I am excited to share with you my DIY pantry makeover with custom pantry shelves! I will give you the specific measurements based on my own kitchen pantry dimensions, which you can easily adjust the measurements based on your pantry. I will also show you to how to build pantry shelves, how to build pantry cabinets, and how to make drawers with perforated steel sheet to use as vegetable storage.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

A Detailed PDF is also available here that includes all the necessary dimensions, a cut list, and 3D guides.

When we moved into our home in 2017, one of the first things I wanted to do was replace the impractical wire shelves in our pantry with something more functional. When the wire shelves started to pull away from the wall I knew it was finally time to give our pantry a much-needed makeover.

Our kitchen pantry before shot

Before coming up with a design I made a list of what features would help me keep my pantry organized and make it more functional, here is what I came up with:

A designated area for all of our fruits and veggies
Having an area for overstock/extra items
A designated spot for my mop and broom
A designated spot for my Berkley water filter
Aesthetically pleasing

Once I decided on my pantry must haves, I measured the pantry and use my Live Home 3D app to make the final design. I really love this app because it allows you to input exact measurements for a room to see if everything you have planned will fit.

I originally was going to buy pre-made cabinets and drawers, however all of the cabinets and drawers I found were not deep or wide enough, so I decided to make my own out of plywood.

You can see a graphic of our small corner pantry dimensions in this 3D pantry floor plan below

Before You Get Started on Your DIY Pantry Makeover

I recommend you read through this blog post and / or watch the YouTube video before you get started

You don’t have to follow the exact steps I did, but one thing to note depending on the distance between your first shelf and countertop you may want to mount the custom floating shelves after the pantry countertop, especially if its a small space because the floating shelves might be in the way of installing the counter tops depending on how low you make them.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE YOUR OWN PANTRY CABINET

Some of the materials will overlap, but I thought it would be easier to separate the materials for each section you will be building. The Printable PDF guide included exactly how much wood you need to purchase for this project.

Cabinet Materials / Supplies

(3) 2x4x8 for cabinet base
5mm plywood for the back of cabinet (this will be painted so how it looks does not matter)
1/2 plywood for the sides of cabinet (this will be painted so how it looks does not matter, but I would definitely recommend getting sanded plywood, which will save you on time)
3/4 plywood for the tall cabinet (this will also be painted)
1×2 select pine for the front frame (this will be stained so take your time picking nice pieces)
(1) 1-1/2 inch thick pine board for countertop
(2) 1x16x6 pine board for cabinet shelves
Plastic wood filler
Caulk
Caulk gun
1-1/4 Pocket hole screws
3 inch screws (for cabinet base)
1/2 inch screws (for countertop cleats)
1-1/4 inch brad nails (this pack comes with 3/4, 1-1/4 & 2 inch nails)
Shims to level base if needed
Painter’s tape + dispenser (you don’t have to get the tape that comes with dispense, but it makes life easier)

Drawer Materials

Perforated metal sheets for the produce drawer front
1×2 select pine for the front frame (this will be stained so take your time picking nice pieces)
1/2 plywood for the bottom of the drawers (whether or not you get a nice looking plywood depends on if you will be painting it or just adding a clear coat, but I would definitely recommend getting sanded plywood, which will save you on time)
1×6 pine board this will be used for the sides and back of the cabinet drawer box (you can cut down this to the desired height for your drawers)
1×12 select pine (for side drawer #4)
1x8x8 Select pine ( for side drawer #3)
Drawer slides (mines are 14 inches, pick the correct size bases on your drawer depth)
Drawer pulls
1-1/4 inch Pocket hole screws
1 inch Pocket hole screws
1/2 inch screws
Wood glue

Side shelves materials

Floating shelves materials

1/2 maple plywood 2ft x 4ft sheets (if you can find 4ft x 8 ft sheets it will probably be cheaper
2×2 whitewood this will be used as the brackets for floating shelves
Stainable wood filler ( this is different from the plastic wood filler)
3/4 inch brad nails (this pack comes with 3/4, 1-1/4 & 2 inch nails)
drywall anchors (optional if where you want to place your shelves were there are no studs)

Paints / Stains / Clear Coats & materials

Joint compound or Premixed Joint Compound
White paint Benjamin Moore Regal Select in the finish Pearl for wall COLOR: Chantilly lace
Black Paint Benjamin Moore Regal Select in the finish Pearl for cabinets COLOR: ONYX
Stain for shelves countertop and drawer fronts (I used a combination of stains you can see the details here)
Polycrylic clear coat in gloss for all shelves & for drawers
Paint roller
Paint roller cover
Paint tray
Paint tray liner (optional– it makes clean up easier)
Paint Brush for painting and applying polycyclic
Graco airless paint sprayer (optional, if you have paint gun then you don’t need brush or roller for painting, only need brush for polycyclic clear coat)
Ladder if your pantry is small like mine this is the best ladder I found that can fit in a small space
Painter’s tape + dispenser

Tools

Mortar Board
Hammer
Pry bar I used a bear claw bar *Update: I would use this prying bar instead
A utility knife
Putty knife
Sanding sponge
Paint roller
Paint roller cover
Paint tray
Paint tray liner (optional- it makes clean up easier)
Paint Brush
Paint gun (optional)
Ladder – If your pantry is small like mine this is the best ladder I found that can fit in a small space
Painter’s tape
Stud finder
Drill
Drill bits
Brad nailer
Sander
Mitter saw
Circular saw or table saw (if using a hand saw use it with Kreg Rip-Cut Saw Guide
Crosscut Guide (optional)
Kreg pocket hole jig 720 PRO -The one I have
- A cheaper alternative- Kreg pocket hole Jig 320 or Kreg pocket hole Jig
Pocket hole screws 1-1/4
Jig Saw
Level
Laser (optional) if you don’t have a laser you can use a level
Cut off tool
Cut off tool discs
1/2 inch screws
Router
1/4 straight router bit
1-1/4 inch screw
Clamps 6 inch

Time to start this DIY pantry makeover!

Below You Can See The Steps to Build Your Own Pantry

STEP 1- Remove Everything From Your Pantry

First you are going to want to empty out the entire pantry, remove all your wire shelves using the appropriate tools (I just used a drill).

Keep in mind that this project may take a while, especially if you’re fitting it in around work and other activities. To make things easier, I recommend moving all your pantry items to a place that’s easily accessible but won’t get in the way. I ended up putting most of our items on the dining table and storing less frequently used items in my formal dining room.

Step 2-Patch up the drywall damage

Now its time to patch up all the holes your wire shelf left behind.

There area few products available you can use to patch up a wall.

If I am patching a large area then I will use my Joint compound this does have to be mixed and comes in 18lb bag (if you don’t do a lot of projects then you probably don’t need this much) this also does come pre mixed.
Another option is this smaller pre-mixed joint compound 32oz container by DAP that starts out pink and turns white when it dries.

I went with the Joint compound that needs mixing since I had so many holes to patch up.

If you are using the same one I am, mix it following instructions. I use this mortar board to mix the compound on.

You can see how I did it on my YouTube video.

Apply it to the wall using a putty knife.

Once you are all done let it dry, drying time does vary based on which one you use. The one I use takes about 45 minute’s to dry.

When mixed the joint compound should be about toothpaste consistency.

Step 3- Remove Baseboard in Pantry

While I waited on the joint compound to dry, I moved on to removing the baseboards. This is pretty easy to do, it just takes patiences and a lot of muscle power.

Here is what you will need to do this

Hammer
Pry bar I use a bear claw bar *Update: I would use this prying bar instead, I used it to remove baseboards in my son’s room and it made it so much easier.
Utility knife

Here are the steps to removing the baseboards. (I will post a detailed blog post as well as video on Youtube soon)

Cut the seams with the utility knife
Start loosening the baseboards using the pry bar
Pull the baseboard from the wall
Remove any nails left on the wall

Make sure you are patient when doing this or you can end up with a huge hole in the wall like I did.

Step 4- Prepping Drywall for Painting

Once the joint compound is all dry, us a 220 grit sanding sponge to smooth out the joint compound on the wall.

Wipe off the wall with a damp cloth to remove any dust, and also make sure to vacuum the floors.

Now time to paint! Refer back to the list to see what you need. I wanted the pantry wall to be bright since this is such a small space so I used Benjamin Moore white called Chantilly lace.

If you have a paint sprayer now is the time to use it, it will make painting so much faster! I didn’t have one at the time, so I used a roller to paint.

Step 5- Trace Out Your Pantry

Trace out your pantry using painter’s tape.

This makes it easier for you to visualize your pantry to make sure everything will fit.

Step 6 Build Cabinet Base

*This is Step 1 in the detailed PDF Plan*

Time to build the base using 2x4x8, because I wanted the cabinets to have a toe kick I made sure the base is not as wide as the cabinets.

Use your miter saw or circular saw with a crosscut guide to cut the2x4 to the appropriate length, you can find the exact length I cut them for my pantry in the PDF.

After building the base you want to check to make sure it’s all leveled, you can always add shims to level it if you need to.

After building the base with the 2x4x8 cut to the appropriate size, nail the 1/2 plywood to the top of the base using 1-1/4 brad nails and the brad nailer.

NOTE Because I used different scrap pieces I had to fill the seams, I used this plastic wood filler and a putty knife. But if I had to do this again, I would buy more wood so I wouldn’t have to do an extra step.

My toe kick dimensions are 2.75 inches, standard toe kicks are usually about 3.5-4 inches in depth.

Step 7- Build Cabinet Boxes

*This is Step 2 in the detailed PDF Plan*

Before I get into the details of how I built the cabinet boxes, I want to talk about how I did it versus another way it can be done.

What I Did

I built the cabinet boxes in the pantry piece by piece, this way can be tedious because my walls aren’t perfectly straight, most likely its the same thing with your walls. Because it the walls aren’t straight I had to take into account any curves, or angles that were not 90 degrees and adjust my measurement accordingly.

Another Way To Do It

Build each box separately outside of the pantry, you do end up using more materials that way.

NOTE If you do it this way you don’t need to add that 1/2 inch plywood on top of the 2×3 base, because your cabinet box will already have a bottom piece.

Back to how I built my cabinet boxes

Step 7a- Installing cabinet back panel

For the back of the cabinet I used 5mm plywood, because I was trying to prevent from having to purchase more materials than necessary, I used scraps of 5mm plywood I already had from previous projects. A

I used my brad nailer and 1-1/4 nails to nail the plywood paneling to the back of the wall.

Because I used scraps of 5mm plywood, I had to use plastic wood filler to cover all the seams (which is what you see in the picture above). If I had to do it over again I would honestly just buy another sheet of plywood to avoid all of that extra work.

Step 7b- Building the cabinet side

Using my table saw I cut 1/2 plywood into 3 pieces (15 x 32.25). See picture below

If you don’t have a table saw, you can use a circular saw with a Kreg rip cut circular saw guide see pic below

I used this Kreg rip cut circular saw guide when I build my garage cabinets, because I did not have a table saw at the time.

In the video you will see I used maple plywood, that’s because I had some left over from a previous project. Maple plywood is more expensive and since you will be painting this you can use cheaper plywood like whitewood.

Using your Kreg pocket hole jig make pocket holes on 2 sides of the 3 pieces you just cut. See picture below.

*I initially made pocket holes on 3 sides, because I planned on using pocket holes to mount the countertop, but instead I ended up using L- brackets.

You are going to secure this to the wall and base using 1-1/4 pocket holes screws.

I used my laser to help me make sure these sides were drilled in straight, if you don’t have a laser you can use a level.

Step 7c- Building the tall cabinet side

This will be the same as step 7b the only difference is that I am using 3/4 plywood instead of 1/2 plywood and the length will be longer (89.75inches) the width (15 inches) remains the same.

You might have noticed from the picture that the tall plywood does not reach all the way to the edge. Well like I mentioned earlier I wanted to use the scraps of plywood I had left over.

I essentially made my life harder because I had more calculating to do for the frames since I had to take into consideration that gap. So don’t do that just cut the plywood 15 inch wide.

I made my tall cabinet 89.75 inches tall 12.25 inches wide because I wanted the bins I already had to fit in in there perfectly.

Step 7d- Tall cabinet top

Next cut the top of the tall cabinet and attach it using pocket holes with 1-1/4 pocket holes screws. You can see the details in the detailed PDF.

Step 7e- Adding extra support

Next I added extra support using a scrap piece of plywood using pocket holes between the cabinets sides, this will also be extra support for the countertop

Step 8- Adding the cabinet face frame

*This is Step 3 in the detailed PDF Plan*

I used 1×2 select pine for the cabinet face frame. I nailed it using my brad nailer. Then I used plastic wood to fill all of the nail holes.

The reason I went with select pine for the front frame is because it has no knots, I don’t have to worry about filling all those knots with wood filler.

You can see the details of the order I assembled the front frame in the detailed PDF here.

Next I used caulk with my caulking gun to caulk all of the gaps.

After letting all of that dry the pantry is ready for priming!

Step 9- Priming and painting the pantry cabinets

Before starting any painting be sure to tape around the cabinet so you don’t get any primer or paint on the wall. My new favorite tape dispense is from Scotch Blue you can find it here.

If you have a paint sprayer, now would be an awesome time to use it! At the time I painted my pantry cabinets I did not have a paint sprayer, so I used paint roller and paint brushes.

Since the pantry is a smaller space I used this smaller paint roller and paint roller cover and also a paint brush for the corners

I used Zinsser primer, its my go to primer for most of my projects. I did one coat of primer.

Once primer was all dry I went ahead and started painting.

I used Benjamin Moore Regal Select in pearl finish, color: ONYX.

Step 10- Building & Mounting the Produce Drawers

*This is step 6 in the detailed PDF Guide*

There are quite a few different ways to build drawers this was is probably the easiest I found that requires only basic tools.

You can customize your drawer size based on what you will store in there. You can see below the spacing and sizes of each my drawers in the diagram below.

important blush pink transparent graphic

NOTE Your pieces might be different sizes based on your cabinets, I will share the exact measurements of one of my drawers in the upcoming steps. I built different sizes based on what I was going to store in each drawer.

Drawers consist of 5 parts

2 sides
1 front panel
1 back panel
1 bottom

You can see how to make drawers in the video.

When building drawers and deciding on the size you need to take into consideration the size of the drawer slides, I used 14 inch drawer slides. Most drawer slides you need to leave 1/2 inch space between the drawer and the cabinet frame. so if the inside of your cabinet frame measures 17 inches then the width of your drawer should be 16 inches.

You can see in the picture below the distance between the drawer slides and the frame is 1/2 an inch.

Here are the types of wood I used for the drawers:

2 sides – pine & whitewood ( I used both because I had scraps of both on hand)
Back panel –pine & whitewood
Front panel – Select pine (This is better quality knot free pine, If you plan on painting your drawers instead then you don’t need better quality you can just use plywood.)
1 bottom – 1/2 inch plywood

If you plan on staining the wood or leaving the natural wood, then go with a better quality piece of wood. I went with select pine because it’s cheaper than poplar or oak, but it still looks nice.

Step 10a- Cut 1x2 pieces for the drawer slides

Because of the front frame on the left side you will need to add a piece of 1×2 for each drawer slides, in order for the drawer slides to be flush with the edge of the front frame. See picture below.

Using your miter saw cut 5 pieces of 1×2 to size for the 5 drawers, then mount them on the side using 1-1/2 inch screws.

Step 10b- Cut your wood for the drawers sides, back, & bottom

Your measurements may be different based on your pantry size, below here are the measurements for one on my drawers. You can see the details in the PDF here.

Step 10c- Make Pocket Holes

Use your pocket hole jig make pocket holes on the appropriate pieces (the 2 side pieces and the bottom piece), you can see the details in Pantry detailed PDF here.

Step 10d- Paint & clear coat your pieces

Since these pieces are not visible on the outside I chose to only clear coat them with a Polycrylic clear coat.

Step 10e- Assemble the drawer frame

Once the pieces are all dry put them together using wood glue, 1-1/4 pocket hole screws for the sides & 1 inch pocket hole screws for the bottom. Refer to the detailed PDF guide here.

Step 10f- mounting the drawers

Time to mount the drawer slides to the cabinet frame. You can decide on the spacing based on the height of your drawers, I went with 3 inch scrap wood as well as an additional 5mm scrap piece of plywood to leave a 5mm space between the drawers. You can see how I mounted the drawers in my YouTube video.

Step 10g- Cut 1x2 Select Pine for Front Drawer Frame

You can see the details of the cuts of the front drawer frames detailed PDF here.

You can see in the pic below how I decided on the size of each drawer frame, I used a 5mm scrap piece of plywood in between each frame to help me decided on the spacing between the drawer frames.

Since I chose to stain these instead of painting them I decided to go with nicer select pine.

Using 1x2x8 cut according to the cut list shown in the detailed PDF.

Step 10h- Assemble the front drawer frame

After cutting your pieces of 1×2 to the appropriate length add all of your pocket holes and start assembling it together using 1-1/4 pocket hole screws and wood glue.

You can see in the pic below what the drawer frame looks like once assembled.

Whether you will be staining or painting the front framer frame, now is the time to do it. I chose to stain mine, you can see how I did in in my “How to make pine look like oak” blog post.

Step 10i- Make groove cut on inner edge of frame

I used my router and the 1/4 straight router bit ( the rabbeting bit can also be used).

Because I suck at using my router without a guide, I clamped a couple of 1×2 on the table to use as a guide so that my groove at the edge would be straight. You can see the details in my YouTube video.

Step 10j Cut the perforated metal

I thought I could cut their perforated metal with a pair of sheet metal snips, turns out I was wrong, I just ended up with a very sore hand and a bent sheet of metal. Once the sheet of metal bends it is nearly impossible to get it to be straight again. This might of worked if my sheet of metal was thinner. So I ended up purchasing a cut-off-tool , I did have to buy additional discs because the one it came with was not enough.

Step 10k- Attach the perforated metal to the frame

I did this using 1/2 inch screws

Step 10l- Attach the front frame to the drawer

You can see the details of how I did that on the YouTube video, and the detailed PDF. I used 1 inch pocket hole screws and 1-1/4 pocket hole screws.

Step 11- Building & Mounting the Side Drawers

Steps for building these drawers are exactly the same as the produce drawers. The only difference is the front of the drawer that consist of a solid piece of pine. You can see the detailed steps and measurements in the PDF.

Step 12- Side Shelves

*This is step 4 in the detailed PDF Plan*

Step 12a- cut the shelves

I used 1x16x6 pine board for the shelves instead of plywood because did not want to worry about having to add edge band on the edges.

Cut your shelf to the appropriate size using either a table saw or circular saw, and a jig saw. Because my frame was not flush with one of the side panels I had to cut out a section of the the shelf for it to fit properly. You can see it in the picture below. You can see the exact measurements in the detailed PDF here.

After cutting one, dry fit it to make sure it will fit, if you need to trim or sand anything off now is the time to do that. Once you know it fits go ahead and cut your other shelf.

Step 12b- Stain/paint the shelf

I chose to stain the shelves, you can see how I did that in this blog post “How to make pine look like oak” , don’t forget to protect it with a couple of clear polycrylic coats . You can see in the picture below, the right piece is stain where as the piece on the left is not.

Step 12c- Make shelf cleats

DO NOT mount both sets of cleats before the shelves are completely dry. If you mount the ones for the top shelf before inserting the bottom shelf the bottom shelf will not fit.

I used scraps of woods I had to make cleats for the shelves, they were about 1/2 inch wide, you can also use 1×2 or whatever you have on hand. I also painted the black to match the cabinet so you would not see them. I used 1-1/4 inch screws to attach them to the frame.

Once the cleats are cut & painted, mount them to the cabinet for the bottom shelf first using 1-1/4 screw.

Once everything is all dry you can now mount the cleats and install the shelves. You can nail or screw the shelves to the cleats if you want to but I did not think that was necessary to do.

Here is a top view of the cleats

Step 13- Tall Cabinet Shelves

These shelves are pretty straight forward since these shelves don’t have a weird shape. I used the same pine board and cut them to fit the tall cabinet.

Because I wanted these shelves to be adjustable, instead of making cleats, I used these shelf support to mount them so I could easily move them around if I wanted to.

Step 14- Countertops

*This is Step 8 in the detailed PDF Guide.

I wanted a butcher counter top but I did not want to pay a couple of hundreds of dollars for one so I found this 1-1/2 inch thick pine board at Lowe’s .

Step 14a- Cut the cleats for the countertop

Using 1×2 or scrap wood, cut it to the appropriate size to make cleats that can provide support for the countertop.

Step 14b- Measure for the countertop

I used 5mm inch scrap plywood cut into strips and glued them together using a hot glue gun to help me figure out the exact size. I did this because the walls are not 100% straight.

Decide on your countertop overhang measurement, standard countertop usually has an overhang of 1-1/2 inches, I decided on 2 inches.

Step 14c- Cut the countertop

Using your table saw or your rip cut Jig cut the 1.5 inch thick pine board to the appropriate size.

The counter top will consist of 2 separate pieces.

I cut 2 pieces of the 1-1/2 inch pine board. Once I cut the wood to size and made sure it fit, it was time to stain it.

Step 14d- Stain & apply clear coat to the countertop

I used my own stain combo. You can find the details in the blog post “How to make pine look like oak” on the blog.

Once stain is completely dry apply 3 coats of polycrylic to protect the countertop, I used a gloss finish.

Step 14e- Mounting the countertops

In order to secure the countertop to the frame, I used these L-Brackets.

Below you can see the view of the bracket with the cabinet mounted

Step 15- Corner Floating Shelves

Refer to the floating shelves material section of this blog post for materials used.

Before cutting any material for your floating shelves you want to measure your pantry and decide on the pantry shelf depth, I decided on 12 inches for mine.

Step 15a Measure & cut your shelf support

Once you decide on the shelf depth and length, cut your 2×2 to the appropriate size for your shelf support.

Step15b assemble the pieces

You can either use pocket holes to screw these in or just regular screws.

As you can see from the picture below I made it into two separates pieces. I did not assemble it all together before because the pantry is a small space, so it would be difficult to bring it in.

Step 15c- Mount the shelf support to the wall

Make sure to find all of your studs and mark it on the wall with painter’s tape, one side of my wall did not have studs where the shelf stops so I purchased screws with drywall anchors to make sure this would be secure.

I used painters tape to mare exactly where I wanted the shelves to be.

Once I did that I mounted the brackets to the wall with 3 inch screws , don’t forget to drill pilot holes with your drill bit first.

Step 15d- Cut your plywood

Now time to cut both your top and bottom piece. I used 1/2 inch maple plywood, the reason I went with maple instead of pine is because I planned on staining it and the maple plywood wood grain I found looked a lot nicer than the pine. Plywood is one of the best wood for floating shelves because its lightweight compared to hardwood, so it will not add unnecessary weight to your shelf.

To make she shelves you can either do a straight cur on all of your pieces (easier) or you can cut all your pieces at a 45 degree angle so it can look seamless (harder), this method does require you use a table saw.

I went with a 45 degree angle cut. You can see below what a 45 degree cut looks like.

Next I made sure to dry fit each piece to make sure they all fit, you can easily hold them together with clamps.

As you are making sure everything fits label each of your pieces. This makes it easier to know which piece got where.

Step 15e- Attaching the top, bottom & front piece

Once everything is cut, and I made sure it fits, it was time to nail with my brad nailer. I used my clamps to hold it all down as I was nailing everything. I used 3/4 inch nails .

Step 15f- Fill the gaps

Next I used wood filler to fill up the seams, and all of the nail holes I decided to go with Goodfilla wood filler in the color maple/beech/pine you can see how I did it on the video.

Have a damp paper towel or rag to wipe any excess wood filler.

Step 15g- Stain the shelves

I’m sure you are wondering why I did not stain the plywood before mounting it to the wall. Usually, I would, but in this case, I opted to use wood filler to fill in the seams and nail holes first. This way, I could achieve a uniform appearance by staining the wood filler and the plywood together after the filling process.

Before you start staining make sure to painter’s tape around each shelf so you don’t get any stains on the wall. You can see the combo of stain I used in this blog post “How to Make Pine Look Like Oak”

Step 15h- Apply Clear Coat to The Shelves

Once the stain is completely dry I went ahead and applied 3 coats of Polycrylic clear coat in gloss.

The Ultimate DIY Pantry Makeover: Custom Cabinets for Maximum Storage