Beautiful DIY Pantry Updates That Add Tons of Charm
March 05, 2026
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DIY character-filled updates in our walk in butler's pantry!
I made some gorgeous updates to our pantry recently and had to share the final result with you all!
So far this year, I've been motivated and inspired to make some DIY and decor changes to a few of our spaces I've already worked on over the years.
I'm opposite of most -- I get my energy and motivation in the colder months. Summer and heat depresses me, so I'm taking advantage of the winter and spring. :)
The DIY projects have been swimming in my head! Over the past few weeks, I've been working on our pantry that I completely renovated a few years ago:
Before, we had plain shelving around this room. Four years ago I tore those down and installed tall pantry cabinets and drawers in their place.
It's a much prettier space, but also so much more functional now that it's more of a butler's pantry set up. We often use the countertop as a secondary spot for dishes and food when we're entertaining.
Plus, all of our dry food storage and small appliances are organized beautifully in the pull out drawers. I absolutely love this tiny room!
In January, I tackled updates in our mud and laundry room combo. One of my projects was taking down shiplap I had previously installed on one wall.
I removed all of the nails from a few of the boards and repurposed them for the pantry. When I worked on this space years ago, I never continued the vertical paneling on the walls onto this wall by the doorway:
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I'm not sure why I didn't do this at the time? It felt unfinished, so I took down that DIY paper roll and installed some of the boards from the laundry room there:
At first that was my only project planned, but then my wheels started turning...
I wanted to add some color to the room, but didn't want to repaint everything. I have to work around the light gray cabinets, so I was on the lookout for a beautiful wallpaper to install above the paneled walls.
I spent weeks looking online and even ordered a few samples, but nothing felt right. I had my heart set on something in a botanical print with birds. Not sure why the birds, I just had it in my brain. :)
Then one day on a trip to Lowe's, I saw this dark botanical wallpaper -- the colors were perfect and BIRDS:
This is the Emerson peel and stick wallpaper from Chris Loves Julia -- the reviews were absolutely terrible online.
Most of the reviews had pictures of this wallpaper literally falling off of the walls, so I was hesitant. I hung one panel and left it up for a few days before continuing.
It stayed up just fine, but overall this was my least favorite wallpaper I've ever installed (and I've installed a lot of them). It's not very sticky at all and the quality is not great...but I do LOVE the design and moody colors.
I will keep you updated if there are any issues!
After installing the wallpaper, I felt like the trim needed a little more detail. I grabbed small, square pieces of trim from the hardware store and installed them along the top:
That little detail completed it nicely!
After the wallpaper and wall trim, it was time to address the backsplash wall behind the countertop. I recently shared the messy process of removing that peel and stick tile.
Because the wallpaper is the star in this room and I didn't want anything competing against it, I went with vertical tongue and groove boards instead of tile:
At the last second (yesterday!) I added four wood corbels under the shelves for a little added character:
These come with hanging hardware already attached, but I've rarely use it. Since these aren't actually holding the weight of the shelves, I used these self-tapping screws that countersink into the wood nicely:
That way I could fill in the hole and paint over, but can still access them if needed later. I made sure to caulk along the seams and then touched everything up with one more coat of paint.
After all of the big projects were finished up, I was able to rehang the framed recipes I had in the room previously.
I wanted to tone down the bright white of the mat in each frame, so I gave the mats a couple quick coats of the main wall color throughout our home, Agreeable Gray:
It's a lovely neutral that ties in nicely with the creamy/gold colors in the wallpaper.
I also added one more set of DIY cabinet feet under the cabinets -- I make these with small wood corbels you can find at most hardware stores:
I went back and forth on whether or not to install the same vertical trim on the main wall on the left when you walk in, but ultimately decided on all wallpaper:
Not only because I loved the impact of a full wall of the pretty wallpaper, but because I made a mistake years ago when I installed all of these cabinets:
You should allow for some spacing between the wall and the cabinets and I completely spaced that at the time.
That spacer (even a one inch board at each wall is sufficient) allows doors to open fully as well as plenty of room for drawers to open and shut.
Thankfully we haven't had any issues as far as functionality, but if I had installed the paneling on that wall, it would have been tight when we opened the cabinets to the left.
Plus, it would have been awkward and busy to have the panels continue over the countertop to the backsplash.
Overall I love the full wall of wallpaper so I'm glad I went with that option!
I'll take you on a quick tour of the rest of this small space!
Before, I had a few knobs hanging at the end of the room:
Instead, I hung some leftover wood pegs from another project along the long wall to the right:
Do you see Colby peeking out? We don't have anything stored in that bottom shelf and the cats LOVE hiding in there. :)
Those pegs have screws attached, so they are super easy to install!
I LOVE the framed family recipes in our pantry, so I purchased two more of the gold square frames and spread them out over three of the walls instead of two:
The new brass cup pulls on the cabinets function beautifully and are so much more substantial than what we had before:
Since the outlets get a lot more wear and tear, I love these paintable outlet covers that are installed right over the top of the outlet -- no wiring needed!
I sprayed a couple coats of protective glossy spray paint over all of the covers before reinstalling.
I love this view now!:
It's soft and moody, but also clean and bright! The little touches added so much detail and character to this small space.
Now I'm onto some beautiful and functional kitchen updates! I'll be sharing those very soon. :)
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