Great Space: The Butler's Pantry
Be your own butler and bartender with a mini prep, storage and serving space off the kitchen
Houzz contributor & founder/ principal designer at KitchenLab | Rebekah Zaveloff Interiors. We're a Chicago based interiors firm specializing in kitchens & baths – the rooms which often begin as the focal point of many of the projects we design & manage. We create a link for our clients between the design process & the construction process which is often missing & we offer tailored interior design services for adjacent rooms or whole houses depending on the scope of the project. We love to mix styles and make our spaces feel like they "grew there" and were collected over time. We also offer e-decorating services through our company Design in a Bag.
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A butler's pantry can be large or small, a second mini-kitchen complete with an extra sink, refrigerator and stove, or more like a wet bar where we store our china and glassware. It clearly derives its name from a time past and a lifestyle no longer relevant to most modern households. I for one, don't actually know anyone with a butler. That said, if you've got the space, I love the idea of a separate little space for storing servingware and providing extra prep space during parties. Read on to see why.
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In a large home, a butler's pantry can be the size of a whole kitchen in a smaller house or apartment. I love the library ladder, vintage style and natural light in this one. Because butler's pantries are often narrow, cabinet doors have glass fronts so you can see all your wares at once.
Butler's pantries are usually carved out of a small space off the main kitchen and are often U-shaped and windowless. If your kitchen is open to the rest of the house and you don't want it to look too kitchen-y, you can hide away food storage, serving dishes and china in a butler's pantry instead.
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Many vintage homes have small kitchens and butler's pantries. I actually prefer a U-shaped butler's pantry to a walk-in pantry. I tend to find walk-ins a bit claustrophobic, whereas butler's pantries are intimate little rooms.
Butler's pantries don't have to be entirely separate rooms, and they don't have to have sinks or extra appliances. They can be on the other side of the kitchen, or next to the breakfast room, and they can just hold overflow dishes and servingware. It's more about their style and function, not their technical definition that's important. I like to combine the ones I design with wet or dry bars.
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I could imagine this butler's pantry being off a mudroom before you enter the kitchen. I love the vintage quality of this space; you could almost mistake it for a small farmhouse kitchen, but then there's a beverage refrigerator and wine cubby and bar sink.
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When combined with a wet or dry bar, butler's pantries can be found between the kitchen and dining room. This is great way to transition from a casual space to a more formal space.
Butler's pantries can share space with a backyard entrance or mudroom as well.
If you don't have the room for an actual separate space for your butler's pantry, but you really want the feel of one in your kitchen, design your wet bar to have a vintage butler's-pantry look and carve out a separate wall for a group of cabinets like this.
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Even in small urban apartments, you can have a mini-butler's pantry. A place to put serving dishes is especially welcome during a larger meal where counter and table space are a minimum. Plus, this can always double as a bar.
Do you have something like a butler's pantry at home?
More: How to Carve Out Space for a Butler's Pantry
Mastering the Wet Bar
See more photos of butler's pantries
Do you have something like a butler's pantry at home?
More: How to Carve Out Space for a Butler's Pantry
Mastering the Wet Bar
See more photos of butler's pantries
Ideabook published on Nov. 8, 2011.
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