Pantry Project

Where do you start when projects stare you in the face in every corner of your home? Or when it hits you that you probably took on more than humanly possible? You start small and elect for total avoidance. Enter the pantry project.

Our family just moved in to our 1974 ranch-ish home in Washington state. It’s both exciting and exhausting with all the work that has been, and has yet to be done. Literally, it needs a make-over from floor to ceiling. We needed to yank the 40 year-old carpet, put in bamboo flooring, lay concrete in some places to level flooring and lay tile, and let’s not talk about the paint. The paint is only 1/8th complete and there’s 2300 square feet of dinge. First comes removing the 70’s foil wallpaper. Then the windows, fixtures, toilets, need I say more?

So you see, one could begin to become a bit overwhelmed with all of the immediate needs and “NEED” a little escape. One of the fun things we inherited besides old carpet, was an unfinished wood cabinet. It had a little 60’s flair to it, so I enlisted the help of my 9 year-old son to come up with a color scheme. Lucky for me, by now he knows his MCM stuff. One trip to Walmart and $20 later, we had our gloss spray paint and were ready to go.

Before Shot & 9-year old artist’s rendering courtesy of the Samsung 8 Note

My son actually pulled me away from an avocado green and said, “No, mom. This is one is the one you need” as he pointed to the citrus green. He’s going to Harvard someday.

So a couple weekends went by, but amid all the chaos I managed to sneak a few paint sessions and this beauty below is the result:

Haven’t decided on the frame yet. We could go white, or just leave it for now, which is the likelier choice. In desperate need of storage in the kitchen, we had to remove cabinets for construction and this is where the food stores go for now.

Now when I’m greeted by fluorescent lighting and weird venting choices in the morning, rather than curse under my breath I smile at the happy colors that now infuse my kitchen and think of all the fun projects that our family have to look forward to. Together.