How To Design A Butlers Pantry

A butler’s pantry is the perfect addition to any kitchen. It provides prep room, storage and even more. It’s even a great place to hide bulky countertop appliances for a cleaner main kitchen. While they were once used as a place for the butler to store and clean the china and silver, they’re now bustling areas to help with cooking and entertaining. Designing a butler’s pantry gives you the chance to create the perfect area for your needs. Much like a kitchen, you can customize your pantry any way you want.

Determine Its Purpose

First, determine your butler’s pantry’s purpose. Some people use them mainly for storage. This lets them use the area as more of a more organized walk-in pantry with a small prep area.

Others prefer to use the area mainly for prep, which means having plenty of counter space, a sink and warming areas for prepared dishes. Some even add a wet bar for an out of the way place to mix drinks without getting in the way of the cook in the main kitchen.

Add Plenty Of Storage Room

No matter what the purpose of your butler’s pantry, incorporate plenty of storage room. You’ll typically want to store things, such as:

Less often used appliances, such as large mixers
Alcohol – wine coolers are ideal for a butler’s pantry
Extra dishes and fine china
Extra food (when doubling as a pantry)
Baking equipment

You’ll want to have ample room to store everything for easy access when you’re using the area for prepping meals and entertaining.

Make Room For Prep

One of the main purposes of a butler’s pantry is to have extra space for prep. You don’t always have enough room in your kitchen to prepare ingredients, lay out all your necessary dishes and keep prepared dishes warm while everything else finishes.

You’ll want ample counter space for prep. It’s also a good idea to work warming areas and a refrigerated area into your design. A small refrigerator stores things like cold appetizers while keeping your main fridge uncluttered.

Consider Entertaining Elements

Often, a butler’s pantry is used to help with entertaining. You can set out trays and have a wet bar for people to serve themselves or make it easy for you as the host to quickly get what your guests need. The best part is everyone stays out of the kitchen so the cook doesn’t get disturbed and the main course is served up on time.

This is another reason to have plenty of storage. The last thing you want is for your guests to see your butler’s pantry in disarray.

Make Cleanup Easy

Sometimes, it’s easy to get so caught up in everything else that you forget about one important design element – cleanup. The type of countertop and backsplash you use can drastically affect how long it takes to clean your kitchen.

We’ve written several guides on helping you choose the best countertop for your kitchen, including:

You want surfaces that are easy to wipe off. Grout work in the backsplash might look good, but you may want to avoid it in areas where you’ll prep messier foods. You’ll also want to consider adding a sink and small dishwasher. A sink, at the very least, gives you a place to rinse things off and clean your hands.

Try To Complement Your Kitchen

Finally, try to create a complementary design to your kitchen. This creates a seamless look between both areas. Your butler’s pantry should be similar to your kitchen. You’ll likely want to keep the same cabinet design and colors.

While you don’t have to keep them the same, it’s a common trend. You could also go with an exact opposite to make the rooms stand out. If you’ll have more guests in your pantry than kitchen, you’ll want to design with that in mind. You may want a more elegant look versus a more functional look like you’d have in your kitchen.

Every butler’s pantry needs custom cabinets to complete the look. Contact us today to find out how we can help.

Image: Becca Tapert

June 24, 2020/by Edgewood

Miscellaneous Cabinets

How To Design The Ultimate Large Appliances Storage

If you tend to host many parties or hate having your larger appliances out for everyone to get their messy fingerprints on, you need a better large appliances storage solution.

Thankfully, sectioning off a secondary kitchen, or butler’s pantry, is the perfect solution. You can hide your dishwasher, oven, microwave, refrigerator, freezer, wine cooler and more.

Instead of a messy main kitchen area, you get a clean, organized look. Plus, you can prep meals without so many people getting underfoot.

Divide Your Kitchen

For larger spaces, it’s easier to simply divide your kitchen using a divider wall. You’d walk around a corner to access the large appliances storage area, which would include your appliances, a countertop and some cabinets. Your main kitchen would have cabinets and likely an island bar/breakfast nook area.

You can even do this with slightly smaller kitchens. Use a divider or even a wall of cabinets to create a cozy corner for your larger appliances. This works well if you want to hide your oven and dishwasher, but leave your refrigerator out. It’s also great as a smaller area for messy meal prep if you have space for an additional sink.

Expand A Laundry Room

If you already have a larger laundry room or mudroom near your kitchen, expand it. Use a small wall to section off your washer and dryer from your butler’s pantry. Then, you have a room specifically for large appliances storage. This also makes it easier if you wash clothes often and cook multiple meals a day. You’ll have everything you need to use right in one area.

Decide What To Include

You don’t have to store all your large appliances in a special area if you don’t want to. In fact, you could opt to only include your oven and dishwasher. You may only include a dishwasher and chest freezer. It’s completely up to you. Ideally, you’ll want to include large appliances that you don’t want most family members and guests accessing easily.

It’s much easier to renovate your kitchen to include a butler’s pantry once you know what you’re putting in it. For some people, the area is all about being able to cook more peacefully, which is why the main refrigerator is left out in the main kitchen space. A smaller refrigerator is placed in the pantry for refrigerated ingredients only.

Hide Without A Second Room

If you’re low on space, you might not be able to build a secondary large appliances storage solution. This doesn’t mean you can’t hide those appliances away.

In fact, you can easily hide a dishwasher inside a slightly larger pantry. Don’t want your refrigerator throwing off the look of your kitchen? Hide it inside a cabinet. A custom cabinet can fit around your refrigerator to make it look like a large cabinet and create a seamless flow throughout your kitchen space.

Ovens are a bit harder to hide, especially since they get hot, but when you’re not cooking, you can hide this large appliance with a stovetop sized tray that matches your countertop. This gives you extra counter space and it’s easy to move to the side when you need the stove.

Redesign Your Dining Room

If you don’t mind a slightly smaller dining room, turn part of it into a butler’s pantry. This is ideal if you host parties often. You can have a small serving window to send out food as it gets ready. A slim kitchen area allows you to have your oven, dishwasher, sink, refrigerator and freezer out of sight. However, you can slip in, cook and send out your delicious food without being seen. Instead of dishes piling up, store them on the countertop in your large appliances storage room and you’re all set.

For more ideas on how to design your butler’s pantry, Elle Decor has 45 incredible ideas.

Ready to store your large appliances out of sight, but for easier use? Contact us today to design the perfect storage solutions for your needs.

Image: Dinh Ng.

October 23, 2019/by Edgewood

Kitchens

Why a Butler’s Pantry or Wet Bar Makes Sense in a Busy Kitchen

If you are a talented cook, busy homemaker, or just like to entertain, you would probably enjoy the convenience and versatility of a second sink and prep area. How many times have you been busy at the sink and a cook’s helper has needed to wash their doughy hands? Have you ever been cleaning fish or poultry at the sink while someone else is trying to prepare the salad? How do you prevent cross-contamination when both cooks are trying to use the same sink? How often do you wish for just a bit more counter space? Don’t worry – it happens to all good cooks. That’s why a busy cook needs more counter space and a second sink.

An ideal kitchen allows plenty of space for all of the work that goes into feeding family and friends. Prep work, baking, cooking, serving, and doing the dishes afterwards all require space and often a sink, too. An island with a prep sink offers plenty of room for helpers to lend a hand with meal preparation while the cook is busy at the main sink or stove. Besides extra prep space, a butler’s pantry or wet bar offers additional advantages: storage for those seldom used appliances and kitchen linens, a place where kids and guests can get a drink or snack without getting in the cook’s way, and plenty of room for extra hands to make light work of a big holiday meal. It’s also the perfect place to practice your mixology skills!

For a custom kitchen that will make living and entertaining easier and more enjoyable, contact us. We can help you understand how you want to use your kitchen space and then bring those ideas to life in a way that complements your kitchen’s unique layout and architecture. We want to professionally design the kitchen that’s perfect for your inner chef!

October 15, 2015/by Edgewood

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