Crown Molding and Pantry Shelves

Hey friends!

Thank you for your VERY SWEET comments on my last post.  I know I am prejudice, but I think I have the sweetest readers and followers of all the bloggers!  (Shhhh…don’t tell ‘em.)  Smile

 

I wanted to give you an update on the kitchen.

Last night, my husband finished installing the crown molding.

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He started with 1x4x8 pine boards.

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Then he nailed 3 & 3/4 inch pine crown molding on top of the 1×4.  This is just a personal preference for us because we like the look of a thicker molding.

(I don’t know if I have ever taken a picture of the other side of our kitchen and shared it with you.  In the above picture, that is our laundry room on the left and the doors to our back patio on the right.)

 

It is a fact that installing crown molding is one of the hardest things that DIYers do.  I’ve seen crown molding make grown men cry.

It takes a “few” practice cuts to get it right.  (Hence, the photo below.)

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If you have never installed crown molding before, I suggest you watch some videos on utube to help you figure it out.  The corners can be very frustrating. 

In other news…

I am dying to get the pantry finished so I can get my food back in it. 

So yesterday, I installed the shelves all by myself.  Seriously ladies, I am trying and learning a lot of new DIY skills during this renovation.  And I am loving it!

(Those were some powerful BIG GIRL panties I put on!)  {wink}

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The first thing I did was to use a level to draw a line where I wanted my shelves.

Then I used a hammer and nail to find where the studs where in the wall.  If the nail goes right through the drywall easily, there is not a stud behind it.  

If you have to hammer harder and it takes a while for the nail to go in the wall, you’ve hit a stud.  You MUST hammer into the studs in order for your shelf to be sturdy and strong.

They make “stud finders” that you can buy, but the old fashioned way works just as well.  Smile

After I found the studs, I measured and nailed my 1×2 pine boards to the wall. 

 

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Then I cut 1×12 pine boards to length for the shelves and nailed them to the 1×2 boards.

 

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I actually installed four shelves, but the picture below only shows three.

 

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I am going to LOVE this pantry.  It is soooo roomy, and it is going to be so easy to see all of our food.

If you ever have a chance to install a pantry in your home, I highly suggest a long, shallow pantry vs. a short, deep one.

The kitchen is coming along!

Today, I did some painting. 

I will share that with you tomorrow.

What do you think of my new pantry and crown molding?  Got any questions?  Feel free to ask!  Smile

 

 

I hope you are having a great week!!!

34 Comments

  1. I love this! I agree about the pantry being long and shallow. I have a cabinet pantry that is deep and narrow, and I can’t fit as much as I would like in it because I would have to practically lay down on the floor to reach the food in the back of the bottom shelves or it would get lost!

    I am loving everything you have done with the kitchen so far, and I can’t wait to see the rest! God bless!!

  2. What wonderful skills you are learning! I love your ideas! And I certainly agree with longer and narrow. I am short, so that would work so much better for me!

    Have fun and God Bless!

  3. Girl, deep pantries just lend themselves to deep messes! My sister once created a pantry from space between studs. Seriously–the pantry was only 4″ deep, but it was really wide. She could only place one can at a time on a shelf, but her rows of cans looked awesome! And she made good use of what would have been completely unused space otherwise. Where there’s a will, there’s a way! :)

  4. Yay! You guys are sure working fast on this project!! Did I miss how you are going to finish the ceiling? Are you going to paint or stain it? I’m going to get through my son’s birthday and the holidays and then I see this pantry in my future. Isn’t it funny how it all started with the cabinets and now the pantry is what everyone is wowing over? :)

  5. Looks great, I can’t wait to see how the “spraying” is going to happen..Are you doing that yourselves also?
    Love the pantry too…Going to make that a winter project..
    Thanks for all the updates!

  6. It is looking so amazing! You’re gonna have a dream kitchen when it’s all done! Nice work on the shelves. Do you have a laser level that you used or did you just use a regular level lined up over & over again?

  7. I was going to comment on your touching & heartfelt post yesterday, but I knew ALL your faithful followers & friends would say it all for me :) You are one of the most HUMBLE & REAL bloggers I subscribe to & that’s why I sooo enjoy being a part of everything you do. You DONT do it for show, you DONT do it because you want to one up somebody else, you do it because you CAN! For those of us who can’t (hand raised here!), we enjoy feeling like we’re right there doing it with you :) We rejoice with you & we oops with you. We all send you virtual high fives & pats on the back cause we know you’d do the same! ANYWHO… I really LOVE your 2 door pantry. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen one?? It’s genius!

  8. Wow! It really looks great! I know you’re gonna paint the ceiling white, but it also looks good as is! It just gonna be beautiful! Can’t wait to see it finished. Hurry up! Ha!

  9. I had to laugh out loud when I read your comment that crown moulding can make a grown man cry. SO true. Something that looks so simple can be absolutely maddening. Imagine your husband’s “practice cuts” x 100 and that gives you the number of cuts my husband did when we installed it at our old house. All I can say is thank goodness for caulk. ;-)

    It’s coming along beautifully! I’m loving the ceiling too – what a beautiful feature that will be. I hear you on the kitchen in disarray though – I’m *this* close to having my kitchen cabinets painted and done, and can’t wait until my kitchen (and house for that matter) can be put back together!

  10. Wow, what a woman!! You are so very daring in your DIY demolition. I was just wondering what is in the space between your stove and the pantry? I can’t tell is there is counter space there or if it is bare.

  11. Great job and congrats on using the power tools. I am very familiar with using a stud finder… that’s how I found my hubby :-)

  12. I love the “moulding technique”!!! I just want you to know that this kitchen just has me amazed!!! I am so loving “Tag along”!!!!!! Terri

  13. I just think it looks great!!! I wish I was as nervy as you. I haven’t found my big girl panties yet. I might attempt making a small table for my granddaughter’s new doll house. We’ll see…. Love your blog!!!

  14. It’s so awesome! all of it. love that ceiling. crown molding…ya that’s my hubby’s fave (not) and we have many more rooms to do. way to go on the pantry shelving, it looks great. see I’m so lazy I don’t know if I would want to work to keep the shelves organized so that they could be seen, much less because they “will” be seen. I was curious as to what you were going to do with the glass doors and then I kept reading. Brave woman! I’m giggling at myself b/c I was thinking; “wow, she’s probably going to frost the glass or something”! Can’t wait to see the next update :)

  15. Hi Traci,
    My name is Courtney. I’ve been following your blog for about a year now, but I’ve never commented. I thought I would tell you my crown moulding experience. I had begged my husband to install it in the dining room of our last house, and it was a nightmare! He had purchased real wood moulding, and it was through a lot of sweat and tears :-) that he got it up there. We had lived in a VERY old home and the walls were so crooked, it was a bear of a project! He actually made it work(my hero) but a few months later when I asked him to install more in the kitchen, he had learned his lesson and purchased the plastic moulding instead. It was a million times easier! And since we’ve always painted our moulding white, it looked exactly the same as the real stuff in the dining room. We have since moved to a new house. We bought a 100 year-old farmhouse in the country, and through our renovations, we have always used the plastic crown moulding. Because it’s a man-made material, it’s pliable, so it fits up snuggly against the crookedness of the 100 year-old walls, (ahh the joys of an old home:-). Anyway, I thought I’d pass that along to you. Your blog has been a great resource for me! I’ve gotten a ton of ideas and inspiration from you.
    Courtney

  16. Traci, this is looking gorgeous!! I love to see your progress reports on all your hard work…which is certainly paying off! You’ve got fabulous taste and I can’t wait to see the finished product! :O)

  17. Wow”…I need to buy a pair of those “big girl” panties! You are my hero…keep up the great inspirational work (And a special thanks for the blogging hints:0 )

  18. Ok, loved the post about envy. I’m guilty. But, of course, you know that. For example, I bought a much needed bookcase off Craigs List and it stayed on my front porch for 3 weeks waiting on someone to help me move it into the house. You know my house is also very tiny with 4 boys. Saying that, while I love the neutrals and white walls, I am now painting my hallway Tobacco Rd. I know, I’m so behind on the trends. But, seeing that streak of dirt from each height of my boys as they rubbed their way down the hallway, I had to rethink light colors. I love using color as it is so much warmer. Since you and I share our love for red, I would vote for some color on the walls. Maybe a sunny yellow, or one of the greens Rhoda from SH used.
    Just a thought…

    Loving all you’re doing to the place. Can I rent your hubby? Oh, and the boys helping with the bookcase?
    They’re injured from sports and couldn’t help. It was heavy and tall!
    Got it in myself yesterday…

  19. Oh, and girls, just a thought to help nudge your hubby? Leave Traci’s blog post up on the computer so when your hubby uses it, he’s curious and looks at it. Worked for me, now to get him motivated to put those ideas to good use!
    He asked me, ” is that the woman you talk about so much? I really like those ceilings.”
    Hmmmm.. it’s a start

  20. I’ve searched your blog and can’t find any instructions about building your pantry. Am I missing something or there just aren’t any. I love your pantry but I’m not that handy! Would need some instruction. ;-)

  21. Hi Traci,
    You’re the first person I found who spells her name the same as mine! I love your pantry and the doors. We recently freed up space for a pantry and I am wondering about size since we are building ourselves. Are you able to share the size of the pantry and the dimensions of the doors?
    Thanks! Traci

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