I Made This: My New Little Baking Nook

I'm so excited to finally share the new baking area that we created in our house recently! We've been trying to make our home more inspiring and this little facelift + reorganization has made such a difference in our daily lives already.


Our tiny kitchen was overflowing with pans, ingredients, and cake decorating supplies and we just couldn't take it any longer. I went through that brown cabinet and got rid of old plates, dishes, and cake decorating supplies I no longer use. It freed up a ton of space and now the cabinet houses some cookbooks and my handmade mug collection (the only collection of something that I own— but that's a post for another day!).


You can kind of see the tower that houses our records in that very first photo— we moved that into the living room (near the record player— duhhh, us!) and scooted the cabinet over to its place. Then we bought a cool stainless steel restaurant table and built some shelves to hang over it. Then I put all my baking ingredients in mason jars and vintage tins to create a homey, handmade feel.


The shelves are just two pieces of wood we painted and attached L-brackets to. We matched the shelf colors to our living room colors to maintain a cohesive feel since our entire living, eating, bike storage, and now baking corner is one open and connected space.


My inspiration for this entire project came from three places. The first was this drool worthy Baking Pantry in a Cabinet that Jenny created. It was love at first sight and I knew I had to have something similar. We couldn't spare the cabinet space in our actual kitchen so I basically gave up on this dream. Then I saw these shelves that Amanda made and that's when I started scheming to have a baking nook of my own.


The final straw was when Amanda of Pickles and Honey posted this incredible list of pantry staples— I just knew I had to create a haven of mason jar goodness for myself. Perhaps one day I'll even have those neat lids she got, too!


We have so much more room and organization with all of these pans, ingredients, tea varieties, and my mixer moved out of the actual kitchen. I remember when I first (illegally) moved into Nick's teeny tiny old campus apartment and dreamed of not only owning a mixer but also having a beautiful space to use it in. That was about three years ago and I'm so incredibly happy that I finally have an inspiring and organized space that's all my own—HALLELUJAH!

(Seriously though this is a complete dream come true for me! The results are in guys: you just have to work really hard and wait three years and then you can have anything you want! I kid, I kid. But I just feel like there is a reason that "before" photos exists. My house wasn't always this pretty, I promise. It took a lot of work and self-reflection about being a messy lazypants to get to this point in my life— but I'm glad I made it! Perhaps all those interior design classes paid off, after all. . . )

measurement print by Greta Songe

I just love looking over and seeing all these jars of ingredients lined up and waiting— and being able to make a grocery list at a glance. I'm still pretty convinced that Nick only helped me do this for the promise of increased sweets in his life . . . Or maybe because lids and pans would come flying at our faces every time we would open a cabinet door . . . Either way, I feel so happy and inspired each time I walk into my house and see this— so mission accomplished! Next we just have to tackle the bedroom. . .


Thanks for letting me gush about this project— I'm not sure I've ever created something so wonderful before! Are you working on any big projects? I'd love to hear about them!

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