How To Design A Butler's Pantry For Less Than $500

Do you have a room in your home that just won’t stay clean and organized? A room that is only organized about 3 days of the year? We had one of those rooms until I decided to shred almost everything, move the rest out, and start over. I decided to turn our old computer room, that has very little natural light, into a butler’s pantry, and the challenge was to keep the costs at $500 or less. Here is how I did it.

I started working on the butler’s pantry back in the spring. With the pipe shelving built, I needed to move on to the cabinetry and storage. That being said, cabinets and storage are the key ingredients and the high price tag. To stay on my budget, I turned to Facebook marketplace and found two china cabinets; one was free and the other was $50. The cabinet holding the booze is one that I’ve had, and found it tucked away in our garage. I wanted to make a bold statement with color so I decided that a brilliant kelly green was in order. A good sanding all around, I painted on a couple coats of primer and three coats of green on each cabinet. On one cabinet, I added brass tape to the shelves to dress them up and because, well, I’m like in love with the tape and am pretty much adding brass tape to anything that is stationary for any amount of time. Remember this post? The hardware is the bling of the cabinets. It looks expensive but the price tag proves otherwise.

Next in order was a sink. I was scouring marketplace, craigslist and eBay, and everything was still too pricy and/or not what I had in mind. On a weekly jaunt to the Restore, and I stumbled upon a brand new Kohler sink for $40. No brainer. It’s gorge. I only wanted a brass faucet and I was able to spend a little more since I saved in so many other areas. Sean built the base for the sink and the countertop (found on sale at Home Depot), and the space is perfect for the sink and the wine fridge to work together. The butcher block cutting board was a Goodwill find for $6. A thorough sanding, followed by Boos block oil, and it’s back in business.

I wanted some artwork on the wall and wanted it big. To stay on budget, I needed to create it myself. I decided to cut drywall into the size of a large canvas, and wallpaper over the surface. We had the drywall (go figure) and I found the wallpaper at Ballard Designs. To warm up the room, I relocated a rug that we had elsewhere. The lamp sconces were former bedside lamps from IKEA. I sprayed the bases gold and had to fight myself from applying brass tape to the edges. I still may, but it might end up looking a little too over-the-top.

It took a full day to move in and organize all of the dishes, goblets and serving pieces. To me, that was the most fun of all. Arrange and rearrange until everything was just right. Now, it’s a beautiful room that I love to show off. A far cry from embarrassment, I do use the room everyday, whether I’m mixing a drink, or grabbing dishes to serve dinner on. I’m pleased with how it turned out. Perhaps a few decor tweaks will be done sometime, but that’s how I roll with every room, proving no room is ever “done.”