Building a Butler’s Pantry, Part II

We’re back with the much awaited Part II of our butler’s pantry! If you missed Part I you can check it out here.

When we left off we had finished framing in the pantry, but had not yet put in the new drywall. In the photos below you can see how the space looks with the new drywall walls and ceiling, and with compound already applied to the taped joints and screw holes.

The round window was a little tricky to replace because we had to bend the drywall, but Jordan did a great job.

From there we sprayed texture on the walls.

We purchased our ceiling lights around this time. We were lucky enough to find pendant lights similar to the ones we love from Pottery Barn (here) from Target at a fraction of the price.

I also painted the walls in the same Behr Wheat Bread that we used in the main living areas and kitchen.

For the cabinetry in the pantry we went with Kraftmaid cabinets supplied and installed by Lowe’s. We were very happy with the quality of the cabinets. We paid slightly more for the full wood boxes and soft-close drawers. These are the same finish as in the kitchen, Kraftmaid’s Montclair cabinets in cherry, in the Peppercorn color. We did have the cabinets professionally installed by Lowe’s contractors.

We also ordered our granite countertops from Lowe’s. We went with the same granite from the kitchen, Delicatus ice, from Arizona Tile. Lowe’s contractors installed it for us.

Next we needed to build our shelves! On the pantry side we did shelves all the way down the wall. Jordan started by placing the support struts, anchoring them to the studs.

Then we started building out the boxes for the shelves. The boxes are pine with poplar applied to the front and top faces since it is more durable. We used birch plywood on the bottoms of the shelves. All of our wood was purchased from our local Home Depot.

The next step was to tape off the boxes and apply the stain. We used Varathane wood stain in Kona. It was easy to apply and then wipe off, and yielded a nice finish. Then we applied multiple coats of brush-on polyurethane, sanding in between coats, and finally applied wipe-on polyurethane for the last two coats.

Here’s the pantry with the shelves finished.

We then installed the backsplash (same as our kitchen remodel).

And finally here we are today, with the floors installed! The only thing left to do is buy our standing freezer to separate the two sides of the pantry.