Pantry Recessed Shelving

I frequently scour the free Craigslist adds just to see what kinds of things people are getting rid of. In the past I've been blessed to find a few things that were local and actually in great condition. A few weeks ago I saw an add from a local business that was downsizing their space and they wanted to give away wood that was in their warehouse. It had been used to make displays and show props. My husband and I went just to see what they had left. I had wanted a few pieces of wood to make some photography backdrops and I thought I might be able to get it there. It was a huge warehouse and we filled our van full of wood and beadboard scraps. Some of the beadbord was in long thin strips that I thought would be useless to me, but they really wanted to get rid of it all and kept pulling out small scrap pieces. I was so grateful for the good pieces that I took it all just to help them, thinking that and I would just throw it away.

As I was organizing the wood in the garage I tried to figure out a way to use some of the long strips of beadboard. I have always wanted to try my hand at making recessed shelves and I had a perfect space in my pantry behind the door to do it.

Here is how I made the recessed shelves:

I took the stud finder and marked my studs. Then I made a hole in the drywall just to make sure there were no wires in the way, ( I didn't think there would be since no outlet is on either wall). I removed the pantry door. Cutting drywall can be incredibly messy so I hung a plastic drop cloth from ceiling to floor to keep the dust off the food in the pantry. Using the hole as my starting point, I cut the drywall with a jigsaw. I left about two-three inches of drywall at the ceiling and floor. I cut the long strips of beadborad to fit in the space and attached them with Liquid Nails and small nails, (being careful not to go through the drywall on the other side).

This is not the ideal way to make recessed shelves, but since finances are tight, I was determined to make this a use what I have project.

I had a broken shutter and I cut the outer pieces into four inch strips. Not wanting to measure any more than I absolutely had too, I placed the cans and cartons in the position I wanted them, I placed the wood strip on the container, marked it and nailed it in place. I placed the shelf on them and used the level to make sure they weren't crooked and it worked like a charm! No measuring!

I then filled all of the many gaps with caulking. Once the caulking was dry I painted it with Sherwin Williams paint that I had picked up free at our local recycling center. I trimmed it out with more beadboard strips and the corner squares that I've had for several years that I had picked up somewhere on clearance. Once painted and caulked, the mismatched beadboard and wood doesn't really matter at all. Besides, once the door is back up it will be totally hidden from view.


This gives me so much more space in my pantry and I had great satisfaction and fun doing it with what I had on hand.

I'm linking up with:






http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/11/kitchen-tweak-welcome-to-148th.html