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It’s finished! It’s finally finished! Our DIY built in pantry shelves in our basement pantry are finally done, complete with butcher block countertops. It has been just over one month since we started work on this space, and last week I had such a fun time restocking it with all of our food (does that make me weird? Probably).

Click here to view part one of the pantry project!

Click here to view part two of the pantry project!

As a reminder, we used The Saw Dust Girl’s tutorial on DIY shelving. It worked amazingly!

I was a little worried because this is the largest wood working project we have taken on so far, but with my fiancé’s incredible skills (and some great deals on tools at recent garage sales), it turned out exactly as I had envisioned!

For the countertops, we thought about several choices. We originally were thinking either butcher block or hiring granite fabricators for adding timeless beauty to our kitchen. However, the butcher block counters we looked at were all far outside our price range and granite would most likely need a professional installation and that too was a little bit pricey. This is especially true for materials like leathered granite which are much more durable and classy. This is good for some, mind, but for us, it’s just a misfortune that we have to deal with because our budget is stretched. Perhaps one day we will save up for it, who knows!

We took a look at Ikea’s “faux” butcher block countertops, but I wasn’t really sold on them from the photos on their website and the reviews I had read regarding how much upkeep they require.

We found some incredible salvaged wood at the Davisburg Antiques Market in early May that had been from a barn that fell down in western Michigan. We had grand plans to sand it down and stain it and make it into our countertops: what a cool backstory that would be! But the more we thought about it, the more we didn’t like the idea of putting so much work into such a unique piece of interior design, just to leave it behind in this house when we move out in a few years. For those of you who don’t know, we love antiques! The market was fantastic and we got lots of great pieces. I found some gorgeous antique floor lamps and of course, the salvaged wood.

My handsome thrifting helper 🙂

So, we went back to the Ikea butcher block idea! We took a trip to our local Ikea and I was sold. We thought about it for about a week, and then went back and pulled the trigger on one 98″ long, 25 1/2″ deep butcher block countertop in walnut.

I love the contrast of the dark walnut wood with the white of the rest of the shelves and the neutral “kangaroo tan” color we painted the walls. The last items that need to be finished now are the floor, which will be painted black along with the rest of the basement floors as soon as we return from our Disney trip, and the molding around the door. But that is for another blog post. I am also planning on storing jars with lids under the shelves as well to organize the jars and bottles a little better. Attaching the lids to the bottom of the shelves using Sugru mouldable adhesive (you can find out more about mouldable adhesive if you’d like) and then twisting the jar onto the lid could be a fantastic way to make use of the entire space.

(I think the black floors will really tie the whole thing together, not to mention give an industrial vibe to our basement overall. Stay tuned!)

Thanks for reading, friends! What choice would you have made for the countertops and why? Let me know in the comments below!

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