"Discover the transformation of a formal dining room into a hidden pantry."

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The Before

First, let’s take a look at the before picture of the space. Now, you may be thinking this doesn’t look like a pantry at all; well it wasn’t. This was actually a formal dining room but I decided to transform it into a hidden pantry instead. 

One reason being, this room barely got any use and where the pantry was originally, just didn’t fit well with the house. It made a lot more since this way.

Here is a view of the original pantry. As you can see, it’s kind of in the middle of the kitchen, and it was blocking the view of the breakfast nook, so moving this definitely was the best move .

The Design Process

Now let’s dive into the design process, funny story, the way the pantry looks now is actually not how I had originally designed it. Originally, I had found this awesome red marble checkered floor, and I was so excited about using it. I even went as far as to purchasing the marble floor, which was very expensive might I add, but I just couldn’t commit to it when I saw it in the space it just didn’t feel right to me and even though I purchased the floor, I felt like I needed to make a change. 

So that’s when I came up with the design that you guys see now. Once I rendered it up in my design software, I just knew that it was it. I was in love with it and if you haven’t seen a lot of my rooms already, I really love green, so the green really just sold it for me and the original design probably would have looked nice, but I just felt like this was it for this house. 

In the end, I’m glad that I decided to go with this design. This is another reason why I do like rendering up my designs before I dive into my renovations

The Demolition

Now, with the design plan all mapped out, it was time to dive into the demolition. Unfortunately, once we assessed all the materials, I made the decision to replace all of the drywall. I knew that there was a chance from the initial inspection, that there was existing damage before I bought this house, so just to be safe, I ended up taking down all of the existing drywall and adding new drywall in to make sure that everything was good to go. 

We also had to end up jackhammering the floor in the kitchen because I really wanted to add an additional sink in the hidden pantry. I felt like having an additional huge pantry without a sink would just be a bad call, so my plumber was able to jackhammer the floor and find the existing plumbing to the kitchen sink and was able to hook up an additional sink off of that. 

Then we demoed the tile floors, which was super easy to get up, and then started rebuilding everything. This process really didn’t take long. It took about a week for us to take down all the drywall, get the floors up and replace the drywall back and mud and texture so that we were ready for paint.

Painting the Room

Next up was paint! Again, I was excited for painting because I absolutely love the color green. I didn’t realize until I moved into this lake house just how much I love it. I have three rooms already that were green. I actually had to change the color of a room because I was realizing that there was way too much green in this house.

I decided to go with Behr Marquee Paint - Black Bamboo in Eggshell.

I’ve actually used this color before, you can check that out here. this was a big reason why I decided to go with it this time because I’ve already used it, so I knew exactly what I would be getting. I did end up going with eggshell because it is a pantry and I knew there’d be a sink in here, so I wanted the walls to be a little more durable. Usually, I am a matte girl but again I wanted it to be durable. I used my favorite rollers and paint stick and used my favorite brushes to cut in.

The Tile Installation

I wanted to make sure I did all of the wall painting before I installed the floors because I couldn’t risk messing up these amazing marble checkerboard tiles. I had my tile guy install these tiles in a checkerboard pattern because I knew it would be the perfect match to the green cabinets. It was laid exactly as I had designed it in my rendering above, but no one could prepare me for the actual result because it looked way better in person. 

I actually partnered with RIAD TILE on this project and I had such a great experience working with them. These tiles are gorgeous and they have so many other amazing selections to choose from. I’m definitely eyeing a couple of other tiles for the kitchen now.

If you're interested in these exact tiles you can find them here:

Calacatta Gold & Nero Marquina 12x12 Marble | Honed – Checkerboard Bundle

I decided to go with a black grout because I felt like that would give it a more seamless look and I was right. Once I was able to see it all finished and grouted, I was extremely satisfied with the result.

Cabinet Install and Painting 

Now let’s get into the cabinet setting and painting. First, we had to start by setting all of the cabinets and this really was pretty simple process. Once we got the cabinet in to place, we simply attached it to the wall using 3 inch wood screws.

You want to make sure when you are attaching your cabinets to the wall that you are using studs, if you need help finding studs this is my favorite stud finder. I usually have great success using it. It always puts me right on the stud. 

Once all the cabinets were attached and set, then I started the painting process. Now, don’t be alarmed by all of these steps in this process. Yes, it is a lot and it took a lot of work, but you must follow all of these steps in order to get a nice and clean finish.

But let me preface this by saying, if the paint guy is giving you a high quote, it’s probably worth every penny. I was quoted $5500 and before I started painting, I was telling myself, there’s no way I’m paying that but after I actually painted the cabinets and did all of the steps that it takes to get the type of finish that I want, I realized quickly that $5500 would’ve been worth paying. But if you're still like me and you still wanna save money, follow these steps and you should be just fine!

Step One : Sanding

Sanding is one of the most tedious and unenjoyable steps, but probably one of the most important, if you want your cabinets to have that smooth finish. First, I sanded my cabinets down and normally when I’m sanding, I start at a lower grit because the lower the grit, the harder the surface and then I work my way up. I typically start with a 80 grit sandpaper to get the rough surfaces sanded down and then I go in again with a 180 grit sandpaper and then again with the 220 grit. If it sounds like a lot, it is, but skipping these steps will compromise your smooth finish. This is the time when you really want to give it a good sanding.

Step Two: Priming 

Again, another important step to a great finish. After sanding, I wipe the cabinets down with a damp cloth to remove all of the dust and then  I go in with a primer. This is the primer that I typically use on most of my projects. It usually takes two coats for good coverage, so I just went in and did two nice coats of primer.

Step Three: Sand Again 

I know you’re probably thinking, but we just sanded, but listen, sanding between coats is the secret to a nice smooth finish, so just stick with me here. Once that primer is all dry, you’re going to go in again and sand. This time you’re going to go straight to the 220 grit and then again with the 320 grit. This doesn’t have to be a hard sanding. You can just lightly sand each cabinet down and you should be able to feel the softness with your hand. Trust me, you'lle know when it's sanded good. Then don't forget to wipe any of the excess dust off of the cabinets, you can use a microfiber cloth to do so.

Step Four: Paint Your Cabinets 

Now you’re gonna go back in and actually paint the cabinets with the color that you have chosen . Anytime I am painting cabinets, I always use a high gloss paint because it will be the most durable for your cabinets. I actually like using Sherwin-Williams paint when I’m doing cabinet painting because they have a really good grade of paint and they do color matching, so I was able to color match the color to the black bamboo. I used the bamboo color match on the bottom cabinets and I used 7634 Pediment on the top cabinets in the All Surface Enamel Paint Hi-Gloss. You are going to repeat this painting process twice. I painted the color onto the cabinets once, and did a light sanding with a 220 and again with 320 grit and then painted them again with the same color. The two coats should give you the result that you need.

Once these steps are complete, you should be good to go. Some people like to use a clear finish and that may be needed based on the paint that you use. This is another reason why I like using this particular brand of Sherwin Williams paint because that’s usually not needed when I paint with it.

Finishing Touches

Now, for my favorite part, adding in all of the finishing touches, here is a list of all of the additional products that we used to bring this pantry to life.

• Overhead Lighting
• Sconces
• Dual Beverage Fridge
• Touchless Faucet
• Floating Shelves
• Hardware Knobs
• Hardware Handles
• Dishwasher
• Backsplash Tile

First, I want to talk about these amazing lighting choices from Rejuvenation. These were gifted for this pantry and I absolutely love how the overhead lighting was a simple but complimenting choice and the sconces were the perfect addition to have above the floating shelving.  

Rejuvenation also provided me with the floating shelving which was really nice to not have to build these. They were super easy to install and they coupled really well with the arched cabinet. I honestly feel like the arch cabinet is one of the stars of the pantry. It definitely stands out on its own and I’m glad that I decided to leave it natural wood because the mix of textures and colors just really elevated the space. 

I talked to briefly about the hardware above, but the silver hardware pieces really brought everything in the pantry together, again I am a gold girlie, and I know some people mentioned that I should’ve chosen gold, but I just feel like for this space the silver just worked, especially with the appliances being silver. 

I also decided to add in this touchless faucet from Kohler, and then we put in a dishwasher as well because what’s a sink without a dishwasher. 

Last but not least, was this backsplash tile. It was surprisingly cheaper than most tile options that I use. The only thing that I want to note is that if you’re going to use this tile or really any tile, make sure that you purchase the tile all at once. 

I purchased it in two batches and it seemed like I got different colors in each batch. I actually ordered it three times and each time the colors were different. So if you notice the varying colors, that’s why it looks like that. Luckily, I was able to get away with it after I grouted it, but just make sure that if you are going to buy tile, that you try to buy in excess, just in case you’re going to need more.

Once all of the finishing touches were done and in place, the pantry was officially complete.

The Final Reveal

Here is the final result! I am in love with every detail, every choice; this pantry far exceeded my expectations. Not only does it look exactly how I rendered it, but it’s even better in person. Everything came together so beautifully and although it took a lot of work, I feel like I definitely made the right choice with turning my formal dining room into a hidden pantry. 

It has gotten so much more use now and it feels way more functional for the space. The star of the show hands down are these checkerboard floors, they make such a bold statement and the green couples nicely with it.

I also love how the silver hardware grounds everything. Typically, I like to use gold hardware when I'm using green but this time the silver just felt like the better choice here and I was right. This rejuvenation hardware was so beautiful.

Every single additive just elevated the space, from the floating shelves to the arched cabinetry to the backsplash tile. It just works.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading about the process of how I brought my pantry to life and as always thanks for reading.