A Tired Kitchenware Closet, Renewed

Before

Very tired melamine shelving that just can't hold up to heavy kitchen appliances and equipment. Deep 20-inch closet shrouded in shadows. Unused, wasted space above the doorway.

Time for a revamp!

Step 1: get down to drywall

Bifold doors removed, and taking down the shelves and mounting hardware. Then, a quick lookover for dents that need repair.

Step 2: New shelving

Strong shelf cleats screwed into studs, at exactly the right heights to store specific equipment. (A tall shelf at chest height for big & heavy items, a short shelf for roasting pans. Also, the topmost shelf will be very shallow with a front lip, for flat pans and trays to use that previously unused top space!)

Also fitted quarter-round around the floor to make the walls and flooring meet nicely.

Step 3: Shelves are in

New melamine was an option, but we went for doublewidth pine boards wrapped in shelf liner for strength and sag resistance. This also meant we could make the shelving exactly as deep as the closet:19 inches instead of the old 16".

Step 4: A place for every thing, every thing in its place

Zero sag, plenty of room for all the equipment that was piled on top of itself before. Reinstalled the bifold door, making sure the mounting brackets were cleaned and adjusted for smooth operation.

But we're not quite done, because those deep shelves are still pretty dark in the back, even with the bright fresh paint...

Finished: Ready for Prime-Time

Because we had an outlet available, I installed some plug-in strip lighting with a motion sensor: no need to remember a light switch! And, no glare when you lean in to find something: the lights are nestled away in a channel that directs all the light into the closet, not the side of your eye. (If we didn't have the outlet, a battery-powered strip light would last quite a while with a motion sensor.)

These shelves should last much longer, and stand up to much more abuse, than the old melamine shelving ever could.

"

The lighting makes such a difference with seeing the upper and lower shelves

Erin, Nanaimo

"