Hey! I have a pantry! Like a grownup!

The list of all the projects to be finished before Bea's arrival range in difficulty level from "clean the laundry room" to "decorate the nursery." Either mundane things that really needed to be done anyway, or room-shifting, multi-layered, spread out tasks.  Somewhere in the middle of that range was "turn the extra closet into a pantry." Definitely neither difficult nor expensive, but it was still just...there.  And necessary.  I had food tucked into the oddest little places all around the kitchen, and some sense needed to be made. 
"Where do you keep the bread?" 
"Next to the mugs, just below the dog medicine."
"Do you have cereal?" 
"Yep - in the cabinet next to the fridge, right behind the crock pot."
"Peanut butter?"
"On the shelf above the measuring cups."
"Where's the toaster oven?"
"In the laundry room." [toaster ovens are useful, but ugly.  My kitchen is not ugly.]

Luckily, just around the corner from the kitchen is a coat closet that we didn't really need for coats [there are two other coat closets within 25 feet on either side of this one, so we're set.]
Aaaand here it is:

And here's what it looked like on the inside.  Crap on the available shelves, and what wouldn't fit on a shelf was dumped on the floor, in no particular order.

Since the closet was already there, this was a very straightforward project.  1: add shelves 2: make it prettier 3:fill the shelves.
So I emptied out the closet.  And at this point, my dad came over and wired in an outlet on the wall on the right, tucked away behind the door, so I could plug in the toaster oven.

Nothing was wrong with the existing shelves.  Quite the opposite, really - everything that's original to the house is STRONG.  So I primed and painted the shelves white [all latex and low-VOC - don't worry ;)]  Then I let the shelves cure for a couple of weeks.  Partly because painted surfaces need to to really cure before setting stuff on them, and partly because I couldn't make time for the next step for a few weeks.  It happens.

Step 2: get rid of the sad, weak beige walls.  I painted them my go-to pretty color, "dusty miller" by Glidden.  And it got prettier :)

Step 3: Contract the husband to install pre-made melamine shelves.  Oh, and ummmmm, this shouldn't have to be said, but measure the closet before you go to Lowes.  *Someone* measured a few months prior, and remembered 8 feet.  So we bought 8 foot shelves [for only about $20 each!].  And in reality, the closet is more like 7' 8" so we had to get out the sawhorses and chopsaw, and cut off a few inches.  Adding probably half an hour to this 'quick' project.  [that 'someone' who measured and remembered incorrectly was, of course, me.]
Moving on! Each shelf sits on 3 sturdy brackets [coming in at 10 bucks each], and each bracket is securely screwed into a stud.
I decided on just two more shelves because - as much as I love all the crazy cool pantry systems at the Container Store - pre-planning all that out would be so. friggin. stressful.  Just not how I like to roll.  So just two shelves, spaced out to accommodate an extra large box of cereal [priorities] and pretty baskets and containers from Target were all I needed to get my own system started.

Then I filled up the shelves!

Now I have room for THINGS!  And things have their own place!  There's plenty of room to grow, too.  I can always add more baskets and organizers, and the space can evolve to fit our needs for years.
AND - bonus! - I gaining space in my laundry room closet, which housed big, rarely-used items like drink dispensers for parties, coolers that were on the floor in random places, and the like.  I also gained some space on a few shelves in the kitchen that will now house bottles and sippy cups.  Because I guess I'll have a few of those that will need a place to live...