A butler’s pantry design guide
A butler’s pantry is the perfect hiding place for all the functional elements of your kitchen that you don’t always want on show.
It gives you a secondary area to prepare food in, and a place to hide away mess from dinner guests. Plus it can be a great storage solution for any bench-hogging appliances, like toasters and kettles.
So how can you design the perfect butler’s pantry? Well, we’re going to share what you need to know so you can get started!
What is your butler’s pantry for?
The first step in designing a butler’s pantry is to decide what it will be used for. Will it be used occasionally or every day? While entertaining may be the first thing that spring to mind, a butler’s pantry can also be a great place to make a cup of coffee or wash your dishes. Knowing the why will help influence your butler’s pantry layout, design and requirements.
Location and size
The ideal location for the butler’s pantry is directly off the kitchen and out of sight. Decide whether you want to hide the pantry behind a door or leave it open. If opting to close it off, ensure any doors can be kept open if needed – a sliding door is often a great option for these types of butler’s pantries.
There are no rules when it comes to the size of a butler’s pantry – you can have a small butler’s pantry or a larger one, whatever works for your space. You may be restricted by an existing footprint if you’re renovating or limited by budget and kitchen footprint if building, so it’s always best to consult a builder or designer on what’s possible. Depending on the space you have to work with, you might design a galley butler’s pantry, an L-shaped pantry or a U-shaped pantry – often to go with an open plan kitchen.
Choosing appliances
Unlike kitchens, butler’s pantries don’t have prescribed components that need to be included. Besides having cabinets and a countertop, the parts and pieces of a butler’s pantry can vary greatly depending on your needs.
If you want to do some cooking prep out of sight, then get the best of both worlds with a NEFF vented induction cooktop in your main prep area and a small four-burner gas stove in your butler’s pantry. You can also add a NEFF Slide & Hide® oven in your butler’s pantry too. The fully disappearing door makes baking things like a carrot cake roll or blueberry and white chocolate scones so much easier, as you can effortlessly remove your dish from the oven without awkwardly leaning over the oven door.
And why not match your kitchen appliances with the style of your butler’s pantry and kitchen with the NEFF Flex Design range? With four distinct colours to choose from, you can make seamless combinations with your favourite NEFF appliances in your butler’s pantry and kitchen for a cohesive design.
If you want to keep it simple instead, then store your smaller appliances – like your sandwich press, toaster, kettle, and food processer – in your butler’s pantry. This can help free up space in your kitchen and make meal prep easier and cleaner. Plus you can add a dishwasher to your butler’s pantry. Why? It means all your dirty dishes can be placed in the butler’s pantry and then loaded into the dishwasher – away from guests keeping your kitchen looking fresh!
Get the lighting right
Ensure your butler’s pantry has adequate lighting, and if possible, a source of natural light. LED strip lighting installed on the underside of cabinets provides great task lighting to help you find what you’re looking for.
But just because it is out of sight, doesn’t mean any old light will do. If you’re morning coffee prep is what brings you in there most often then you may want a soft light option so that you don’t wake yourself up. Or you might be more inclined to forego a switch and set up motion sensor lights to help with any midnight snacking.
Don’t forget storage
Open shelving is ideal for a butler’s pantry so that you can easily access what you need. Install it right to the ceiling and organise contents by frequency of use. Glass jars or stackable square containers with locking lids are ideal for bulk dry foods like cereal and pasta. Wire baskets are good for under-bench storage and tricky corners can be utilised with pull-out cupboard systems.
Open shelving is also a great place to store appliances like mixers and toastie makers, as you can keep them at a level of your choice that is easily accessible depending on their weight, rather than bending down or reaching up to a cupboard.
About NEFF
NEFF is a German-engineered kitchen appliance brand, with a product range that includes ovens, cooktops, rangehoods, coffee machines and dishwashers designed to make life in the kitchen a daily pleasure. For people who love to cook, NEFF gives you the tools to create meaningful connections, express your creativity and make memories. Because real life happens in the kitchen.
