The 10 things you should include in a Butler’s Pantry

Historically a Butler’s pantry was just that.  A room for the Butler of a grand house to store all the items required to stage magnificent dinners.  This was where the additional crockery was stored and the silver, which was polished to a sparkling finish.  Think of Downton Abbey and you get the idea perfectly.  Now a new home is not complete without a Butler’s pantry.  A couple of year’s ago, it was the mud room that everyone coveted.  A room that by its very virtue kept all the other areas in the home tidy.  Now it is the Butler’s pantry that ensures our beautiful open plan kitchens are kept looking perfect.

A Butler’s pantry is therefore the workhorse of the kitchen.  This is where we can make the mess and then close the door.  This room is a perfect space to store small appliances rather than clutter up our kitchen spaces.  Of course, many of us just don’t have the room in our homes for a full Butler’s pantry, but if you are considering remodelling your home, it might be a good idea to at least include a small walk in pantry to provide additional storage.

The 10 things you should include in a Butler’s Pantry

If you are planning a new home, I have 10 things that you must include in a Butler’s pantry.  Even if your room will be small, you can cherry pick from this list to ensure that you have considered the items that will be the most useful for you.

1) Plenty of bench space

Don’t underestimate the amount of bench space that you will need. Remember that this is a second kitchen where you will store and operate appliances.  Ideally you should have bench space that allows you to keep appliances that you regularly use on display so that they are easy to access.  How many of us don’t use the Magimix or juice blender as it’s simply too tedious to get it out of the cupboard and set it all up?  In addition to this you will need workspace to cut and chop fruit and vegetables to use in these machines.

This may also be the area that you use for your air fryer too.  I like to include tea and coffee making facilities together with a toaster in an appliance cupboard in the main kitchen, however you may decide if you have a large Butler’s pantry to accommodate these in here too.

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2) Power supply

Of course all of these small appliances set up and ready to use will be useless without enough power points.  Ensure that these are planned for areas that you intend to use your appliances so that you don’t have lots of trailing power cords along your bench space.  If you have tall cabinetry where you plan to also store items like stick vacuums then you will need to ensure that there are power points inside the cupboard.

3) Good lighting

The provision of good lighting is paramount for a Butler’s pantry.  Often these rooms don’t have any windows and without natural light, your lighting must be absolutely right. I recommend LED downlights that have a daylight setting.  Although you will need good lighting in this room, I never install downlights that are not dimmable.

You should also install LED strip lighting beneath upper cabinetry and shelving so that your bench space is well lit.

If you do have a single story home, this can be a good place to include a skylight.

Even better is if you plan your Butler’s Pantry to be an extension of your kitchen and use a splashback window for this room.

4) A combination of drawer space

Try to avoid using cupboards in a Butler’s pantry.  The only place you should use them is for underneath a sink.  Floor space is usually at a premium and you don’t want to be bending down to access items at the rear of a cupboard.

You should plan to use a combination of drawers.  You will need deep drawers to store larger, bulky items and slimline drawers for the overflow of cutlery and serving ware.  If you have a second food pantry in this area, then you should install pull out drawers in the lower section so that you can easily see and access your food items.

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5) Open shelving

Open shelving is preferable to too many closed in upper cupboards.  Remember that a Butler’s pantry is the workhorse room so you don’t need to ensure that everything is tidied away behind doors.  Shelving is a good way to store regularly used items that you can just reach for rather than having to open a cupboard first.

6) Drinks storage

Drinks always take up more space than you usually consider.  This could be a good room to store wine and soft drinks, particularly if you do not have a dedicated bar area in your dining room.

7) Second sink

If you have the room, then a second sink is really important.  Remember that you will be working with messy things in this room.  Juicing fruit and vegetables, blending and chopping and slicing in a Magimix.  This creates a lot of mess so you need to be able to rinse chopping boards, knives and the blenders themselves.  It pretty much defeats the purpose if you then have to take everything out into the kitchen to clean up.

The sink doesn’t need to be large, but this really is something that you should consider if you will be using the room as an overflow food preparation space.

8) Second rubbish bins

Again, if you are using this room to prepare food, you will need a pull out rubbish bin.

9) Storage for large grazing boards

When you are considering the storage that you will need, plan for oversized items like large platters, grazing boards and jugs.  If these items are extra long or tall, you will need to include either an open shelf or a large drawer in your design.

10) Storage for a ladder

So many pantries have either cabinetry or shelving to the ceiling.  In fact, so many kitchens do too.  This looks stunning and is a great use of the space.  However, you do need to be able to access these areas easily.  If you plan a small nook where you can store a small stepladder, you will find this extremely useful.

A final note on Butler’s Pantry design

• Ensure that you have enough space to comfortably walk into the pantry and open drawers and cupboards.  Often pantries can be too narrow.  Ideally, you should allow space for two people to use the room at the same time, particularly if you are using this as an overflow kitchen.
• If you are tight on space, plan to have a benchtop with pull out drawers on one side and a slimline set of shelves for the opposite wall.
• As you would consider the flow of a kitchen, you need to do this with a pantry too as you don’t want to be walking the length of it unnecessarily.  You should consider the placement of storage items and have the ones that you use regularly to hand.
• Consider how cupboard doors open and ensure hinges are in the right place.  This is particularly important if you are buying a second under the counter fridge or a wine fridge.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my 10 things you should include in a Butler’s Pantry.  Do you think there is anything else that should be included?  I would love to hear from you in the comments.

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