Pretty smart Hare I'd say. LOL. What a neat idea, and it looks great!

hugs, Karen

Magpie...you're a gal after my own heart!!
Great idea and solution.
I said it before and I'll say it again...your DH & Mine
would be great friends..they share the same way of thinking, as you and I do!!
I like how you're able to store these things, and yet
hide them. Also, it will keep them cleaner as well because they're covered.
Now, if you don't mind a little input from me..how about
adding a 'Pull' on the front of each box. It would make them look like drawers. JMO

Thanks for sharing your idea....great thinking!

jane
how about adding a

What a great idea . . . and what a sweet hubby!!! Gosh, Magpie, I love your dish pantry! With most of my ancestors coming from Scotland, the genes are strong for my being an O/C organizer. I love seeing pics of great organized spaces, like yours!
Lynn

WOW-EEE! Magpie, your "dish" pantry is wonderful! What a great idea for that bottom space! Great plan & great execution from your DH! Like jane suggested, pulls would look good, too! TFS your pic & idea! Jeanne S. ..and I'm looking forward to seeing some of your beautiful dishes!

Great idea! The DH's of us dish addicts must be the same...they complain when we come up with our "ideas" but eventually, create just what we need! Love those "faux" boxes and your big dish pantry!

DD

Thanks for your input, guys!

Karen,
I may be smart for a hare, but I don't know about anything else...glad you like the idea.

Jane,
I agree! We could have so much fun shopping and decorating, while our DH's would have a ball playing in the shop! Too bad we live on opposite coasts :o ( By the way, I do intend to put some kind of pulls (maybe rope) or maybe just have DH cut holds into the boxes. I have also pondered stencilling some writing on them and sanding it so they look worn...

Lynn,
You and I share Scottish heritage! I love BEING organized but am not so good as you at getting there. I do intend to take pix of the dish pantry shelves I have now so if it gets out of order I can see how I arranged it originally. I tried to do each season together--summer on the left, spring on the right, Christmas/winter at the top left back, and fall at the top right back.

Jeanne,
Glad you like the pantry. This was not supposed to be a dish pantry when we built the house until I took a little inventory and realized I had even more dishes than I thought. Then I went and put a glass door on the pantry so it HAS to look good (since it is between the very open kitchen and family room)

DD,
I only hope I can use some of these dishes to make half-as-good 'scapes as you do! Yes, our DH's are pretty good guys. Mine is particularly funny since he usually replies to one of my requests by saying no, can't be done that way, don't have time, etc. Then--I guess it's the challenge--he does it...

- Magpie

Magpie, thanks for sharing. So where do you keep your food since you took over the food pantry and turned it into a dish pantry? It looks so organized and the boxes sound perfect for what you wanted.

Punk

I am just green with envy over your wonderful storage area for your "pretties". And you sure have a lot of "pretties" too!

Your idea worked out just perfect. You are so lucky your DH is handy with tools and got right on this project for you. He deserves a big hug!

Luvs

I love your dish pantry and that's an ingenious idea and not "hare-brained" at all.

I wanted a walk-in pantry in this house but would have had to forego my large kitchen window and I couldn't do that.

Punk,
Food? Who needs space for food? Actually, I have shelves on the stairs down to the garage and shop, and on the right side of the pantry as you look at the pictures we will be putting a freezer (14-16 CF, not a full-size one). That will help. I am also going to have DH make another box (with a top this time) to slide in under the counter next to the freezer (this counter is not shown in the picture) to slide over my canister vac.

Luvs,
My DH has just gotten really interested in woodwork over the past couple of years. He's the kind of guy who learns really quickly and he'll try all kinds of things. Yes, he deserves lots of hugs!

Luckygal,
I wouldn't give up a window for it either. This pantry is behind the kitchen and part of the wall is indented to make a space for the refrigerator to fit into (makes it look like a counter-depth fridge). So it worked out for the pantry and the kitchen!

-Magpie

WOW! You are one lucky gal to have a "dish" pantry!! I'm jealous for sure! I have dishes crammed in every cabinet I own.....yours looks just wonderful...so organized and makes me just want to stand in there and look around at all of the eye candy!