I was SO excited to share this little project with you during my Fall home tour last week! I had been dreaming about this for over a year and I am beyond thrilled with the result. It was such a cloudy day when I took these pictures so I will try to get better ones to post soon. I will be sharing a tutorial for this project sometime this week. I designed these shelves so it is physically impossible for one of us to knock a jar off... Intrigued? I will share all of the details in the tutorial!
We have a really tiny pantry. The door is about half the size of a regular door... so more like a cabinet than a pantry. I started to brainstorm ways we could improve our storage with the kitchen renovation, and I thought of this fun shelf area. I was inspired by old country stores.
One of my favorite places in the small town I grew up in, was a little, old country store/pharmacy. It had a long bar with adorable barstools and lots of jars filled with penny candies and other things for sale. I have always loved the look of the old country stores with all of their pretty crisp jars, and I thought it would be fun to recreate that feeling here in my kitchen. I loved the idea of having all of the pretty sparkly jars filled with everything we needed readily accessible. I even have little scoops in some of them, just like the store.
Some of you asked what I have in all of these jars. I had 3 criteria for what to put in them:
1. Things we use regularly.
2. Things we buy in bulk.
3. It wouldn't look terrible in a jar (but honestly, jars make everything cute, don't they?)
I figure it will change over time, but for now I did whole wheat flour, white flour, Cheerios (hello, I have babies), powdered sugar, brown rice, packages of pasta, brown sugar, oats, pretzels, white sugar, pasta, popcorn, Chex, Rice Crispies, split peas, black beans.
I plan to paint the lids... or maybe Rub n' Buff them? I am not sure yet. I want to make sure they don't clash with the faucet, so I think I will tone them down a bit.
I put a basket that I purchased at HomeGoods several years ago under the shelves for more storage. I am hoping to find one that is a bit longer so it will add even more storage and look more custom.
I searched for months for airtight jars that were big enough to make a nice visual impact, as well as actually provide enough storage. I spent hours online, visited every store I could think of, and these jars from World Market were the only ones I found that had everything. Target had some with a lid with a metal knob, but I liked these lids and, more importantly, the seals better. I bought a few here and there over the past several months (I'm telling you, this project was a year in the making) to help diffuse the cost a little. I am SO happy with the end result.
As you may or not be able to see in the pictures, I still need to touch up some of the paint and install the rest of the baseboards, but I love this whole space now.
I will be sharing a tutorial for this project sometime this week. I designed these shelves so it is physically impossible for one of us to knock a jar off of them! Intrigued? I will share all of the details in the tutorial this week.
I hope you have a great Monday!
Linda Dietz
My lovely daughter-in-law, Jen just directed me to your site to show me this project. It is absolutely wonderful! I have a fairly large kitchen & don't really need the pantry space...but I love your project because it oozes homeyness! I am looking forward to visiting your site often. By the way, do you happen to know if the jars are still available at World Market?
Kim @ Life is a Lullaby
Love this! This is the same problem we have and I've been thinking about buying a stand alone pantry but love this idea instead!
Shelley
Love it! It turns out so great!
Kristen Whitby
Thank you so much Shelley!
Poppy
Cute! I love jars. These are great for storage and looks great. I like the last bit in your blog. The practical part of it, 🙂 designed so that it is physically impossible to knock it off!
Kristen Whitby
Thank you Poppy! We love them!
Krista @ the happy housie
These look so amazing staged with all of your beautiful big jars= what a great way to decorate the kitchen!!
Kristen Whitby
Thank you so much Krista! 🙂
Katie
I love this idea! I, too, have a small pantry, and adding shelving with the jars is such a fun twist!
Amy
Beautiful! Job well done!!! I too will be getting ideas from your new open pantry. Namely those fantastic jars! Also, if I may ask, where did you find your botanical/insect prints? I've been on the hunt for that style & can't seem to find them anywhere. Thanks for sharing your new creation with us! 🙂
stephanie
This is gorgeous. I have a big empty wall in my kitchen and have been bouncing ideas around on what to do with it. Now I know and I am on mission to find some jars.
Thank you for the inspiration.
Cheers,
Stephanie
Andrea
Any idea when you will post the tutorial on how to build the shelves? I can't wait!
Kristen Whitby
You are so sweet Andrea! I will be posting the tutorial on Thursday! My site has been down off and on since last Thursday, and I wanted to wait until I knew for sure I wasn't going to lose the post!
Andrea
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Kristen Whitby
I am sorry Andrea! I tried so hard to get them posted today, but I had more technical difficulties! I will be posting the tutorial in the morning! 🙂
Shannon Morris
We're totally copying you! 🙂 We've been looking for jars this large for a long while! I can't believe how big your kids are getting. We need to come visit you sometime (or the next time you're in SLC, please look us up!).
Kristen Whitby
That's awesome Shannon! I LOVE the functionality of it. I would love to come see you!
Zimtkätzchen und Zuckerschnecke
Oh how beautiful it is! I love your kitchen! And it Looks a Little bit like the "shop" from Mrs. Oleson in our Little house. I love to watch it when I was a child (Charles Ingals was great! 😉
The Jars are ....WOW!!
Have a nice week
Dani
yayın akışları
thanks for shared 🙂
levtem
Becky Laparra
I've been looking for jars like this everywhere! Where did you end up getting them from? Can you post a link?
Erikita
Looks very practical (for adults) - how will it work when the kiddos want a quick snack but can't reach a top jar for Cheerios or pretzels on their own? Or do you keep kid friendly snacks in plastic baggies elsewhere in the kitchen?
vl
Beautiful! I love food in jars. 🙂
Sheila
Jennifer @ Town and Country Living
I LOVE your jars, Kristen! What a great idea and such an impressive visual impact!!
Felicity
Love the look. Can you post a link to where you found the jars?
Esra Sevgi
It looks fantastic! Definitely will be saving this post for inspiration when I have a place of my own. xo
EsraSevgi.com
lea
Could you post how you capped off your breadboard wall behind your great shelves? Love your design aesthetic!
Briana Darnell
This looks amazing! I love it!