Under the pantry: more before and after shots

This is not my pantry, but I like it, so here it is:

In case you missed the post about my pantry, click here to read about how the linoleum counters in the pantry made me squeamish. 

In that post, I didn't even mention what it looked like underneath the counters. It was nasty. So nasty that I honestly doubted we would store food under there. I thought it might be good for cleaning supplies, in a sealed container.

Clearly the landlord didn't touch the pantry when he was renovating the rest of the apartment.

Have you ever hear of Kilz? It's a primer that supposedly neutralizes odors and other gross germs and things that you don't want to spend too much time thinking about. I ended up sweeping and vacumming and scrubbing underneath the pantry, and then painting it with one or two or even three layers of Kilz. And the end result? Not bad at all. It feels fresh and -- dare I say? -- new.

We keep the dry goods on one side. There were some shelves already in there, which you can see in the pictures above. Yeah, they got a lot of paint.

On the other side, we keep extra plates, serving platters and random kitchen things.

There was no shelf on this side, so we went with our cheapest option: a metal contraption from Lowe's. Those things are functional, but they suck hard when it comes to putting them together.

The lower half is not as pretty as the upper half, but hey, it's not to be overlooked!

Pantry: Before and after

The pantry was one of my favorite things about our new apartment, even though it needed some work.

That's linoleum tile on the countertops. It really didn't inspire me to prepare any food. And while I could think of lots of amazing things to do with this pantry if we owned this apartment, we had to use some restraint when it came to actually making the space usable as renters.

And here's the after! We covered the tile countertops with ikea butcher block -- it's just sitting on top, not attached in any way. When it's time for us to move in a few years, we'll have the option of taking the butcher block with us. It's in big enough pieces that it could be repurposed. 

We wanted to make sure the shelves were sturdy enough to hold plates or appliances or anything else we might want to put on them. The linoleum tile that I could barely make myself touch before has been transformed into the most charming prep space I've ever had.

I enjoy making espresso in the pantry every morning. It's so cozy, and I love to bustle around making breakfast and packing my lunch. Grrr, but now I'm staring at the picture above because the middle drawer is open slightly. Why didn't I fix it? I'm too lazy to do it now, but I'm sure the pantry will be restyled soon. I'll make sure the drawers are closed next time.

I got the chalk drawing at a barn sale in Maine a couple of years ago. The old lady in the picture looks friendly for the most part, but now that she resides in the pantry, I've noticed her looking more stern. I think she wants me to make some whoopie pies! 

See how she's eying those spatulas?