Pantry Makeover Before and After – From 70s Wallpaper to Custom DIY Shelves

You can imagine my surprise when I opened the pantry for the first time and found this wallpaper staring back at me. Apparently none of the previous residents had wanted to part with it either — it had clearly been there for about 50 years, unbothered. And unfortunately, the wallpaper wasn't the only thing left behind, because it also smelled a little like the 70s. Funky and groovy.

The shelves weren't doing much better. The boards were warped and worn, wouldn't hold up weight much longer, and the whole layout was incredibly impractical — so much unused space. I really wanted the kitchen to feel modern, cozy and clean, so there was no way I was keeping any of this. This pantry makeover was long overdue. And since we just bought and installed a new kitchen - if you want to see how that went first, the planning post is here - this had to be a budget makeover using things we already had at hand.

I thought it would be an easy one-day project. It was not.

The Plan

Strip the wallpaper. Fix the holes. Paint. Put in new shelves. Done by dinner.

That was the plan. Sweet, naive, optimistic plan.

First things first: everything out of the pantry. All the shelves, all the food — we'd already moved in at this point, so our groceries ended up living on the kitchen counters for the next few days. Fun.

For the removal I grabbed gloves, a mask, a sponge, soapy water and a scraper. I tried just ripping the wallpaper off first — I got one tiny scrap before it became clear that wasn't going to work. So I soaked sections in soapy water, waited a few minutes, and got to scraping. Rinse and repeat, all three walls, top to bottom.

Some parts came off easily. Some were incredibly stubborn. And at one point I discovered that someone had patched a missing section of the original wallpaper with a different, slightly newer — but also very old — wallpaper. A wallpaper within a wallpaper. The pantry was basically an archaeological dig at this point.

A few hours later, tired arms, a big sloppy mess on the floor, and the wallpaper finally gone — the walls were bare. Small victories.

Once the walls had dried I filled all the holes and uneven patches with wall filler. I genuinely enjoy this part — there's something really satisfying about watching holes disappear. Highly recommend.

Less enjoyable: the sanding. Especially in a tiny enclosed space where the dust has absolutely nowhere to go. I came out looking like a ghost. But it had to be done.

Once the dust had settled (literally), I wiped everything down and got some off-white paint I had leftover from the kitchen walls. Painting a small pantry sounds easy, but the awkward angles and tight corners made it more fiddly than expected. I also painted the inside of the door while I was at it — it had some stains that wouldn't budge and the original brown paper color was definitely not the vibe.

One coat wasn't enough, so I went back over everything the next day.

For the pantry shelves I used a large piece of leftover wood from an old desk project — thick, sturdy, beautiful color. For the shelf supports on the sides I bought some wooden battens from the hardware store. Using battens screwed directly into the walls felt like the cleanest solution: secure, simple, and it actually looks nice.

I measured the inside of the pantry, decided on different depths for different shelves, marked the wood and made my first cut with a plunge saw. Good thing I checked whether it fit before cutting more — turns out the pantry is slightly narrower at the back than at the front. Why??

So I had two options: cut all the boards shorter, or attempt diagonal cuts of about 0–1cm on each piece. I went with the diagonal cuts. The plunge saw made this doable in a way that hand-cutting never would have. It was actually my first time using one and I was pretty happy with the results — but I'd recommend having someone show you how to use it first before diving in. If you don't have a plunge saw (or similar) at home, the easiest option is honestly to get the hardware store to cut everything to size for you. Measure very carefully, and account for that back-to-front difference if your space is anything like mine.

After some tweaking, cutting the battens to length and a bit of sanding on the rough edges, it was finally time for assembly. And to get the groceries off the countertops, where they had been sitting for several days judging us. But I did it, my very own diy pantry shelves.