A new pantry door

One of the many reason I love to blog is because I know some of you get excited about the little projects that I get excited about too. Or at least you act like you do. (That is so nice of you.)  ;)

I was so happy about this one, I couldn’t wait to share it with you. I even took NIGHT pictures. Which means I REALLY wanted to show you, cause you know that’s just asking for horrible pictures. (Which with the new camera are not nearly as horrible, by the way. Kisses to you Canon Rebel.)

I have a warning though – so far in our mini kitchen redo, there are now two DIY projects I suggest you hire out for if at all possible…the sink/faucet installation and hanging a new pantry door.

Both were just insanely annoying and full of issues, one right after the other. Maybe not for most people, but for me. Because that is how I roll.

I’ve been dreaming of a glass paneled door to our pantry for years now. I don’t know why – I’ve just wanted to do it forever. I think it’s because I always see them on those fab, walk in pantries you see – it seems like there’s always a cute glass door. Our pantry is TEENY – so I just want it to feel good about itself. ;)

When I got the opportunity to work with the free Amex points, I knew my day had finally come to get the pantry door of my dreams.

I went straight to Home Depot and got it!

And it sat in our dining room for six months. SIX. You can tell how excited I was to install it, huh?

Well, in an effort to get more of the redo wrapped up, I called my Dad last week and asked if he could help me out. Dad to the rescue (again!!). The first issue we had to deal with – the door was too big (wide). Buy a millimeters, really.

Of course it was. :)

My sweet Dad loaded the door in the car and took it to the woodworking shop who cut the butcher block for our island. They whipped it through their machines and got it planed down in less than ten minutes.

Have I mentioned how awesome this shop is?? When I was there last, they had built an 18 foot butcher block counter for a butler’s pantry in a mansion. Eighteen feet. For a butler’s pantry. It was GORG. Stunning. HUGE.

Anyhoo, we got it home and Dad started the process of installing the hinges in the door – he got them all screwed in and issue number two was realized – the door was upside down.

Of course it was.

He fixed the hinges, we hung it up, and even though the door had been cut down plenty, it still didn’t fit.

So…I had to do what we were trying to avoid – mortise the hinges:

(That would be issue number three, if you are counting.)

It’s actually quite easy to do – it’s just time consuming and messy. If you’re interested, I’ll show you how to do it in an upcoming post. Heck, I’m going to show you even if you’re not interested, so booyah.

I borrowed a knob set from a friend that locks into place and shows you just the spot to drill into the door:

Issue number four came when I was trying to drill the hole – I kept telling Dad something was stinking bad…and as I was drilling it was getting worse and worse.

And then I saw the smoke coming from the drill. Lots of smoke. The smell was the insides of the drill burning.

Of course it was. :)

It was thisclose to bursting into flames. Dad thinks I exaggerate just a bit, but seriously…thisclose.

So…off to Lowe’s I went for another drill. YAY!

The new one got through in no time, and then I did the side hole for the latch as well:

The kit pictured included both hole saws you need – I would definitely recommend it if you are going to hang more than one door!

I installed the knob again, and it was finally hung:

And it only took two days! Sheesh.

I couldn’t decide between black or white paint for the door – I was leaning toward black because I knew the white would look too similar to the windows and door in the bay area next to it.

I wanted it to shine!! :) So I asked my friend Layla to do her Photoshop mojo on a the picture above, and the black paint version looked AWESOME.

One coat of tinted primer and two coats of black later…

I am in luuuurve!! OH, I am so thrilled. It looks JUST like I’ve pictured in my head for all these years.  :)

Oh I forgot to mention my least favorite part of the whole project…taking the plastic off the glass:

OH dear LORD…I think I lost my mind just a little bit. It was insane. I mean…like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I will be pulling itty bitty bits of plastic off of the windows for months.

Reason number 88,348 I love my husband – he walks into this mess after working for 12 hours straight and doesn’t even bat an eye. We were meant to be, my hubby and me.  ;)

My plan was to put some window vinyl stuff over the glass panes:

But the kind I got wasn’t the frosty look I was going for. Then I wondered if I could just use the frost spray paint – has anyone tried that? My only concern would be how it holds up – I figure it would scratch easily. I wonder if I just spray the windows from the inside, maybe it would hold up better?

I gotta tell you though – once I rearrange my shelf labels so they are centered (yes, that’s giving me hives) and clean the pantry a bit, having it open doesn’t really bother me.

Crazy? Maybe. But I’m allowed – it’s my pantry.  :)

My little glass pantry door dream has always included a soft light shining down inside. I tried sticking an LED light inside just to see how it looked and it accentuates the mess just a tad:

So that may not be happening. :) I would use a softer, non LED light if I did it, but we’ll have to see if I cover the windows first.

So there you have it – one of the most annoying DIY projects I’ve encountered. But, yes, grumble – it was totally worth it. I absolutely love it.

One of the little things I love about the new door is that it allows SO much more light in the pantry – even during the day, when the old door was open it would block the light from the window. Now the light shines right through and we can see our food! (And I can find my cheddar and sour cream chips soooo much easier.)

Do you see the little extra project (above) I started while I had the paint out? I primed and painted some of the base on the table and OOHHHHHH, it’s going to look FAB!!

I was too tired to finish the table today, cause our kitchen was a disaster area – this is what you don’t see in the pictures:

Paint tarps wadded up and tossed out of the picture. Little pair of jeans on the floor. Island covered with things I took off the table:

Our dinner still on the stove. Dishes everywhere. Popcorn popper from four nights ago. A massive bag of Dum Dum suckers on the counter. (Why?? I don’t even know.) Bag of supplies from True Value (from a week ago) that I haven’t put away yet.

I told you I chuck stuff out of the pictures. The clean house is all an illuuuuusion. ;)

So, do you have a glass pantry door? Do you have a pantry closet? Or a itty bitty one like us? Do you even have a pantry? (Bless you who are pantry-less.)

 

P.S. Why does spell check still not recognize “booyah” – helloo??

P.P.S. I did some organizing in our pantry last year – to see that post, go here.

 

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