Pantry Renovation Phase 1: Inspiration Gathering

There is nothing I love more than wildly romanticizing rooms in my house that typically have a very utilitarian design. I mean, take my laundry room, for example. Did it need crown molding, wall paneling, wallpaper, and the fanciest doorknob in our entire house? I plead the fifth on that one.

I'm already veering off of my 2025 Project List by starting a full pantry renovation, but to be honest. it really needs to happen. It is one of two rooms that have not been fully repaired since a flood required us to rip out the bottom foot of drywall in our entire bottom floor.

Before

It feels a bit presumptuous to call these photos "before" since, well, this is what it currently looks like. It is a small room (though large for a pantry,) at about 4 ft wide by 10 ft long. Currently, it has builder-grade wire shelving, which definitely has to go. In fact, I think it may be falling off the wall in a few places anyways.

Since taking this photo, I found a glass front hutch off of FBMP, which replaced the small bookshelf being used as a cabinet.

This takes us to the present day. You can see better in this photo the drywall that needs to be repaired. That will be the major fix for the laundry room, and then I will be removing the wire shelves to add sturdy wood shelves. The rest will just be fun decor!

Moodboards:

I've narrowed down my search to about 8 different wallpapers which I plan on doing above the chair rail. Below the chair rail will either be board and batten or picture box molding. Since I'm having a hard time deciding, I decided to make mood boards for my two favorite wallpapers and both types of wall paneling.

Moodboard #1 uses this gorgeous terra cotta wallpaper, the hutch that is currently in the pantry, picture box molding, and shelves with ornate corbels to support the weight. I also threw in some fun elements like brass switch plates, baskets, and colorful decor from Anthropologie's spring line. The schoolhouse light is actually one that I used in my bedroom upstairs. You can shop everything from the mood board here.

Moodboard #2 has a bit more of a mid-century vibe. I would install this wallpaper in a heartbeat, except that I think it's a little tooooo similar to the one in my laundry room. In this mood board, I added board and batten, and two shelves instead of one. I also added some fun spring-y decor. You can shop this mood board here!

Which is your favorite?

xoxo,

Melissa