What I do have is a small entry that at one time was added on to the house. I don't think that it is original to the house. When we moved here nearly 30 years ago this little entryway was sort of a pass through from the back door, which is the door that we use, to the kitchen. On one side was a homemade closet only 11 inches deep with thin plywood doors and some hooks for hanging a couple of coats. There was an upper cabinet and the lower cabinet and at some point after we moved we removed the doors on the lower cabinet and made three cubbies.
On the other side of the entryway was a shelf about a foot down from the ceiling and a built in bench with a lid that raised where you could sit to put on your shoes or boots. We also took out the bench and added a three more shelves. For quite a few years I used the area for pantry storage with canisters and canning jars and a table below the shelves. When I was given a shelving unit from IKEA for Christmas one year by my daughter for in my kitchen that became my pantry storage and I put dishes on the entry shelves.
I have been coveting this pantry ever since I first saw it on pinterest.
My space is not nearly as big and certainly not tall enough to justify a ladder but wouldn't that be fun. It is kind of an awkward place for dish storage, next to the exterior door but space is at a premium and that space is not well used right now. I happened upon a narrow vintage French door about a year ago and it has been hanging out in my shed just waiting for me to use it.
I also like the narrow display area in this photo:
![Farmhouse style is the popular kitchen decorating trend of this days because of its shabby chic accents mixed with simple and natural features. If you are looking forward to have a kitchen with farmhouse style, you don’t need to do big renovation for your kitchen, just insert into it some fun farmhouse-inspired storage projects. That’s […]](https://i.pinimg.com/564x/23/76/a4/2376a43abe2566f4578b1350c541a540.jpg)
So shortly before Christmas I decided the time was right to take on this project. I don't have a lot of experience building anything this big by myself. Our family built the winter greenhouse from scratch and I participated. I have helped with projects and built some small stuff like bird houses and a rustic table. And I do have that trouble with distorted vision. I bought myself some tools that I have been wanting for a long time and some bead board and lumber. I tore out the old shelves and started covering the walls with the bead board. I built two narrow walls that would flank the door and built the shelves. Then I painted. And painted. Two days before we were to celebrate Christmas I was washing dishes and glasses and putting them away in the new pantry and between loads I was painting my vintage door which was laying on the dining room table. The door was kind of a challenge. There were 10 divided lites to paint around both on the front and the back. It was taking multiple coats and the morning of our celebration, I discover that the door I had been painting for two days would not fit. One of my walls is apparently not quite plumb and so the door fits fine at the top but not at the bottom. So back out to the shed it goes until I can decide what to do with it.
So far I have come up with these options:
Rebuild the offending wall so that it is plumb and square.
Plane the door or the door frame so that it fits better.
Leave the door off and use the door for a different project perhaps like this:
Anyway, here is my dish pantry. Without a door.
It is 53 inches wide by 25.5 inches deep. There are 7 u shaped shelves that are 11.5 inches deep on the back wall and 9.25 inches deep on the side walls. They are deep enough for my dinner plates but some of the platters protrude a bit past the front edge of the shelves.
I have soup tureens on the very top and five not quite complete sets of china, stoneware and glasses on the middle five shelves and platters on the bottom.
I am sharing this with
Wow! I am so totally impressed, Lorri! This is beautiful. I cannot believe that you built that. I know that it's a bummer that the door did not fit, especially after you spent such a long time painting it. I know those doors, it's a tedious job. I am no carpenter, but I always look for the easiest way out and the fact that I'm not a perfectionist helps! So I guess I would plane the door? Can't wait to see what you decide to do. Either way I think the party looks absolutely amazing as is. ❤️
ReplyDeleteThanks Kim, I appreciate your comment. Even without the door I am pleased with it. Now that Christmas is over I will hopefully get back at it.
DeletePs...and your collections are lovely, too!
ReplyDeleteThanks, nearly everything in there is vintage or thrifted. Three sets of china came from an estate sale place. One set I bought when they were discounting stuff before they moved from the highway to downtown. Another set I bought when they decided to close the downtown store. The third set was from the same place, a birthday gift from my sister. That same place was the where I got the infamous French door. The other two sets were from Goodwill. Almost all of the glasses and all of the tureens are thrifted as well. Next up is a blog post about my Wexford pieces.
DeleteAre you kidding- you made this! I’m very impressed! I would go ahead and plane the door to fit so your design will be completed. I can imagine it with the glass panes. I love what you created- you should be very proud of this!! I took over a bedroom closet which is also my office and put thick shelves in it for my dishes and it worked great but I filled it quickly! You must love walking by it and seeing all the dishes and your handywork!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz, my sister has suggested that perhaps I could mount the door on barn door hardware so I am going to explore that before I do any planing to see if that is an option. I like the look of a barn door and they are pretty trendy but my space is small so the track would have to be the right size and the door is wider than the two side walls that it would slide onto but still worth a look. Thanks for visiting and for commenting.
DeleteI'm impressed you've created great storage in such a comparatively small space. It's an ongoing challenge to find space for us dish addicts!
ReplyDeleteThank you Sandra. It is nice to hear from another dish addict. My sister understands me as she has a similar affliction and we generally shop together. This year for Christmas her gift to me was six matching martini glasses that she found at Goodwill. Some of our family thought that was kind of tacky to give a used gift but she knew that I would love it. Not everybody appreciates a large collection or old stuff but I do.
DeleteFor a novice, that is pretty impressive. Good job. Maybe you should have made a video about all of the steps to build it (not that I could duplicate that). I love dishes and the thought of someone donating all of a loved ones china to GW is depressing, so I take it home to love. I have to do something about storage very soon.
ReplyDeleteThank you Bkita. I take stuff home to love too. I have a couple of things that I purchased at Goodwill strictly because they were homemade for someone and there is an inscription of sorts on the back. I did not do any video and not really even any pictures of the process. I will give some thought to if it is possible to recap what I did and if it might make a fun blog post.
DeleteAmazing job, Lorri! So well done! As to rebuilding to make it plumb, I'd leave it and adjust the door if possible. Much easier to plane/trim a door than start that whole thing again. Absolutely lovely :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Helen, Yesterday I purchased a barn door rail system and I am going to try that first before planing the door. The system that I bought is longer than the space that I have so today I will check into cutting the rod shorter. I think it might involve a trip to the tool store.
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