Butler's pantry, scullery or larder, no matter what you call it, they are often high on the wish lists of my interior design clients. Completely understandable as they can actually be very practical spaces but are they necessary in every home?
Before we dive into the pros and cons, let’s explore what each of these spaces was traditionally designed for:
• A butler's pantry was more about serving and finishing tasks, often equipped with storage for food presentation, they were historically used as spaces for the butler to store, count, and polish valuable serving ware, silver, china and crystal.
• A scullery was a cleaning focused space, featuring large sinks and areas designated for washing heavy kitchenware, keeping the mess out of the main kitchen.
• A larder was designed purely for food storage, particularly for perishables, with an emphasis on keeping food cool and accessible.
In today's homes, these spaces often overlap in function, with the traditional distinctions becoming less defined.
Now let's examine the pros of a butler's pantry.
• Extra storage. For those who need to store a lot of items, everything from large appliances to jars of homemade preserves, a butler's pantry can offer invaluable storage space. It keeps the main kitchen uncluttered, providing a designated area for excess items.
• Activity zoning. To achieve a highly functional kitchen, every activity must have a zone of it's own, for practicality of movement in the space as well as not getting in the way of others. A well designed butler's pantry can be perfect for this, such as creating a coffee station.
• Perfect for entertaining. If your home has an open plan style of living and you regularly hire caterers or entertain a lot, a butler's pantry offers a discreet prep area to create lavish dishes without the mess front and centre in your kitchen.
• Open shelving without the clutter. Ideal if you love the practicality of open shelving but don't want to see all of your crockery and glassware. Open shelving for everyday items can be highly functional but keeping them looking like they came straight out of an interiors magazine is not always achievable.
While the promise of extra storage and hidden mess can be enticing, is including a butlers pantry really worth it? Let's take a look at the cons.
• Can be isolating. These spaces can take you back to a bygone era where the workings in the kitchen were hidden away from view and interaction. Your friends can't sip a spritz and chat if they keep losing sight of you in the pantry.
• Mess can be more visible. Having a butler's pantry can have the opposite effect of you thinking you will be able to hide mess. In reality, the pantry doors are often left open and you can see the mess of groceries and storage in plain sight, more-so than if it was hidden in your kitchen cabinetry.
• Space consumption. The structure can take up a lot of valuable space. When you look at the requirements to enclose the pantry, you are potentially sacrificing more functional and aesthetic qualities such as extra bench space and a more open and airy feel.
• Added costs. Apart from the structural cost of enclosing the space, designing and installing a truly functional butler's pantry comes with financial implications. Depending on what the pantry will mainly be used for, this could include a sink, oven, fridge and microwave. This can result in a doubling up of your financial investment.
So should you include a butler's pantry in your kitchen design?
There is no perfect answer and there are no hard and fast rules. Many other factors also come into play when deciding whether or not to include a butler's pantry and these are all evaluated on a case by case approach. For example:
• Consistency in luxury. If you cannot match the same level of luxury throughout the home, such as an ensuite, then you may want to reconsider a butler's pantry.
• Frequency of entertaining.
Are they worth it?
Unless you have a sprawling home with a huge kitchen footprint and an actual functional requirement for one, you may want to think about if you are better off not taking up valuable space with wall structures to enclose the pantry. With such a huge range of internal cabinetry storage options available today, everything can be beautifully organised and personalised to suit your activity in the kitchen and how you and your family use the space.
After all, the kitchen is often the central hub of the home, where activity and connection happen, so embrace it, with thoughtful, integrated design that makes every millimetre of your kitchen work for you. Beautiful, functional spaces can be achieved in a kitchen without the need for a butlers pantry.
Considering an elevated kitchen design for your home? Explore my design process and discover how Elomou Interiors can bring your dream kitchen to life.
Link to Elomou Interiors design studio.
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