DIY Pantry Renovation

Last updated August 21, 2024

Corey's motto, "I can’t leave well enough alone…". The best therapy for this DIY blogger usually involves a variety of power tools. So, in the few “spare” moments Corey is not entertaining her two beautiful, rambunctious, boys, she can typically be found hunched over a sewing machine and/or covered in sawdust. All in the efforts to create a perfect balance of aesthetics and practicality in our home. Corey and her family moved to Florida nearly three years ago and purchased their first home. The purchase of Corey's home, started a never ending to-do list. Sawdust2Stitches blog is intended to document the process, teach what she can, and occasionally just show off in hopes of inspiring.
A Note From The Home Depot
Organizing your pantry just got a little easier, especially if yours is custom built just like Corey Decker’s of Sawdust 2 Stitches. She transformed her traditional kitchen pantry to be more functional and organized with the help of The Home Depot. Check out the step-by-step DIY process of how she customized her Pantry below.
Table of Contents
Purchase Materials
Prep Materials
Assemble Base Unit
Add Desired Shelves
Build Face Frame
Assemble/Install Boxes

While all my cupboards for the most part are organized, the original design plan of my home sometimes baffles me. For
instance,
I have this teeny tiny closet in my kitchen that has so much untapped
potential, there is
plenty
of
dead space that
could
be utilized. This inspired me to optimize it! I decided to team up with The Home Depot to show you how I replaced my builder grade pantry closet with the custom built-in pantry of my dreams.

Purchase Materials
While it is not a hard project it is a large one. I have painstakingly drafted build plans and
written
detailed instructions to help you through the building part, and The Home Depot can help you with all the heavy lifting.
Before we can even delve into the project, we needed
to
tackle our first hurdle… getting all the materials home.
In the past, I would wait until “date night” when my husband and I would take a trip to The Home Depot to help me load full sheets of ¾” plywood…while Andy and I still frequent The Home Depot, I no longer have to wait for Friday night to start a project. The Home Depot offers curbside pickup and they will pull your order and have it ready to go and will help you load up.
You can place your
order
online or
in
their mobile app. I prefer using their app as you can just place your order and look for an email letting you know when and where you can pick up your order.
It is that simple!

While I
definitely needed
curbside help with my large orders, The Home Depot also helps with the small things too.
Let’s say you are in the middle of a project and run out of screws, The Home Depot is here to help. Did you know that many Home Depot stores offer same-day pickup?
I put in an order for screws using my app and was alerted
within two hours
that my order was ready and waiting for me at The Home Depot Lockers. I can safely say my locker pickup was my fastest Home Depot trip ever.
Prep Materials
When working on a large project I prefer to cut and sand all of my boards before assembling. It makes life a little easier when applying paint/stain.

Assemble Base Unit
Regardless if you are using my build plans, or creating your own cabinet begin by assembling the cabinet “carcass” - a term used by builders in reference to the body of a cabinet.

Add Desired Shelves
When designing my pantry I knew that I wanted plenty of drawer storage, along with pull out shelves. One thing to keep in mind when adding the shelves, the ply on the end of the boards will be exposed unless you either, support the ledge with a 1×2” or use edge banding on the exposed edge. I prefer the latter option.

Build Face Frame
A face frame is not always necessary for cabinets, in fact many cabinets are frameless.
However due to the nature of this project I needed to use a face frame.
In most cases the face frame is flush with the outside of the cabinet, in this case the face frame was made to sit flush with the interior of the cabinet. The reason?
With the face frame hanging out over the side of the cabinet it will allow a little wiggle room when installing this in the wall.
This project will require me to cut into my drywall and this face frame will cover the cut drywall and create a flawless look.

Assemble/Install Boxes
The best part of replacing a closet with a pantry is the endless drawer possibilities. With the limited entry space of a closet, there was no way I could efficiently use drawers. I love drawers, so I added a ton of them.
However, if drawers don’t speak to you, you can always opt for easy shelving instead.

Build/Install Doors and Drawer Fronts
Doors and drawers are a great way to really add your own personality to the build.
I was heavily considering swapping out my wood panels in my doors for glass, or even making map style drawer fronts.
The sky is the limit and this build can be completely catered to you and your unique style.

Clearing out the Existing Closet

Before I can bring in the new, I had to take out the old.
I removed all of the wire shelving and hardware.
In order to make space for the new cabinet I needed to completely remove the door, the door frame and even part of the wall.
Buckle up, this is where is gets fun! I started by removing the door and the hinges that are secured to the door jamb.
Once the door is removed it is time to move on to the door frame and jamb. Odds are there will be a substantial amount of caulk around the perimeter of your door.
First cut the caulk line with a utility knife, this will make the removal process much easier. Use a prybar and a hammer to remove the door casing and jamb.

Cut Hole
Before I started tearing out walls, I needed to take careful measurements.
I obviously designed my custom pantry to fit in my allocated space, but I still needed to make sure I transferred my dimensions exactly to ensure my pantry would fit.

After double and triple checking my dimensions, we started cutting drywall.
When cutting drywall, I prefer to use an oscillating tool. In this case I let my husband handle the tools instead of the camera.

Remove Studs
If you are ever uncertain if a stud is load-bearing or not, do not guess. Get a professional’s opinion before ripping apart your home!
In this case the 2×4’s pictured are just framing in the door and can safely be removed. When it comes to removing studs, a good solid
hammer
and a few forceful hits will usually do the trick.

Build the Platform
After much consideration I decided that I wanted to run my baseboard under my new cabinet.
I had considered running the cabinet all the way to the floor and create more of an armoire appearance, but I ultimately
decided that
I wanted it to look like it was completely built in to the wall.
In order to run the baseboard under the cabinet I needed to build a small platform using 2×4” boards.

Insert Pantry
It is now the moment of truth.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous as my husband and I brought this beast of a cabinet inside. I had already double, and triple checked my measurements, but I still held my breath as we pushed it into place. I cannot even begin to tell you how perfectly this thing fit like a glove! Gratefully everything went according to plan and the new custom pantry fit snuggly into its new home.


Before I started loading up the new pantry, I first ensured that it was secured in place.
Using 3½” screws I
drilled through the interior of the unit and into the stud that was directly behind it.
I repeated this step at several different anchor points.

Install Baseboard
The last thing this built-in needed was a baseboard.
As mentioned earlier, I put the pantry up on a platform
so that I could run a baseboard under the cabinet.
I simply cut a new piece of baseboard and installed in under the pantry. Eventually I will add shoe molding, caulk and paint it, but that will have to wait because I simply cannot wait to share the final reveal.

Can you even believe that is the same kitchen? Obviously, it added a ton of storage, but oh my goodness, it transformed the entire kitchen!
Don’t you just love it when form meets function, that’s when you know it is truly a good design.



Ready to tackle your own project? You can do this!
There are so many other great bloggers and awesome resources like The Home Depot at your disposal. So, pick a space that could use a little more functionality and dive in!
This post was created in partnership with The Home Depot. The author may have received compensation for this article and associated images or video, potentially in the form of products and/or services. All expressed opinions and experiences are the author’s own words.