Maple Ridge Barndo

I have twenty four pictures saved to a Pinterest board entitled “Butler’s Pantry”. Over the course of our build, Tim and I would sit down and look at my inspo pictures and have long discussions about the design for our pantry. We love to cook for friends and family, and we knew we wanted both the kitchen and pantry to be not only beautiful, but serviceable.

That sounds like a pretty straight forward process, but not much between me and Tim is ever straight forward. I am an analytical internal processor and a black-and-white thinker. I believe every question has a direct answer. He is a super creative outside-the-box thinker and an external processor. He believes most questions have multiple facets that need to be discussed in depth. During our build these differences would lead to frustration when we would try to make design decisions. It wasn’t that our taste is all that different, it was that we each tried to communicate to the other in the way our own brains wanted to receive information. Our design meetings often ended with me frustrated and him angry. You would think after 34 years of marriage we would have this figured out! We are still working on it, sometimes lovingly and sometimes not. In the end, I am always amazed by his creativity and attention to the smallest detail. His process is fascinating, and the results always blow me away!

After designing and drafting the plan, he got to work building the Butler’s Pantry of my dreams. My job was to hand him things, hold boards when needed, paint the shelves, and seal the counter top.

I am a kitchen appliance junkie. He measured our appliances and designed the shelves to accommodate. See the maple chop block in the last picture above? It was made by a dear friend and gifted carpenter we met while stationed in Monterey, California over thirty years ago. Tim designed the pantry around it to give it a special place in the Barndo.

Two swinging doors make the pantry easily accessible from either side of the kitchen.

It’s been nine months since we finished this space, and it is everything I hoped it would be. Honestly, it might be the most used space in the Barndo.