Constructing a Built-in Pantry

When we moved into our house several years ago, we had a laundry list of renovation projects that kept us busy. One of the most exciting projects was constructing a built-in pantry for our kitchen. Our new kitchen is much bigger than our prior kitchen, but it lacked some vital storage space. We wanted a pantry to store our dry goods, spices, cereal, etc. Luckily, our kitchen was adjacent to our guest bathroom; which had a decent amount of unused space that we could use for the kitchen. Here are some before photos of the spaces I am talking about:

So this is our kitchen (above) and here is our bathroom, which is adjacent to the space:

First step was to demo mark with a score line using a utility knife the area of drywall we wanted to demo. Then i used a small pry bar and hammer to peel away the layer of drywall on each side of the room. For the floor, we wanted to keep the existing tile. The best way to selectively remove tile floor is to use a utility knife. First score the grout lines between the tile you are going to remove. Then use a pry bar and a hammer to pop up the tile. More than likely the mortar unerneath the tile will come up as well and there will be some subfloor repairs that you will need to address. Luckily for us, as you can see in the photo above, the subfloor was mostly intact when we removed the tile. The next step, which i didnt document, was to install an elbow for the floor register so we could install a vent on the face of the new wall.

Next I framed in the opening by removing the existing studs and placing new studs in between the existing layers of drywall. Then I made some subfloor repairs and installed the bottom plates for the new stud walls.

Next I used straight 2x4's to frame out the wall for the pantry and storage niche in the bathroom. 

Because I was going to keep the existing ceiling, I was strategic about the demo to the ceiling by using a utility knife and framing the wall piece by piece (bottom plate first, then top plate, then studs in between) rather than building the wall complete like is typically done. This way i avoid unnecessary demo in the ceiling that is usually required in order to squeeze the new wall in. 

Here is the finished product in the bathroom. I built some containers out of old pallets. I installed aluminum angles to hold stained pine shelves. Since this photo we have replaced the crappy vinyl wall base with poplar 1x6 and molding to match the original. Im planning on replacing the pallet wood with something more long term... but for now, it works.

The finished product. We used a pantry from IKEA and sized the opening to fit.