Our DIY pantry (from the only closet in the house)

When we moved in, the washing machine and dryer were stationed in our house’s only closet.  It was incredibly cramped.  We actually had to keep the laundry detergent on the floor because there was no room for a shelf.  There was no light in there and when you squeezed in to do the laundry, the door would always close behind you.  The fact that the machines were black didn’t help the cave-like situation either.  And this ill-functioning mess was also taking up the only closet in the house.  So we decided to move the machines to the basement and turn the room into a pantry.  Here’s what it looked like once we took the door off:

We removed the plumbing, installed an overhead light, ran wiring and installed an outlet.  I scored on a gallon of sunny yellow, semi-gloss “Oops” for only $5 and re-painted.

We installed the cheap, IKEA adjustable wall shelving.  As you can see, I was so excited to have storage that I couldn’t even wait until we had all of the shelves in place to start filling them up.  We didn’t bother protecting the floor or installing baseboards because we are replacing it someday soon.

And here is our finished product:

We already had about a third of the shelving system from the craft room of our previous house. We also had the wiring and outlets from our attic remodel. In the end, with the cheap paint and IKEA lighting, the whole project stayed under $200.  It also saved my sanity since I no longer have to store dishes and food on the small kitchen counters.