More Progress on the Pantry

In my last pantry blog post we were just starting to put up the paneling. Now the paneling is up and so is the trim.

A comment on the paneling. I showed it to you last time. It was the least expensive we could find and I have to say it’s cheaply made. Very flimsy and needs a stiff backing to support it. It could not be installed with only wall studs to support it. And if a nail needs to be pulled out, it tears the front surface like cardboard. We got it at Lowes. Not recommended.

Also a comment about the paint. For as long as we’ve been here, I’ve gone with Valspar brand (another Lowe’s product). The quality has become increasingly poor, and even their good quality takes three or four coats to get good coverage. It remains tacky for weeks after being applied. They say it’s washable but it really isn’t. This time I bought paint at Walmart. It’s their Color Place brand and I got the middle grade. Much less expensive and two coats with no primer have done a very good job of covering the trim. Barely any odor and dries quickly.

So the walls and trimwork are done.

All in all, I like that the room is lighter and brighter than it used to be, even though the pantry shelving will cover most of it. Still to do is to put back the curtain rods and some thermal curtains. I also plan to give the ceiling a fresh coat of paint to cover the stain from when the old pantry roof leaked (photos of that here).

Of course, now the old linoleum looks specially worn and tacky, but replacing that is not on the to-do list at this time. Still, I’m tempted to do something with it before we put the shelves back. Does anyone have experience with painting floors?

The next blog post on the pantry will be much more interesting, I promise. Dan has begun experimenting with ways to cool the room without AC. Neither of us has any clue as to how successful it will be, but we’re curious to find out.