Pondered Primed Perfected: pantry

Here goes the downstairs tour! Welcome to Our Home!!!

Some of this is a bit rough, but, I think you've been fairly warned.
I'm going to start at the front door and make notes about what we've done and what we hope to do as I go.

If you stick with me through this you deserve a glass of wine in the hot tub tonight! (That's going to be my reward to myself for getting this done!)

I apologize to those of you who have been hanging around for a bit. Sorry if some of this is repetitive.

We are so glad you came to visit. You have just entered our front door...

I love the deep color of this wood and the black iron scroll work mimics the dining chandelier and the wine rack ;)

On the wall directly to the right is my plain ole cork board with our friends and family photo display. Eventually I will figure out how I want to cover this board. I wanted to wait until I had a clear picture of what the downstairs color scheme would be. (Ahem, that cork board would be project #2. Sorry if I've confused you but #1 comes later).

***Note to Builders that care...it is not attractive or convenient to walk directly into a stairwell when you enter the front door.***

Once inside the front door you take a left and you will be "in" our mudroom. This feature was created when we put two tall vertical shelves along the wall and connected them with a board as a bench and added hooks. There are also pull out bins at the bottom for our shoes. Love this!!!

Because who wants to see everybodies shoes all over the floor?

Click on the photo above if you want to see the original post.

Do you see the open door to the left? That's our downstairs half bath...we'll go there next...

These are white painted, oak shelves. I have added four banana leaf baskets from Ikea ~ so each of us has a place for our miscellaneous belongings.

Not that we all put our things where we're supposed to! Ha, that would be a dream...

The mirror leaning there came from an antique mall in Oregon City. I don't believe it's actually antique, but it appears to be hand made. I purchased it just for this spot but haven't hung it yet (project #3) because I'm not convinced it is "right" here. Maybe it's just the predominance of white in this space. Or the mirror might be too busy. Maybe the color is just slightly off from the other white. I still need to put wainscot wall paper on the back of those shelves (project #4) and maybe add some color via paint (project #5). Once I have that done I can sew a cushion for the bench (project #6) and possibly those two little Ikea footstools that fit perfectly underneath (project #7).

When we have company there are plenty of seats!

Okay, off to check out the half bath...we've done a couple of updates in there already, but it's not easy to get a nice picture of such a tiny little room with no windows ~ don't expect a lot!

Let's see...
We replaced the builders' mirror with this beauty that we got from some friends. Thanks Andrew and Gina, you are so awesome! It came unfinished so I was able to stain it with the same stain I used on the lower sink cabinet. I stained the builder grade oak cabinets a rich brown. I didn't bother to take a before photo. I wasn't blogging about DIY then, so it didn't seem so important. ;) Scott added the granite counter top. It was a scrap piece that came from his boss. We installed the wall shelves so we could add a few accessories. We haven't really taken the time to do anything more in here. It's used for my preschool during the day so it takes a lot of abuse. You can't see in the picture, but we added some pale gray Italian ceramic tiles to the floor...the same tiles as in the laundry room and the upstairs bathrooms. The tiles were donated to us very generously by Scott's Sister and Brother-In-Law when they had leftover from their remodel. It just needs a new light fixture and maybe more colorful accessories...that's it! (project #8)

When you exit this bathroom you can take a left back into the main part of the house or a right into the laundry room.

We just finished redoing the laundry room too! I love this space. I haven't gotten backed up on the laundry yet. Just click on the photo below if you want to read more about it:

I almost forgot to mention, Scott wants to replace the window with a glass door...this would lead right to the poolside :)
(That makes project #9)

Now let's go back past the "mudroom" and I'll show you where we put the new pantry...right under the stairs! If you want to see more details on that pantry you can see that post by clicking on the photo below.

(Oh holler! I need to go shopping!)

This pantry is on the opposite wall from the "mudroom" space.

It took us about a month to completely finish this space. Scott did the built in shelving really quickly, but I wanted to make sure we planned enough space and ORGANIZED everything well, so it wouldn't just end up another huge mess. It's such a useful, organized space. It really has simplified our lives. We love the chalkboard grocery list and menu planner. All the kids know right where to go to grab a snack. I can check what ingredients I have with just a glance and know what I have to eat. What a dream!!! I hadn't realized how messed up our "pantry" space and storage situation had become. I still want to do something more interesting with the door and maybe make a fun "Corner Market" sign. (project #10)

Let's shut this door and just turn around...you'll find yourself in my craft room slash workspace. This room is my baby. (If you're getting tired ~ feel free to take a break. After all this blogging I feel like I need one too. Come back when you are ready...we'll still be here!

This room's been stripped down to bare bones. Tomorrow I'm going to be pushing that HUGE cabinet around. I want to play with the layout in here before doing anything else. Once I'm sure that cabinet is exactly where we want it ~ we will be doing some fun things to the wall above it (project #11).

But I'm not spilling the beans!

Oh, check out the floor! We scored this wood flooring when a family member was ripping it out of their home to be replaced with wide, dark, rough hewn plank. Jealous! We still had wall to wall carpeting from the front door to in here, so we jumped at the chance to bring this wood flooring home (nails and all) and install it. Scott helped with their demo and installation so they were more than happy to pass it on. We put it in ourselves using a pneumatic nail gun. Scott is so good about doing these projects with me. We started out removing the old nails. Eventually we grew weary and ended up just pounding them flush into the bottoms. Needless to say, it's a little bit squeaky. At least we know when Sadie is being sneaky...

To the left you can see back to the front door from here.
Oh, and Scott's temporary chalkboard wall is right there!

See my Ikea espresso leather sofa? I saved for that puppy for so long! I like that it's easily wiped down. There are so many sticky little fingers around here. I just wish the pillows didn't slip all over the place. Haha. And that little wooden end table, I have plans for that ~ it needs to be stained. (Project # 12)

This cabinet is the coolest ever. It houses all of my crafting and home office supplies. It still needs some trim work at the bottom (project # 13) and I'm hoping someday we can put a stained wooden countertop...if not metal (project # 14)
If you are interested in reading about this cabinet makeover just click on the photo above.

You can see one of the chalkboards we are working on above. You can special order these personalized from our ETSY SHOP.

And those lamps were a fun little project...I'll be putting some of those in our Etsy shop as well. If you want to see how easy they are to make, so you can do it yourself, just go HERE.

That bare window in the corner is (project # 15) and the bench beneath is waiting for some new upholstery (project # 16)

Two of my favorite things: White paint and the color green.

This is where the 1930's Vintage Radio Cabinet Mini Bar lives. Plllllllfffth. That was a mouth full.
It still needs casters attached to the bottom (project #17)

Click the photo above if you are interested in seeing what Scott did to turn this cabinet into a mini bar.

I made these fully lined curtains (in ivory burlap) to hang in front of the sliding glass door.
Otherwise, you can't see a thing if the sun is shining full force. These windows face south so the craft room and kitchen get an abundance of sunshine (if the sun makes an appearance, that is).
And the little green pie shelf can be found HERE.

In my kitchen I want to add: back splash (project #18), and some form of color to the backs of these open cabinets (project #19)

We painted the cabinets white over a year ago. It's something I had wanted to do since moving in. One day, right before Thanksgiving at our place, Scott said,

"Are you ready to paint the cabinets white?"

Can you guess what I said?

"Heck, YES!"

Now they need some touch up (project #20).

I seriously can hear the wine and hot tub calling my name now...

Also in this room we (read as I) want to paint over that "horrendous excuse for the color green" that is on the walls (project #21),

Refinish the counter tops (project # 22),

And add some type of decorative window treatment over the rolling blind (project #23).

Now pass through this opening into our little dining room. It really is quite small. Oh, the flooring in the kitchen and the dining room is peel and stick tiles. These are very dimensional and realistic looking and can even be grouted. We chose not to grout and just installed them flush with each other. They have held up quite nicely for as inexpensive as they were.

Our dining room:

The Chandelier was a hand me down and the shades were one of my favorite thrifty knockoff projects.

Click the photo below if you want to read more about them!

Hmmm, lets see....

The table and chairs were free and became a family project. We sanded, we sprayed, we painted we glazed, we poly'd and finally slip covered!

Click the photo below if you want to see more about this fun filled project!

That huge mirror on the wall actually came from our dresser upstairs. I dare say it might be a later project. I'm not counting it!!!

Those curtains aren't really curtains...yet. If you look closely you can see the raw edges and (sigh) strings. Kristi from A2D taught me about a well dressed window, so I decided that my white, wood-look blinds needed some dressing up. This is just a piece of fabric cut in half and clipped up there on some curtain rings. I wanted to live with it for a bit before doing anything more. I think I'll find a piece of coordinating fabric to make a wide band at the top or bottom so they run all the way to the floor? Tell me what you think! I haven't committed to anything yet and this fabric can be used for something else...say those ottomans under the bench in the entryway. :) (Oh yeah, that's project # 24)

Okay, turn around...we're almost done!

Through the arch is our living room. This is where we HANG OUT. Watch movies, play video games, do our homework and read. This room is really just comfortable and can use many improvements.

(See those semi-naked windows back there? They need some decorative treatments also. They are project # 25)

See that tripod lamp in the front left of the photo? If you want to see how it came to be, just click HERE.

That little camel sofa came from Craigslist...it's a sleeper. (That's project #26) It will be getting a new slipcover! Just as soon as I get up the nerve!!! Sheesh people...this stuff is nerve wracking! Why do you think I'm always drinking coffee, eating chocolate and dreaming about wine in the hot tub?

That adorable young man, he's actually project #1. He comes first! He's so cool and so fun. You'd love him! But don't challenge him to soccer, basketball or football.

(The carpet in this room is project # 27). I cannot stand wall to wall carpet. I can't be the only one. I run a preschool in our home. It gets a lot of traffic.

That black wire thingy there between the sofa and orange chair is project # 28). We found it on the side of the road. It won't stay here in this spot though. I'm going to spray it a fun color and use it for something...you'll have to wait. (We have two end tables for this room but they are refinishing project # 29)!!! Sheesh, I'm tired!

We hope you've had fun looking around Our Place. Nothing fancy. Just our home. We're really very thrifty. I'd say over 75% of our furnishings, and accessories come by way of Craigslist, thrifting, yard sales, hand-me-downs, curbside finds, or re-purposing. This was helped define how far we have come and how far we still have to go. It will always be a work in progress. That I know!

We'd love to hear what you think. Don't feel like you need to mention how many projects are on our ToDo list! We're getting to them...one by one...

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs, Sherry

This project may turn me into an over-caffeinated, chocolate crazed, DIY disaster.

via http://chicagogirlgonemild.blogspot.com/2011/01/stress-and-chocolate.html via http://www.etsy.com/listing/63973889/11x14-poster-stress-out-and-eat?ref=sr_list_8&ga_search_query=stress%2Bprint&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=2

Don't worry about me though...Scott is here keeping me sane. Right now he is working at making the laundry room an eclectic mix of frugality, functionality and organization. He is straining his brain trying to make this work without spending any money. And just to be fair, he is very encouraging each time I throw another item into our "purge" pile. Positive reinforcement. That's right, Baby!

*SIGH*

Here's what We've done:

Removed all pantry items from the laundry room and put them on the dining table. WOW. This is just one small portion!

Scott moved all the other items that were hanging out in the laundry room to various surfaces in our home.

Discussed space planning, purging, and organization plans. (That didn't go so well.)

I took a chocolate, wine and hot tub break, while Scott did his homework and watched sci-fi.

Started putting pantry items into the new pantry area under the stairs...
Realized we were already running out of space. Yikes...that's no good.

Created a WELL STOCKED PANTRY LIST, in order to make sure that we are allowing enough space for all of the items we would like to keep on hand regularly. Click here if you want to check it out...maybe create your own.

Determined that the shelving that Scott originally built under the stairs would not be sufficient for all of our pantry storage needs. You can see his original built in shelves here. Scott jumped in and added a couple more shelves to the closet.

Gathered up all of our canisters, bins, baskets and other storage items that we might utelize in our spaces.

Overwhelmed with the magnitude of this project, I went on "strike" for a day.

Unable to sit for long, I went back to other projects: We did some finishing details on a chalkboard. I painted my little blue shelf a pale green color. I made a HUGE chocolate kiss. I baked a triple-chocolate loaf cake. More about these later! Scott did more homework and watched more sci-fi.

Finally, back to the project at hand, I mixed up some chalkboard paint with my hand mixer and applied it to the walls behind the pantry shelving.

(We've discovered that mixing our own chalkboard paint is pretty easy, but it tends to be lumpy - no matter how much you stir. Using the hand mixer works great! I may need a new mixer though. Maybe one of those big KitchenAid stand mixers? That would be very nice...I think I will plan a spot for it.)

Here's the closet with the chalkboard paint:

While I worked on painting and organizing the pantry space, Scott was busy planning and building the laundry room storage:

Just a peak! More on this later...

That purple-blue color has got to go. We will get to that. Hopefully before the challenge deadline, but it's low on the list. It isn't really going to break us if we don't get the painting done. It's the purging and organizing that are the priority!

Things are coming along. We still have tons of work to do. Don't ask about the garage. I'm kind of wishing I'd left it off the list. I'm confident that I can get it purged. Not so confident that it will look real pretty. We'll just have to see how it goes...

xoxo,
Sherry

Pages

2/11/12

Downstairs Project Tour

1/29/12

Welcome to our new pantry space

1/23/12

Imagine the Impossibilities Challenge ~ Take 2