You know that one room in your house that technically makes sense, but just never really works for your family? For us, it’s been the half bath in the hallway off our kitchen. Convenient? Sometimes. Necessary? Not so much, especially when you already have three other bathrooms.

Over the past year or so, that little half bath has slowly become what I lovingly refer to as “the junk room.” The closet inside had long since ditched its original purpose and started pulling farm duty; storing egg cartons, bags for herbs, baskets, canning supplies, and extra pantry staples. More recently, this bathroom space also hosted my dehydrator (resting on a bucket, no less), Kitchen Aid attachments, and a box full of leftover garden seeds. It’s embarrassingly messy.

Real classy.

I keep the door closed and try to keep everyone out!

I believe our kitchen was remodeled maybe 15 years ago. It’s hard to say for sure since we didn’t live here. I’m solely judging off cabinet style and countertops. It’s a good layout for a smaller, modern family that maybe cooks a couple times a week and keeps a tidy little spice rack. But for someone like me, who bakes cakes, preserves food all summer and fall, hosts big family dinners, and lives the farm-to-table lifestyle, it’s just not cutting it.

Don’t get me wrong: we’ve made it work. Audley and I have already done so much such as pulling out the lazy Susans (which were more like “crazy Susans”), adding shelves to every corner, making a coffee station, even building out a small utility pantry near the fridge for everyday pantry essentials. We’ve had our fair share of dates at Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware.

But still… I’ve got five, six, or nine boxes in the basement full of holiday dishes, crystal, and big platters that I actually use but have nowhere safe to store. Our surplus of eggs from the hens sit in bowls on the counter until it’s time for customer delivery. And if I want to keep sodas, bottles of water and purchase larger snack stashes for the kids and grands, I have nowhere to stash them. Usually, they are just out on the counter or table. And that bothers me.

So, the decision has been made: the half bath is becoming a walk-in pantry. In other words I’m trying to turn chaos into functional and cozy. We may as well make the “junk room” an official, useful space.

It’s not a massive space, but we’ve got a solid plan. Lower cabinets topped with butcher block, open shelving up top, and the closet is getting a full makeover with floor-to-ceiling shelving. I want a space to keep my juicer and Ninja blender off the kitchen counter, a place to cool cakes, to tuck away supplies for canning and dehydrating, somewhere I can package eggs for sale, and to keep extra pantry essentials at arm’s reach but out of sight. Also, I need safe storage for the Thanksgiving/autumn china, silver that belonged to my grandparents, and grilling tools.

The location of this room is convenient to both my kitchen and going outdoors to the grill and garden, so it’s honestly perfect.

This isn’t going to be a weekend makeover. Audley works out of town Monday through Friday, so Saturdays are his only project day (Sundays are for worship and taking care of the farm). Plus, the space is tight, so we really can’t work in there at the same time.

Audley got a good jump on things this past weekend. He cleaned it out (bless him), gutted the whole room; took out the toilet, pedestal sink, light fixtures, mirror, and those charming bi-fold closet doors straight out of 1983. The popcorn ceiling? Gone. Old blinds and curtains? In the trash.

He also added a second outlet in there so I can permanently keep the dehydrator off of my countertop in the summer months.

The dehydrator is actually running now as I write; full of chamomile.

Next up is sheetrock repair. Audley got a first coat finished, but it still needs to be sanded and a second coat added. IF I can make time between finishing the school yearbook and editing wedding pictures and putting away some garden harvest, I would like to do the sanding for him.

After that, I’ll be jumping in during the week to scrub down the baseboards and walls, clean the window and trim, caulk, and (fingers crossed) get the paint up. Although it’s subject to change, I’ve chosen Benjamin Moore’s Phillipsburg Blue, a rich, classic shade that pairs beautifully with the colors I have picked for the future mudroom and kitchen (I’m feeling quite ambitious in my 5ish week summer break).

We’re so excited to see it all come together.

After focusing so much of our energy on the farm since we moved, it feels really good to start putting some love into our house. After leasing homes for many years while we traveled with Audley’s job, I’m ready to make this space uniquely ours, and I’ll be sharing updates along the way. Stay tuned, because I’ve got progress pics and more to come!