Small Kitchen Inspiration: The Butler's Pantry

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The small kitchen might have more in common with the old butler's pantry than today's full-size home kitchens. What lessons can be learned from the small service space when it comes to our apartments' kitchens?...

1 Storage cabinets go clear up to the ceiling. Sure, it means having a little step ladder on hand, but the extra storage in a small footprint can really come in handy for occasional tableware. From House Beautiful via Willow Decor.

2 A curtain partitions off this butler's pantry/ wine room. In a small apartment's kitchen, the curtain could be open for daily living and closed when entertaining. The wine racks are from West Elm. Photo: Stephen Karlisch, Dallas Morning News

3 More full-height storage in this pantry by Crown Point cabinetry.

4 Open shelves in Martha Stewart's Turkey Hill butler's pantry. The shelving continues up over the door, something we know we could implement at home to provide some extra storage space in the kitchen. Via: Urban Grace Interiors

5 Bright color and plentiful natural light define this storage pantry by IS Architecture. Photo: Ed Gohlich

Comments (6)

Photo #3 was the butler's pantry in last year's SF Decorator Showhouse: Those floor-ceiling glass doors on the right were for the custom-built floor-ceiling wine cooler...

posted by bepsf on March 24th 2009 at 4:41pm
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good post. this makes me realize that while my kitchen isn't quite closet size, it's still in the relatively small size category. yet being open to the rest of my apartment, it definitely needs some work. thanks for the inspiration!

posted by cde on March 24th 2009 at 5:17pm
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Inspiring alright . . . inspiring me to get out there and make some more money so I can afford to live like this!

posted by ChrisToronto on March 24th 2009 at 5:21pm
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I can't afford so really does it matter but way too much hardware.

posted by LoriSF on March 24th 2009 at 5:55pm
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my grandparents had a butler's pantry in their old house between the kitchen and dining room. but they didn't have a butler, so really it was like a closet.

posted by Linda @ thebargainlife.com on March 26th 2009 at 4:19pm
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That kitchen really does look like a butler's pantry! Here are more tips for small kitchens, from my ongoing Sensible Style series co-published with Kitchens.com:

Sensible Style: Small Kitchens, Big Splurges

http://jgkitchens.blogspot.com/2009/09/sensible-style-small-kitchens-big.html

Sensible Style: 10 Small Kitchen Tips

http://jgkitchens.blogspot.com/2009/08/sensible-style-six-small-kitchen-tips.html

posted by JG_Kitchens on September 9th 2009 at 1:47pm
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