I‘ve been doing a bit of research on pre-war kitchens and have come across many photos of kitchens where style and beauty is in the simplicity and functionality, some more utilitarian than others, and then those in contrast with their large open spaces, vast cabinetry and boasting enormous and grand pantries. No doubt I wish I had one of those large pantries.
Having a rather small kitchen with limited storage space I looked through photos of these prewar kitchens for simple storage ideas that I could incorporate here that would be in keeping with the vintage and rustic feel of the lodge. This old photograph to the right of a woman in a well stocked pantry actually gave me an idea. In the kitchen is a doorway enclosing a staircase that leads to the basement. So taking cues from the photos I used the space along and above the stairwell to create a pantry.
In an old log home you do what you can with what you have.
Using a stairwell as a pantry is not an uncommon thing mind you but it does make reaching for things a bit of a balancing act at times.
Today being a rainy day – was the perfect time to clean and reorganize the pantry and as much as I hate to disclose it mice do leave their ‘presents’ (pun intended) known.
With winter approaching they seem to race into the house from all directions. The cats, whose sole purpose is to catch mice as far as I’m concerned, will bat one around every now and then and on the rare occasion catch and kill one. So the traps have come out. To tell you the truth as much as I hate taking a dead mouse out of a trap I do get a twisted pleasure hearing that familiar snap of the trap.
Anyway, cleaning the pantry is no pleasure task; empty the shelves, scrub them down with bleach, clean all the packages and replace everything in some sort of order. I must admit though as much as I don’t care for having to do it – it is nice when every thing smells clean and fresh.
Mice have their way with almost all packaging. They chew through bags of flour, sealed containers of goodies and chew through just about every box to get at the contents. But alas, they can’t chew through glass. So as a way to help discourage the critters in addition to setting traps, I seal just about anything that can be sealed in a glass jar thereby leaving nothing for them to fancy.
I use one of those vacuum seal contraptions from those late night TV ads. A Food-Saver. I love it. I empty the flour or any other dry good not in a can into an appropriately sized Ball jar where the mice cant get into it and vacuum seal it closed. If you decide to do this remember to mark your jars to identify the contents and date them. Items I use least are toward the upper back of the pantry.
Reaching to the back of the pantry on the upper shelves can be a bit tricky as one must straddle the stairs below using a small ledge opposite of the shelving.
I have often thought about having a fitted board handy to drop across but I’m used to the straddle.
The stairs were just raw wood steps and a bit of an eye sore so I decided to paint them up and try to make them look a little more interesting. A few hours and a pot of coffee and the steps turned out pretty well. Painting the steps a solid color just didn’t do it for me and a runner was out of the question.
One night about 2 am I had an idea. I’d paint the steps to look like it was an old runner.
Using a pattern of an antique rug that I have I started painting around 3 am and was finished up later that morning. I wanted the painted step to appear as if they had always been like that so once the paint was dry I brushed on and wiped off a couple of coats of dark wood stain. The stain helped to antique the steps. Once that was dry I brushed on a few coats of polyurethane. They have held up well to regular traffic.
I’m curious if other anyone else out there have done other similar projects in their home. If so — drop a note — I would love to hear about it and throw in a link to your site so that visitors here can take a look.
Has anyone painted a mural in their home? Or have you done any sort of special painted finishes?
I’m also curious about how some of you without pantries or small pantries have utilized the space in some creative fashion.
Feel free to leave a comment and share your creativity.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Would love to share your pantry photos and story on Other People’s Pantries!
Hello Lydia — Love your website The Perfect Pantry. I’m exploring the Other People’s Pantries section as I plan to build a new expanded pantry for additional storage and there are some really great ideas that people have shared.
Note to readers: you can follow Lydia and The Perfect Pantry website on twitter at @perfectpantry.
I am trying to decode whether to paint our basement steps. Yours are awesome. I think they would look so much better than the raw wood that they are at present. One concern I have is that they might be slippery. Are yours slippery?
Hello Ellen — Thank you. No they are not slippery.
Hi!,
I loooove the way you painted your basement steps! I also love that you painted the toe kicks or whatever those things are called between the treads. It looks mahvelous! I have a fairly deep ledge next to my basement steps that I put Igloo coolers on but never did it occur to me to put in shelving as a pantry. What an excellent idea!
Hello Patricia — Thank you — It was a lot of fun to create the pantry and paint the steps.
Hey Jeannine! — Thanks
I appreciate that!
Yeah the stairs were just raw before. Ill have to write up a post on how i peinted them — the process and all — I have before and after pics.
But very simply I used floor paint of various colors from various manufacturers. First I painted the stairs red then after making some stencils out of cardboard I drew on the design based on an old indian rug I have. — Then painted between the lines. For the lines I just used a small art brush.
Once everything had dried I used a dark walnut stain to tone them down and give it somewhat an old antique look — then after a few minutes wiped off the stain.
Once dry – I (gasp) used polyurethane — i think that is the only time I have ever used the stuff. I gave it a couple of coats of that stuff and let it dry.
ahhh your place is looking so cool! the final touches will be coming soon. Yeah would love to see the photos –
In the meantime Ill work on a post about painting the stairs.
Bearfort
The pantry is so cool and the painted stairs are AMAZING! What kind of prep, paint and sealant did you use to execute it? Inquiring minds want to know!
I’ve not done anything quite so cool here in HiP yet, though I would like our friend jeff to design a frieze for us, which I would paint. But the decorating of this place is so far off into the future that it makes me sad. My in-law’s have a number of cool painted features in their house…I’ll try to get pictures.