Kitchen Pantry Makeover, Replace wire shelves with wrap around wood shelving for under $130 DIY

Almost five years ago, I made over my pantry

by removing the deep wire shelving and replacing with wrap

around shelving.

Today, I did it again in my new home and I love it!

It's been on my to-do list ever since we moved in.

This is what I started with... ugh.

I didn't even pretend to straighten it up before taking a photo.

I'm so over this deep, constantly messy, can't find anything,

have to move five things out of the way to get one thing, pantry.

Just like my last pantry makeover, I started by removing the 

wire shelving, patching the holes and adding touch up paint.

I was having a bit of a difficult time getting the Closet Maid wire shelf anchors 

out of the wall but found that a tiny flat head screwdriver helped

pry the nail out just enough to be able to grab with the pliers

and remove it.

I'm not gonna lie... if you remove these types of 

anchors, you are going to be left with giant holes to patch.

It will be worth it, I promise!

Just like last time, I bought all white pre-primed wood boards

for the shelves as well as pre primed 1 x 2's for the supports

from Home Depot and that is such a time saver.

I bought 8 ft lengths and cut to the sizes I needed at home.

I did not paint over it, just used as is.

I spaced my shelves about 13" apart.

You can always adjust the spacing to fit your needs.

**This is a pantry with potentially heavy items like canned goods.

When attaching your 1 x 2's to the wall you must screw the majority

of your screws into the wall studs so your shelves will be super strong and sturdy.

It goes without saying you must also use a level as well when

installing your 1 x 2's... you don't want lopsided pantry shelving.

I used this type of screw I found at Home Depot to 

mount the 1 x 2's. 

**You must drill pilot holes in the

 1 x 2 wood pieces before using this screw or you will split the wood.

I

I mounted the back wall 1 x 2 supports first. Once they were in place,

it was easy to rest the level on the edge of the back support to level the side 1 x 2's.

Then I forgot to take more during pics, but here I'm starting to

lay the shelving boards on top of the 1 x 2 supports.

After laying the shelving boards on top of the 1 x 2's, you then need to secure

them to the 1 x 2's to keep them in place. To do that, I used regular wood screws 

along the back edge of each shelf to screw down into the 1 x 2 supports.

I placed my screws about 6-7 inches apart along the back of each shelf.

**Since you are screwing into the very back edge of the shelf and down into 

the 1 x 2, you must predrill your holes again so the wood

won't split on the edge.

This pantry is a little different and a little larger than my last one. 

In this pantry, the door swings open into the pantry,

in my old pantry, the door swung out into the room.

This means there is no end wall for the side pieces to butt up

against like last time which gave them extra support, instead

my shelves are open-ended...

To remedy my lack of an end wall for my side shelves, I used metal mending 

plates on the underside to secure the side shelves to the back shelves 

and it worked like a charm.

To reiterate and ease any fears or confusion on whether there is enough 

support for the shelves, just remember...

The deeper back shelves are fully supported on THREE sides.

 They are supported across the full length of the shelf by the back wall 1 x 2's 

as well as being supported on each end by the side wall 1 x 2's.

The side shelves are only 6" deep and are supported by the side wall 1 x 2's 

as well as being anchored to the (supported on 3 sides) back shelf

with the metal mending plates. The metal mending plates also

serve to help the corners line up perfectly.

And as mentioned. all shelves are then screwed into the 1 x 2's

that have been securely screwed into your wall studs! :)

I used 12" deep shelves on the bottom two back shelves, 

8" deep for the remaining back wall shelves and 6" on the sides.

Looking in to the left...

Looking in to the right...

Straight ahead...

*starry eyed*

The lowdown on this makeover...

I've gotten so many emails about my previous pantry makeover

from people worried they will lose space. In my last makeover

I felt I had gained space but had not measured before and after so

 I didn't know for sure.

This time, I measured the wire shelf space before I removed them

and calculated I had 21.56 square feet of shelf space.

The after measurements with my new wrap around 

wood shelves measure 21.36 square feet.

So it's practically the same but you will feel like you have more

space simply because you can see everything.

I'll take being able to clearly see what I have in the pantry

over a negligible loss of space any day!

I spent a total of $127 for this makeover including primed wood, 

screws and mending plates, yours could be 

more or less. My pantry is 33"w x 34" deep to where

the door swings in and a 9ft ceiling.

$130 bucks for a lifetime of pantry happiness? yes please!

I started this project one evening by removing the wire shelving

and patching the holes so it would be ready to go the next morning.

I finished the next day so these before and after photos 

show the exact same food and items in the pantry.

Thanks for reading about my latest pantry makeover!

Would love for you to visit my new online store. You can also

find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube and Houzz

or swing by my Etsy shop for reduced prices on remaining paintings

and mermaids.

Until next time!...