Old House, New House, Old House

We bought our farmhouse about 5 years ago, with the intention of creating a few unique spaces for our family. Over the years we painted rooms, renovated a cottage, created outbuilding playrooms & art studios, but it’s our most recent endeavor that really makes me happy to settle in for the winter.

What was once just a horrible little room off the kitchen, used for storage and everything pantry related, has now been lovingly transformed into what we consider an authentic farmhouse pantry. Take a look at these awful BEFORE shots and I will tell you how my husband, Michael and I did it.

The first thing we always like to do is completely strip down the room. Everything out. Shelves included. I’d like to say we had a plan, but that is about as far as our plan went. I knew I wanted crown molding, so Mike set out to build that, while I painted the walls a soft gray, just a shade lighter than the Marina Gray in the adjoining hallway. Next step, I set out on a quest for an authentic jelly cabinet!

I was so lucky to stumble into Impact Thrift, a local secondhand store in our area, and find this perfect white antique jelly cabinet that had originally come from a store. The best part is that it fit exactly into the nook carved into one of the inside walls. Wow. We were lucky there. I quickly washed and filled every ball jar I had been saving for years and started my display of beans, nuts, grains, and even M&M’s for Mike. On lower shelves I placed wire baskets I once found at a yard sale. Filled them with onions and potatoes, even boxes of pasta.

We then found a short storage cabinet in another room of our home and repurposed it as our cereal holder. I’d like to say it holds other items, but Mike pretty much panics if we run out of cereal, so it’s stocked for eternity. I drapped a vintage feed bag, and decorated above with floral prints by an old friend, Khara Flint, framed in barnwood. I gathered a few more LARGE sealable jars for granola, rice, and even more Cheerios, added an antique gumball machine, that was my mother’s, and the room was almost complete. Kids are allowed ONE gumball on Fridays after school (but I keep finding Mike reaching for stash).

This is a favorite…I stumbled upon this New York Dairy crate at another sale, and brought it home for $5. I purchase all of our milk from Penn View Farms in glass bottles, so this is a great place to keep them safe, before my weekly return.

Next, take a look at the pegs holding pretty aprons and an egg basket. The lime green apron is a treasured gift and the expandable wire egg basket, another find, is waiting for some wooden eggs. (still hunting).

Just before you walk into the pantry we painted a rectangle with black chalkboard paint and framed it with a wooden frame, added an alphabet above and recycled pegs we had hanging in our other house across the bottom. The pegs neatly store the chalk, a hand-made cloth eraser, and a few kitty toys.

Two of our favorite parts of this renovation are the door and light fixture we added. These two, totaling only $200, were our biggest splurge. The room was formerly closed off with a farm door, with a great black vintage handle. So we salvaged the handle and put it onto a french door from Lowes, painted white to match the home interior woodwork. The door and track light add dimension to the room, allowing visitors a peek inside. You can also spy on the kids when they are sneaking candy.

We also carved out a cookbook shelf and an antique wooden ladder, propped against a wall, holds vintage tea towels.

This renovation project reminds me of my beloved grandmother who used to bake hundreds of pies and cinnamon buns and store them in her pantry 'til the family came to pick them up. I hope to do the same someday.

Next Heirloom project: creating a vintage laundry room.

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