Changing Up the Pantry with Funky Junk's Heap of Change Challenge! Pt 1

Donna from Funky Junk Interiors put out a Heap of Change Challenge to choose an area in our home to clear out, clean up, organize and actually finish!

My mind immediately went to my Pantry, a space that has a door on it that I can conveniently shut so I don't have to see the clutter.

Click Here To Join In on the Heap of Change Challenge

It is the Pantry of Shame! Yes lurking behind that pretty white door with the cute little Pantry sign on it is....

C H A O S

take a peek....

Yep, that's what I have to deal with every time we want to eat, which is at least ten three times per day like most humans.
Not only do I have to move stuff to find other stuff but in the process I have to dodge falling objects while tripping over what can only be described as CRAP.

I don't know why I torture myself like this, it must be some kind of self payback for all the messes I caused my mom to clean up when I was a little girl.
Well, now I'm mad....I'll be darned if I'm gonna let this Pantry of Shame get the better of me, no sir re bob!

I have no idea why that bowl of dry dog food is setting in there, strange. But hey it sort of fits with all the rest of the junk right?

I'm gonna clear it out, clean it up and organize the begebbers out of it!
Next time you see my Pantry your gonna be jealous!
(secretly praying I don't have to eat my words) ahem...yeah like I said just you wait and see!

Come back on Thursday for Pt. 2 to see the finished (crosses fingers) Pantry and don't forget to hop over to Funky Junk Interiors and join in on the fun.

See the REVEAL and the whole process on PT. 2  HERE

From Wash Tub to Kitchen Island

So this is what I brought home a couple of days ago. Mr. Magazine gave me that 'what are you up to now' look.
No I'm not planning on washing all the clothes by hand, I had something else in mind.

I really needed a small kitchen island and I knew I could make this work!

For this DIY project you will need...
******************************
*an old or reproduction wash tub
try looking on craigslist or Amazon
or your local Hobby Lobby.

*scrap wood, we used 2x6's and 1x4's
or get some from Home Depot or your local lumber yard

*nails, we used our nail gun

*stain, we used Minwax Dark Walnut from Home Depot

Measure your tub and add enough for an overhang of 3" on each side.
The bottom layer was built using 2x8's held together with two rails fit to set inside the tub,  then nail six 1x6's (depending on the measurements of your tub) running the opposite direction to the top of the base.

The top can be lifted off to allow for storage inside.

Perfect for all those cookbooks!
Did you know you can make your own recipe books on Shutterfly?

Once your top is built just set in place. It should be secure with little to no wiggle room.

Just what I had in mind. Perfect!

A little staining and
 I thought it was done....
but it was missing something....
a bottom shelf!

Here it is with the shelf added and accessorized with some goodies. I also dry brushed some ASCP in Old White to the legs.

An old tray fit perfectly and added extra storage and display space.

An old scale and spool of twine added to the old kitchen feel.
I'm really happy with this new addition to our kitchen.

The handles on the tub make handy towel holders.

Love it!

See more posts on the washtub/kitchen island HERE

What I Did With The Wash Tub

Wondering what I did with the washtub?

We needed an island in our kitchen, a small island.
This fit the bill.

So we added a wood top to make it function as a kitchen island.

We cut three  2x8 boards to make the base then added six 1x6 boards to the top allowing for a 3/4 overhang from the base. The overall overhang is 3 inches in all sides.

Boards where added to the bottom so it would fit down inside the wash tub and not move around but we can remove it whenever we want.

Then I stained it, it came out a little dark and I may lighten it up later.

And all that storage room inside was not wasted. I store my cookbooks in there, just lift off the top and there they are!

We no longer have to walk all the way from the fridge to the counter to make sandwiches, yeah we're lazy.

It ended up being the perfect height and size but I am considering adding some wheels so I can move it around. I also later added a shelf to the bottom allowing for more display space (see below). Click the update below to read about the shelf.

 Stay tuned for some changes in my Pantry.

*Update to my wash tub kitchen island click HERE

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My Farmhouse Kitchen Reveal

My kitchen is moving right a long. The best part is, most of what we did we already had the materials for. Very little was spent on this kitchen redo, mainly lots of hard work. That's how it's been on the redo of this house, we've improvised, re-purposed, redid, repaired or painted to make it into a home we love. That's the best kind of redo in my opinion. Anybody can throw lots of money at a renovation and make it look spectacular and that's ok but to me it's even better when you can redo a whole room and spend next to nothing.

Mr. Magazine put up three of my open shelves and I didn't waste any time loading them up lol. Seems like I can't leave an empty space empty for a second. I wanted to give you a partial reveal. Still working on a few things but this covers most of it. If you want to see some of the before pics just click HERE

I still need to put in those little round wood things to cover the screw holes.

In this picture you can see the ceiling that my daughter and I did. I think above all things this wood board ceiling gives it the true farmhouse feel.
Here's a before of the above kitchen...

Coming in from the dining room.

We use that chalk board all the time to leave messages or make lists for the store.

To see more about the transformation of this little table click HERE

I have  a huge pantry in my 1920's kitchen. For those of you who don't know, this home has been in my husbands family for 92 years. My hubs told me he has memories of his Big Mimi (gramma) donning an apron and cooking from early in the morning through suppertime. She would say 'Toby, go out and catch me a chicken" (insert Southern accent) He'd go out and run one down, she would lay it on an old stump and off came it's head, sorry but that's how it was done. She would pluck the feathers while heading back to the house and later that day it was finger lickin' good fried chicken eating time! I can imagine her going to the pantry and getting out the flour and other ingredients to make a meal. My hubs said they ate like kings!

That old towel bar has been up for 90 years.

There's tons of shelving.

I always remove my items from the boxes they came in and put them in glass or plastic containers. I like to actually see the food on the shelves, I just think it looks really homey and cozy.

Yep we're vitamin freaks lol, these little shelves are the perfect size for the bottles and for spices too.

I hate having a microwave on the counter so since there was an electrical outlet in the pantry it seemed like the perfect spot.

We're going to add some more shelving lower down to hold dog food and water bottles.

So that's it, hope you enjoyed the little tour. I just realized that it was exactly one year ago today that I completed the farmhouse kitchen in my mobile home. Whew no wonder I'm tired! If you want to see that post go HERE 
Here's a pic of it....

Don't forget to enter the giveaway at French Country Cottage by clicking HERE

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