Pretty Kitchen Pantry!

So I know I have not posted in, like, forever...but my job and my volunteer job (what's up Region 7!) have gotten in the way lately of any house projects at my abode or over at the McKinney Money Pit that Christie calls home (just kidding Christie!  You know I only think of it as a Money Pothole!)

Anyway, while staring at a sink full of dishes and not wanting to mess with any of them (not even to put them in the dishwasher...I need a dish fairy if anyone wants to buy me something for Christmas by the way), I took a gander at my kitchen pantry and thought, project time!  Now, not that I have time to throw in another project amongst the great chair rehab and bedside table surgery that I have planned currently or the fact that my parents are coming over for Thanksgiving and my messy house needs to be family presentable.  But I just could not resist the siren call of a brainstorm project.  I mean, you gotta jump on those projects immediately while the brainstorm is happening!

Anywhoo, I headed down to IKEA (it is way too close to my house for comfort and financial stability) for some storage ideas.  Perusing the great storage options, I thought about maybe hitting up some clear storage so I could see inside but I really did not like the look of a bunch of plastic boxes sitting on the shelves in my pantry.  I wanted something cute.  I am a girl so deal with it.  I stumbled upon these boxes:

IKEA Prant Box with Lid

This beauty is made out of plywood with metal corners so is a good option to stand up to heavy use in a kitchen.  But I could not just roll with plain plywood boxes in my pantry...oh, no.  That is when the thought struck me, "what if I could label them over and over on the contents but not have to sand or scribble or print out and cover with new labels?"  Blackboard paint.  Brilliant!

Now, I know blackboard paint is everywhere from walls to appliances but it was a really good solution to being able to change the labels over and over.  So, out came the cheap foam brushes and a quart of blackboard paint and you get these:

Three coats peeps and they were ready to go.  All 8 of them.  But remember to have a great blackboard surface, you must wait 24 hours between coats.  So essentially my living room was covered in newspaper and boxes for the most of last week letting the paint cure appropriately.  But they turned out great!

But, after painting the boxes, I started to look at the pantry and see just how sad it looked in it's builder white paint.  And then I decided to put a splash of paint on the walls while leaving the shelves white for contrast!  Color selection was easy as I love all kinds of blues and have been wanting to use the Peacock blue color forever but am not brave enough to paint a full wall with it.  But in a closet o pantry, it is just enough color for fun but not constantly in your face.  Sad pantry...you are so going to be pretty soon:

Check out that Container Store door organization!  So helpful in a small pantry.

So, off to Sherwin Williams I went!  Problem?  I did not have any foam rollers which is what I wanted to use for speed of coverage and lack of brush strokes.....so I brushed the first coat on...leaving crazy brush marks:

Man, these were serious brush strokes and for such a small space, it took 2 HOURS to paint with a brush.  I was spent and wanted to let the first coat dry 24 hours before adding more paint (and getting to Lowes for some foam rollers!)  After a second coat, we were looking better:

Less brush strokes, more fab peacock blue color!  I added one more coat and then started the staging process:

I started off thinking I would use the lids on the boxes but decided I preferred the ease of access without the lids on.  I can use the lids for another project I have up my sleeve later :)  The only problem was I did not have any chalk.  So off to the store to stock up on thanksgiving food goodness and chalk!  And the final product:

Hopefully I will get better with writing with chalk and I also want to add crown moulding to the ceiling in the pantry but for now, she is done!  The best part?  I can cram a ton more stuff in the pantry than I could before and I discovered I had 3 jars of peanut butter!  So, what did this cost me besides time I really do not have?

8 boxes x $9.99 = $86.51 (sales tax included)
1 quart Valspar chalkboard paint x $14.26 = $15.44 (sales tax included)
1 gallon Sherwin Williams HGTV paint in Peacock Blue = around $27 (I never buy just one thing at SW!)
Finally, around $5.00 for foam brushes and roller
Total?  Right around $134.00 and totally worth every penny! 

Now I am off to Christie's for post-Thanksgiving reno work...coming up, we tackle reupholstering a settee and some amazingness that Christie worked on a couple of cheap brass chandeliers picked up at the thrift store....stay tuned!

Shelley