I dubbed 2024 the year of the shelves, and while we didn’t get to all the shelves I’d hoped we would there were still plenty of shelves (and don’t worry more to come for MOH this year!). We were off to a good start with the really useful shelves in the bathroom cupboard, which I’d broached with MOH after a significant period of swear-free DIY tasks following the more troublesome to put together open shelving in the pantry and utility room.
True to my word the next shelving project was also in the pantry, though I didn’t expect it to be many months later until we started this - but hey ho, that’s what happened. It’s taken me a few more months to share it here, but while these shelves might be small, they are mighty!
They have completed the storage in this area and it’s so much better to see things on a shelf rather than a basket on the floor. Even MOH agrees, as he could never find any of our herbs and spices before - and didn’t help matters by putting them back into random spots, which made cooking “fun”.
But anyway, they are up - and are in use - and everything is still in the same place, (I hesitated to write that as i) I didn’t want to tempt fate and ii) I don’t want MOH to see it as some kind of challenge. Hmmn) and it’s the perfect use for a not very big, but potentially useful space behind the door.
I was pleased that the Proof of Concept passed muster…
Though I admit in my mind’s eye I had something a little more permanent and sturdy in mind…
I needn’t have worried, that was also a test, apparently, and after that the shelves flew up.
You might be wondering if the part-SMOL box is significant - it is. That was the very practical ‘spacer’ ensuring that the shelves (all bar the bottom one) were the same distance apart. It’s advantage was it was freestanding, thus freeing up MOH’s hands and avoiding the need for me to be there holding it, no doubt in the wrong place.
Don’t they look great?
What you can’t see here though is the detail on the front edge. Clearly growing back into his shelf game MOH routed the edges so they matched the edges on the open shelving which are (as you look) on the right of these. A small touch, but one that really elevates them, or I think so, he’s a clever wood worker isn’t he?
Then it was over to me to load them up - actually a more daunting task than you’d think.
I’ve grouped similar types of spices together, for example on the bottom shelf there’s all the spicier spices - which as luck would have it all turned out to be in similar coloured jars. The ‘shop’ tin on that shelf is just the right size for some stock cubes, and the one two shelves above is home to our home grown, home dried bay leaves - much prettier than an old take away box!
The top shelf, which I can reach without steps - another requirement! - holds those which are used less often. And while there’s spaces I think I’ve got all that I need and even threw out a few more jars in the process. But if there’s a new addition, then there’s plenty of space for that too.
The pantry isn’t the biggest space - but it’s plenty big enough - so it’s hard to get all of the new shelves in one shot. The final, and larger spaced shelf, has more stock cubes and more basics like salt and pepper refills. If needed, it can also hold bottles (as we know from the Proof of Concept) but I can’t see that we’ll need it for that anytime soon.
Living in the space (the house, not the pantry) really did help shape how we shelved this space. My first instinct was to have shelves top to bottom and be in shelf heaven. But I rethought that after hosting our first Christmas here in 2023 and adding some extra and much needed space with the fold-up table, previously my sewing machine table. It was so useful that since it moved here it’s never left, even though I’ve only used it a couple of times since.
And it’s found itself the perfect home, hasn’t it?
