How to Upgrade Wire to Wooden Pantry Shelves

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And……. I’m back at my mommas! So if you haven’t figured out, one of my favorite things to do is renovate spaces for others! Check out her stair renovation here! Or check out her laundry closet makeover here! With mothers day just around the corner, I knew I wanted to redo a space for my mom! One of the areas she has been complaining about the most is her pantry! She hates the wire shelving that came with the house and wanted something more rustic and easier to keep organized. So I figured because this was something I could accomplish in one day, it’s the perfect mothers day DIY gift! So I got to work on these wooden pantry shelves!

Disclaimer: In order to continually bring you the best DIYs I can, I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post at no cost to you! Thanks for being here supporting Big Brick Beauty!

Pantries State of Chaos

Tons of snacks for the grandkids (because best grandparents ever), and of course all of the dry good essentials! So for this project I started off by grabbing some new organizational goods at Christmas Tree Shops and Old Time Pottery. I purchased glass canisters and some wire baskets. Then we went to Lowes, grabbed some overpriced wood (thank you Covid-19) and the next day I was ready to work!

Demo Time

I started by ripping out the wire shelves that were there. These are super easy to remove, the wire shelves just pop out of the brackets by pushing upwards. Then I took all of the screws out of the brackets and removed the molly bolts from the wall.

Paint

The next step was to give it a coat of fresh paint. After 4.5 years in this house this closet had had it’s fair share of scrapes on the walls. I used Behr Marquees paint in the color mushroom bisque (same as her entire first floor)

Measuring For Wooden Pantry Shelves

Then it was time to get to work on the wooden pantry shelves! I took measurements when the wire shelves were up. This was my biggest mistake. Because I took the measurements of the shelves I didn’t compensate for the brackets when calculating the depth. This means that while wooden shelving should have covered all of the pre-existing holes. It did not. I recommend waiting until the shelves are removed to get the most accurate measurements possible.

One more important note I want to make when measuring. All walls are not created equal. Now you may be looking at your walls scratching your head right now thinking “Well they all look the same. They look flat and even and symmetrical.” One thing I have learned is that they are deceiving you! So when I measured the back of the closet I got 30.5″. Cool. But then i measured the front. I got 30.75″. Now, I know it’s like hey that’s a TINY difference! But I promise you in wood working it makes all the difference!

Materials

For this project I used:

4 1″x3″x 8′ Whitewood Board
2 21/32″ x 16″ x 6′ Pine Boards
4 3/8″ x 4″ x 3′ Pine Boards
1.25″ Pocket Hole Screws
2″ Wood Screws
Varthane Wood Stain in Early American

Building the Supports

Armed with my measurements I set out to make my brackets. The back wall of the closet was 30.5″ so I started by cutting 4 1x3s to 30.5″. Next, I needed to cut the side and middle supports. I needed my final length to be 16″ but they will be mounting against a piece of wood that is 0.75″ inches thick so I had to cut my pieces to 15.25″, because 16″ – 0.75″ = 15.25″. I know it’s a lot of math and I hope you’re still with me here. Once I had 12 1x3s cut to 15.25″ I was able to get jigging. And by that I mean break out my Kreg Jig!

The Kreg Jig is a wonderful tool that creates pocket holes. I drilled 2 holes on 1 end of each 15.25″ piece then adhered them to the 4 30.5″ pieces. Next I cut my cap pieces to 30.75″ I laid out my boards and got ready to stain.

Staining

Using a stain brush I applied a good even coat of stain to each piece, waited 3 minutes, then removed the excess with a cloth. I allowed the stain to dry for 1 hour before moving on to installation.

Wooden Pantry Shelves Installation

To install my brackets I used 5 wood screws on each bracket. I used 3 screws in the back piece and one on either side making sure I secured each piece into a stud using a stud finder. Once everything was secure in place I cut my shelves to size. For these shelves, I used 21/32″ x 16″ x 6′ pine boards. I measured the front to 30.75″ and the back to 30.5″, then using a straight edge, drew a line connecting the two points. I used a table saw to follow the lines I drew. Once all of the shelves were cut I placed them on top of each bracket and secured them in place using my nail gun, double checking everything stayed flush and level along the way. I also had to install my floor baskets before the shelves went in because they are a tight fit and would not have fit afterwards.

My last step of the installation process was to install the cap pieces. For my caps I used 3/8″ x 4″ x 4′. I went with a thin piece of wood here because these are for aesthetics only. The caps make these shelves look like big, thick, chunky floating shelves. I simply nail gunned these to the front of each shelf.

Wooden Pantry Shelves Reveal

Next, came the fun part! Organizing and decorating these beautiful wooden pantry shelves! I added jars and baskets to keep a functional but organized space.