I Didn't Know...

I didn't know it was time to get rid of the pantry.

Horray!

I'm sure most folks would be confused by such a reaction to such a useful kitchen feature. And normally I would totally agree.

But just look at it:

Really - Try to look past that lovely ceiling fan.

It is so awkward. I get the idea of it - use valuable real estate for storage in a tiny kitchen - but it is just not working.

(It used to have doors. We ditched those a while ago. Trust me when I say it looks better this way.)

A close up. When someone sits in the chair there, they are in the pantry. 

Even closer. 

Functional? Yes. Off center? Yes. Throws balance of eating area off? Yes. Attractive? Not so much.

And the molding flanking it - The "finish" is peeling off.

(Again, try not to be distracted by other "beauties" of the kitchen. That flower floor will be nixed with the kitchen remodel.)

So, when I mention to Hero that filling the hole from the pantry would be practically free to do, he got out his crowbar and went to work. 

Um - Holy cow! 

This is just one of the gazillion reasons Hero is my Hero. He is almost always on board with my harebrained ideas. 

(What does that phrase even mean? Something like this  - "having no more sense than a hare". Which I am going to translate for myself here - "I just rattled that off and we should totally do it.")

Destruction is really fun for boys. That is probably why Hero has all the right tools for the job.

For all it's "not going to work for this set of Murphy's", it is pretty well made. 

Didn't even get dirty!

It took all of about 4 minutes to get that off the wall, and already a big improvement. 

Finish up pulling a few nails and we are good to go!

Under the "floor board" we found this amazing vintage relic - Petrified carpet padding!

Really, it was crunchy. Um, hey, let's just get rid of that, okay?

Inside the pantry looking down.

I am asking myself, "Did someone really carpet the pantry?"

Apparently.

Making progress - So much better already. 

At this point of our project (where Hero did all the work and I took photos and encouraged him), I had to leave for work. Sorry Hero, you are on your own.

When I got home from work, there was no more pantry! 

Wait till you see what happened!