too crazy. This wallcovering is completely removable, and all you would have to do is touch-up the paint. Don't quote me on that, since I didn't try to remove the whole thing, but it peeled off very easily around the edges. Notice the random cord that it hid at the top- it comes out of the wall, then snakes along the top edge of the wall where it meets the ceiling. It
A few touch ups and it was looking sharp!
Soon enough Bean and his naked helper were installing the top rack of the Elfa shelving system. We put it in our Master Closets and loved how it's customized to our space. Also I had a coupon.
Top rack and side rails installed, ready to get the shelves and food back in!
I threw down some cork on the floor because the tile was gross and that tile stretches through the entryway, hallway, kitchen, and breakfast nook so it will be a big project when we decide to change it out.
Here's the after, with all of the food back in!
My favorite thing is the drawer system with a huge compartment for recycling, then there's a snack drawer for Abby to start getting her own snacks, and a drawer for sandwich ingredients.
Then from bottom to top, I have our dry goods containers (new labels coming soon!), cereal and other random ingredients, chicken stock and pasta sauce and pancake mix, and then two more shelves of random stuff. The main thing for me is that I have the flexibility to change it around when our needs change and I can also keep it looking as neat as possible, and organize it like a store. I love that the lace is still semi-visible behind some of the containers, so it's subtle.
We are thinking of doing the lace technique in another space in the future. Bean says he wished the lace wasn't a floral pattern, which is funny because when I went back to try and re-purchase the lace to do the side walls, I found an awesome lace with a more rustic/straight chevron pattern that made me think of the feathers on an arrow. I loved it, and I knew he would have preferred something like that. I'm eyeing the dining room, where I already plan to paint the wood paneling navy, and was considering wallpaper in the top panels, but this lace idea will be much easier in the long run!
I love how organized we can be with this new pantry. I forgot to mention that we also added motion sensor battery powered lights that turn on when we open the door and shut off 30 seconds or 1 minute later.
After the hallway project made such a big difference, we decided to keep going on our journey and just do whatever project is calling to us at that time- every inch of this house will be done eventually!
For now we are debating between the laundry room, the back hallway (that's in the lead because it's mainly paint), Abby's current bathroom, or her future big-girl room. The kitchen and dining room combo is a juicy project that we can't wait to dive into but it is so big that it will be a couple of years before we are ready. I'm planning some #TBT posts to showcase our Master Bedroom and Bathroom remodel that we did over a year ago and I never posted, plus the nursery, living room, and game room. I hope you enjoy reading about these projects as much as I love doing them and writing about it!
2 comments:
Don't know where you got your creativity and energy from, but I love it!! And naked carpentry could become a thing .... The pantry looks great! Know you are happy with it
I enjoy your blog. Your style of writing and photos are informative, entertaining, and motivational.
Post a Comment