dboqui thanks! The only issue with ours is that you can see our butler’s pantry from the foyer, and we walk through it to get to the mudroom, so I feel like I need to keep it pretty clean in there as well! I like the ones I see on Pinterest that are tucked away and you can use it as a completely functional space and not worry about everyone seeing it!

Re think this plan immediately, please. You are creating a horribly circuitous route from mud to other areas of your home. In what appears to be a very LARGE home. What to store in your pantry is the very least of the issue here. Lets see the entire thing.

The house was built in 2002 and we just bought it this year. So we can’t really change that!

Also - I agree with you that the route isn’t great from the mudroom. One of the things I disliked about the home when we bought it.

We bought a home with a small narrow passthrough that housed a utility closet, a large sink, and short upper cabinets, as well as a washer and dryer. When we remodeled, we moved the washer dryer out, kept the utility closet, replaced the sink and base and upper cabinets with a smaller sink and base. We added lower cabinets and a countertop where the washer and dryer were, and added upper cabinets, taken to the 9 ft ceiling. We use it for food storage, rarely used appliances, and extra place settings and glassware. The sink side is used to hold cleaning appliances and cleaning solutions. We use the sink as a utility sink, as an ice holder to cool drinks and wine while entertaining, as a dog washing station. We use the opposite countertop as a coffee station when entertaining, my slow cooker lives there, and as a grocery unloading station. We also have a pantry cabinet in the kitchen, which is where we keep opened dry foods, such as coffee, pasta, flour, sugar, spices. We are getting a lot of use out of our small butler's pantry.

Thanks teamaltese! Helpful to know those specifics about how it is used. Looks very nice in the pictures!! I would love a dog washing station, but we have boxers, so I don’t think they will fit in the sink!

If your entertainment requires hiring waitstaff and cleaners and you have valuable silver and lots of alcohol, think about installing locks on drawers and cabinets and alcohol storage areas.

loobab great point!! we don't do that very often, but being able to lock up the real silverware would be great. Not even just for waitstaff, but for anyone else that might be in the house. Thank you!!

hduns, you are so welcome. If you have outside help you have to count the silverware before they leave, too. All this (and that you can't put it in the dishwasher) is why many people just don't want to be bothered with it anymore. I have read that it is a good idea to have dead bolt locks on your master bedroom closets so you can put important things in there, unless you have some other secure place for certain things. Years ago, people locked up their sugar, and the tea caddies had locks on them.

Linen closet, mini fridge, dry goods storage pantry, hook up eventually for washer/dryer, file cabinet pull-outs (love these), platters, bowls, misc. serving ware. So very much! Our butler's pantry also connects the mudroom to the kitchen.

Left side:

Vertical dividers for large platters and bowls.

Dry goods storage:

Oldbat2be - Your house is beautiful! I forgot about the linens! Was just thinking about serving dishes. (All of our kitchen stuff is packed up in storage while we are renovating the new house, so I don’t have it all in front of me)

Linens, less used dishes, party supplies, picnic supplies. Maybe specialty pots and pans used once in a blue moon. Any kitchen-related items not used enough to deserve space in the main kitchen space.

‘My brother has a layout where the butler’s pantry ends up used to go from mud room to kitchen, and they’ve found part of it ends up as a drop zone, too. So I’d allow for that eventuality. (Mostly in-coming mail on the way to the home office, papers from the kids, outgoing mail for someone to pick up on the way out of the house, etc. Stuff you don’t want to leave in a MUD room but also don’t want in the kitchen.)

If I had a butler’s pantry with a sink I’d also keep flower arranging stuff there - vases and so on for when I decide I need fresh flowers in the house. So it depends on what you do. :)

PirateFoxy - great point about the flowers!! I’m so glad people are giving such helpful feedback. I have a feeling it will become a drop zone like you mentioned...trying to prevent that!!! Really trying to make sure we account for all of these “drop zone” items. A part of me thinks that a homework station might be a better use of the space than a butler’s pantry!