freckles & ash

Off of our kitchen we have a small pantry area. It features a big window, and is actually quite a nice little room. The last owners really weren't using it to it's full advantage though. It was being used as a pseudo pantry/closet, as this house doesn't really have coat closets at the entrances.

Here's the before shot. It featured the same mustardy yellow paint that the rest of the house had, and a shoddy metal shelving system. There were also those black shoe storage boxes mounted to one wall. While the room is adjacent to the back door, we didn't really feel it necessary to have coat and shoe storage here. We were also lacking storage for small appliances and the like, and decided to turn the room into a proper butlers pantry.

Ta da! Here's the after! We are so super happy with the transformation. It feels so much bigger now. We first painted over the mustard with Classic Grey (OC-23) from Benjamin Moore, which is a slightly antique white colour.

We didn't have a big budget for this space, as it was just the kitchen pantry, so most of the items you see are from Ikea. The shelving unit is the Varde, which has a nice butcher block top, and stainless steel shelves below, which is great for cleaning. The floating shelf is the Ekby system, and the little stool is the Bekvam. The aqua sisal rug is from Steeling Home.

I picked up these galvanized letters when I was at Orling and Wu in Vancouver. I also purchased the wire basket there as well.

The wall hooks are from Anthropologie.

I purchased this old window from an Antique shop awhile back. After a good clean, I painted the glass panels with blackboard paint, and added some eye hooks along the bottom for hanging keys, etc.

Glass storage jars from Crate and Barrel. I love their kitchen section, which is full of classic pieces at reasonable prices.

This mint plant is the only house plant that I have managed not to kill. It grows like a weed, and needs very little attention. It adds some nice greenery to the room.

I think the room needs a little bit more art, and I would love to replace the light fixture with an antique schoolhouse style fixture. Other than that, this little makeover is making me even more eager to tackle the rest of the kitchen changes.