Bonita loves the butler’s pantry.
Big and open kitchens are hugely popular. And with good reason. They can be a warm, inviting space to live and entertain in. The kitchen can be the heart of the home. And we could create a larger kitchen in this home… it just would require some tradeoffs. (Hate that). We would combine the butlers pantry (blue), the coat closet (green), the broom closet (green) and the kitchen (yellow) spaces.
But, as I said, Bonita loves the butler’s pantry. And she is the cook. After having a couple of open kitchens, she decided that she prefers shutting the door on kitchen mess. So the butler’s pantry is staying. Here is the little room that so charmed us:
It had L-shaped upper and lower cabinets for storage and a small banquette for (very) intimate meals. One double-hung window looks to the back yard and a fixed window brings in light from the back porch. And then there is the two-way swinging door. We love this feature.
We tore out the old cabinets and the little formica-covered table. We deepened the refrigerator niche in the kitchen into this space so that the refrigerator would not stick out into the kitchen space. This meant that the new cabinets in the butler’s pantry not be L-shaped like the old. It wasn’t a real sacrifice because the new ones are bigger and more efficient anyway.
Rather than attach a table to the wall, we found a small marble-topped cafe table at by Design. Unlike previous rooms, we decided not to restore the plaster here. Instead, we covered it with bead-board.
The backsplash is simple tin-ceiling look tiles.
Bonita stores some of her dishes and glassware for entertaining here. Plus, this has become our wine bar and coffee bar. We do use the table frequently. It’s a great place to sit down for a simple meal for two.
