Back when we were on vacation in Charleston, we were watching the weather report one day and they mentioned that there was a ‘small craft advisory’ in effect. I hadn’t heard that terminology in years, probably since I lived in Florida. Although we have plenty of people with boats on lakes here in Minnesota, it’s not quite the same thing as ocean going vessels.
Anyway, when they said it, Mr. Q said ‘that sounds like it should be the title to one of your blog posts!’
What a clever idea. I made a note of it in my phone. And lo and behold, it seemed appropriate for today’s post.
I’m about to share a very quick and easy update to a metal bin today, so consider this your ‘small craft advisory’.
I’ve had this particular container in my pantry for years. I’m sure that I originally purchased it from a garage sale, but I don’t remember when, where or how much I paid. It started life in copper, and who knows what I kept in it back then.
This is the best I could do for a true ‘before’ photo.
Yikes! Who remembers my pantry in its ‘before’ state? I’ve shared it here in the past. It was not pretty. It was behind a closed door most of the time back then.
Here is how the pantry looks now (to see the full transformation of this space, check out this post).
As part of the pantry makeover, I decided to paint the container in that everyday kitchen green color.
Copper just didn’t work with my color scheme out there. I painted it using a fancy spray paint that I got at Michaels, I’m fairly sure that it was the Liquitex Chromium Oxide Green 6, but I’m not 100% positive about that. FYI, it has held up beautifully, even on a metal canister with a very tight fitting lid.
Well, recently Mr. Q and I purchased an air fryer from Amazon. When it arrived, it was too big to fit inside any of our kitchen cupboards, or in the other pantry/closet we have next to the kitchen, so that left finding a spot for it in my pretty pantry.
I’ll just go ahead and admit it, I tend to value form over function. I love the way my pantry looks. It does serve a function as well though. We store toilet paper, kleenex, cleaning supplies, cat food, extra coffee pods, and other pantry items in it. For the most part these items are kept inside pretty containers. Generally, if I can’t put it in a pretty container, it gets stored somewhere else.
So I’m not super happy about ruining the carefully curated look in my pantry with a big, black, shiny appliance. But sometimes I guess function has to win out. In order to make room for the air fryer, something had to go from the pantry. And after a process of elimination, this container is the item getting the boot.
I decided I may as well snazz it up a bit and then try to sell it. So I gave it a good cleaning, and then I added a section from I.O.D.’s Label Ephemera transfer to the front.
I added a couple of coats of Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat over the transfer to protect it.
Then I cut out a new label from some pretty floral scrapbook paper and added the “PARIS,” which is also from the Label Ephemera transfer.
What a difference a little transfer can make!
I love how it turned out, but since it seems likely that we’re keeping the air fryer, I don’t have a spot for this anymore.
So it’s up for grabs. If you’re local, and in need of a pretty container to stash things in (please note, it is not food safe), check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page for details.
I’m curious, which do you tend to value more, function or form? Do you want things to look pretty at the expense of functionality (like me!), or are you more practical? Leave a comment and let us know!
q is for quandie 
First of all, I would love your pantry space. We have a small house with little storage space, and seeing your pantry made me dream for a minute of turning our spare bedroom into a pantry LOL. As for your question, the older I get the more I am choosing function over form, and I never thought I would say that. We love to cook and have the ugly, bulky air fryer, ice cream maker, Vitamix, etc. I would love for all of them to be in easy reach. All that said – your pantry is gorgeous and so is this box makeover. I have been wanting to try the Liquitex spray paint too.
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I hear you on the small house thing. Our house is small, and old. All of our closets are tiny. The ‘pantry’ is actually the basement stairs hallway. But there was a ledge on two sides that shelves would fit on, so I thought why not make it into a pantry of sorts. I’ve often thought of making our smallest spare bedroom into a walk in closet, but now that I’m retired my wardrobe has shrunk by more than half. I no longer need a lot of space for hanging clothes!
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The IP/air fryer/etc. certainly is large – and black! Like you, I didn’t want mine sticking out like a sore thumb in my kitchen and the only place I could store it was on a shelf under a table. Serendipitously, I had recently purchased some large-ish fabric storage cubes which were the correct size to hold the pot in one and the accessories in another – and both fit on the shelf perfectly.
I know it won’t take you long to find an attractive way to store your air fryer.
Sheila
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Nice storage solution Sheila!
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Love the post title! Hmm that is a tough question,if it is my sewing/craft room form wins but behind closed doors it can be a different story. Organized chaos is really a thing. Love the tins remake and I am sure it will get snapped up.
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Thanks Laura!
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I love your pantry, especially the door. I was thinking about your air fryer. You could buy a linen look container, put one of your transfers on it and put the air fryer in it. ( One of those fabric cardboard ones that you use in a cube system cabinet) Just a thought to look better in your lovely pantry.
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Great idea Jill!
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Love the ‘a small craft advisory’ makeover! Function over form – I’m a middle of the road girl at this season of my life!
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I suppose I’m rather middle of the road now too, especially since I’ve ‘allowed’ the air fryer to reside in my pantry 😉
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I’m DEFINITELY form over function! Everything else gets stuffed behind rarely-opened doors 😀 And I LOVE the title of this post!
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LOL, thanks Connie!
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I love form over function! Unfortunately I don’t have a whole lot of storage space, so it has to go on the counter.
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Counter space! That’s a whole other ball game. We have almost none of that either 😉
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I do everything I possibly can to keep pretty and functional together. In the off chance that it’s not possible, functionality wins out. But I still try to make it look good, of course! ☺️
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You’ve said it perfectly Suzi! Same here 🙂
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Ha! I might take issue with that. My function loses to your form every time. 😉
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love the pantry. i went back to the original post on the rehab because i love the paint colour. couldn’t find an entry as to the paint/brand. could you share where to get the paint? thank you.
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Are you asking about the paint color on the walls? If so, that’s an old Martha Stewart Living color called Rainwater. I purchased it at Home Depot at the time, I don’t believe they carry it anymore.
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