Pantry painting

Kenny and I tackled one more project that I happened to photograph along the way, just so I could share it with you guys!! Aren't you excited!? *grins*

We repainted the inside of all of our kitchen cabinets about a year ago. We wanted them to be fresh and clean, bright white inside. Well, I had never gotten around to painting the inside of the pantry, a much bigger space. I was feeling quite in the Spring cleaning mood, so while I cleaned out our entire pantry I decided now was a great time to get to painting too!

Now this is brutal honesty right? I could have cropped all of those pantry items out of the picture, but you guys deserve the truth. Just wait for the after pictures *laughs*
After I cleaned everything out of the pantry and wiped down all the surfaces with TSP, a cleanser and oil remover, my sweet Kenny got right down to business!

When we originally did the kitchen cabinets we tried white paint by itself and white paint over white primer..... well, the primer significantly reduced the number of coats needed to achieve complete coverage, so this time we decided to go straight for the primer. It always sounds like and expensive and unnecessary step to me, but from personal experience we decided it was a must.

We also talked about and debated back and forth about what color to paint the actual shelf surfaces. White works great in our kitchen cabinets where it is mostly plates and glasses inside, but we were concerned that aluminum cans and such would really mark up a white surface.
So, to coordinate with our kitchen (above) we decided to paint the shelf surfaces red. We have also discovered the glory that is dark primer under dark paint. I really love glidden gripper grey primer. It goes on really smooth and covers completely in one coat. (no, I don't work for glidden *laughs*)
Ta-da! We were really pleased with the outcome. It looks bright, cheery and fresh. I love how crisp the red looks against the bright white. I was teasing Kenny that this is our "Boomer Sooner pantry". He said "it looks like Jayhawk red to me"!
After a few days of dry time I loaded all of our goods back inside and couldn't believe all the extra space we have now that I've organized things! I think I'll put my electric mixer on that empty shelf. That way it will be out of the way, but still easily accessible.
I also wanted to show a close up of these cutsey stainless steel canisters that I got for a wedding present. I just now finally filled them with flour and sugar and such and they are just adorable! Love them!!

I'm ready to tackle some more home projects! Bring on the work! *grins*