Pantry Project- Before

Who knew that when I was dreaming way back in 2007 that I would so soon have a pantry of my own to make pretty. Not me! But now I do and as it turned out I was just in time to catch the last weekend of the Container Store's elfa sale. So, after some consulting and confusion we picked up all the ingredients for new shelves and a cart for the microwave. Now that I have so much more counter space I don't want to donate any of it to the ugly appliance. The nice elfa-elf that helped us was almost giddy to hear that I shared her distaste for the cooking box. I will someday also get the over-the-door storage system, but I couldn't go whole-hog just yet. Maybe next year's sale will bring the opportunity. Anyway, here's what I'm starting with. You fortunately can't really tell just how gross and grimy it is in there right now. I'm going to tear out the shelves and supports, scrub the walls something fierce, and maybe even paint it (if I could choose the right color, which we all know is quite the ordeal). I am very excited about having a nice, new and well-organized pantry in my future- even if I have to work hard for it!