This home brought so many really amazing firsts with it, including our very first walk-in pantry! I have had so many different types of pantries through the years and I never felt a need for a large one because, honestly, we ate out SO much for the first decade of our relationship. Even after we adopted Nova, we still ate at restaurants pretty frequently, determined to make it something we could all enjoy together. When we adopted Marigold, we were still in pre-covid times but we suddenly reduced the number of restaurant meals to only about one to two a week because it was just too stressful. At the time, we didn’t know that we were skipping out on our last six months of restaurant going for … a while. Whoops.
Anyway, long story short—I never expected to get a house with a big pantry. So when we moved into our home with its giant walk-in pantry (albeit moldy … we’ll get to that in a sec), I vowed never ever ever to take it for granted. I am so grateful for this home and have been organizing, decorating and personalizing every little nook one by one (and will be for years to come!). Organizing our pantry is FUN. I love taking everything out and organizing it. Oh … and I now have a Costco membership … mom level unlocked.
ETA: The pink paint color is Sunwashed Brick by Behr.
Here’s a quick before and after!
As you can see, we were able to update this space very simply with mostly just paint! I love it when that happens! There was a serious mold issue when we moved in. You can see it in the before picture above. We made sure the leak was fixed, then we used this mold control spray to kill the mold (we did it regularly for several weeks to be extra sure). Then we had a drywall person come and make the rest of the repairs. Next stop … PINK PAINT.
Most pantries are white, and white is a great color for a pantry. It’s fresh and clean. One of my design goals is to use more color, especially in choices where I would usually go for white. After debating a few different colors, I went for my tried and true choice of pink!
People always ask me how I “talk my husband” into pink house decor. First of all, I probably didn’t even tell him we were painting this pink and secondly, he probably didn’t even notice. But in all seriousness … he’s cool as hell. That’s how.
OK … you want to see some pantry photos? Let’s go!
Storage products used:
Metal Baskets with Wooden Handles, Canned Goods Organizer, Food Storage Containers, and Hyacinth Storage Baskets.
I definitely think using some storage products for a pantry is worth it! It just looks SO much cleaner and nicer. I did my best to use less plastic, although there is still some. I really love the metal baskets—they are perfect for organizing different categories of food. We have a s’mores basket, a taco basket, two pasta baskets, a chili basket, and as you can see … two baskets of ramen and Chinese noodles as well.
I really love the can organizer. I never knew such a thing existed and it makes it SO much easier to find our canned goods. Fun fact: Our whole family is obsessed with black olives and sometimes we eat multiple cans a day. So good!
The OXO food containers are so great for storing snacks that our kids eat everyday (like veggie straws) and also homemade snack mixes (which you know is a full-on obsession in my life!). So far, I have been swapping them out pretty often.
Since I didn’t show you what is in the lower hyacinth baskets on the bottom two shelves, I will just tell you here. In those baskets, we have our cured meats, tuna, anchovies (and stuff like that), extra cans that don’t fit on the can shelf (mainly back stock of soups—we eat a lot of soup), candy (just being honest … we have SO much candy in our house), sauce mixes and even more black olives.
You also might notice we have a bit of empty space and a few unfilled bins. This is normal and I like having room to add more things as we go. The day we shot these was about a month since my last big food shop and it isn’t as full as it sometimes is.
A few more details—we store our stool in this closet (it’s from IKEA and I think the kid paint makes it charming, don’t you?). The white outlets on the wall are floor heater controls. Also, this room doesn’t have a light (it has a broken fluorescent light), so we are hoping to add that when we address lighting.
I am sure we will continue to optimize this space and use it differently as time goes on. I’m excited to bond with it and let it evolve over time.
Thanks so much for reading! I’m so grateful for you. XX- Elsie
P.S. Let me know if you have any questions or organizing tips (or Costco tips—lol) in the comments.
Credits//Author: Elsie Larson. Photography: Amber Kelly. Project Assistant: Collin DuPree. Photos edited with A Color Story Desktop.
#Organization #HomeDecor #HomeTour:Elsie #RoomTour #Before/After
