Movin' Back Into the Kitchen! Kitchen Update

Our kitchen project was started on July 20. We are almost there. Once the counter tops were installed on Thursday, I've been lining drawers and cupboards and slowly unpacking, since we could finally start to move a few things back into the kitchen. The pantry had all sorts of shelves and racks to install, and I assigned Luke to that job. He did a great job at it, so I asked him to move all our food from the former place it was kept, into the new pantry. It took a couple hours to get it all done and in place, and I couldn't be happier! It was fun visiting with him while he did it, I was lining drawers across the room.

Before the remodel, cooking a meal might require several trips out through the family room, down a few steps and back to get to the entryway closet where most of our canned and dry goods were stored, due to the lack of cupboard space in our old farmhouse kitchen. Now, this new pantry holds ALL of that food and my husband can have the entryway closets back for his hunting gear.

I'm impressed with the storage space in this pantry, and to think I almost had him leave it out and not install it! (It was a choice between this pantry and my old pie safe, seen below, the pie safe stands in the same corner as the pantry does now, above.) i REALLY liked my old pie safe, but will try to work it into another room and make it useful somewhere else. (One project always leads to several others, right?!)

This pantry holds a huge quantity of canned goods and boxed items like oatmeal and pasta, and there are racks on both doors, swing out racks on both of the sides inside, and regular shallow shelves line the back of it on both sides. On top is a large deep cupboard, and inside that are my electric appliances like frying pan and griddle, crock pot and other items you'd want hidden that were once stored in my basement stairway inside a cabinet because I had nowhere to keep them in the old kitchen...

The same corner on July 20th.

We have lots of little details to finish like the toe kick, drawer pulls, curtains, window trim, and when it's done, I'll show it all to you. Hopefully alot of it will get finished tomorrow on a day off for him. I hope to show you a finished kitchen in a week!
XOXO
Joni