Butler’s pantry functionality without the butler’s pantry price tag.
A butler’s pantry is infinitely useful if you have the space and the budget to include one but what if your home is too small for a butler’s pantry.
Aspects of the convenience and storage of a butler’s pantry can be gained through other means – even within the smallest of homes!
The top reasons our clients list for loving their butler’s pantry are:
Keeps the mess out of sight
Enables a better design for a kitchen with fewer corner cabinets which are tricky to access
Allows storage in bulk
Tucks small appliances away but ready for use – plugged in ready to go on a bench out of sight.
Let’s take a closer look at how these points can be addressed without extending to a butler’s pantry.
Keep my mess out of sight
A mess is nobody’s friend and we love to keep it to a minimum. The kitchen pictured below incorporates bi-fold doors that retract out of the way for great access and quick mess-hiding. Hidden behind these doors is a cooktop, sink, and rangehood as well as storage. There is no limit to what can be hidden behind a bi-fold door. When closed, this kitchen maintains a minimal look and leaves a high-end tap and integrated sink on display that contrasts against the beautiful grain of the veneered wall that hides yet more cabinetry.
Give me access to my corner cabinets
There are so many solutions available that provide greater access to corner cabinets. Improve the ergonomics of your kitchen by incorporating a corner access unit. While the lazy Susan is still a popular option, there are now even more options with different configurations and higher load-bearing capacities that provide tailored access to even more of that otherwise difficult cabinet.
Blum Space Corner
Access your corner cabinets with drawers.
Hafele LeMans
Keep your heavy appliances tucked out of sight yet ready to lift out on a shelf that comes to you! LeMans has a 25kg load capacity on each shelf making it an excellent storage solution for mixers, breadmakers, Thermomixes and other appliances.
Corner Recycling Bin
Use that space to house your bins.
Increase my storage without increasing the footprint of my kitchen?
Increasing storage does not always require increasing the footprint of your kitchen. The trick is to find poorly utilised or unused space and find a way to make it work harder! Here are some of the ways you can do this in your kitchen.
Drawers
The most common way to increase storage is to increase the number of drawer units within the kitchen. Drawers provide easier, more ergonomic access to your items. More can be stored in one drawer than on one shelf of the same size. Items stored on a shelf still require room for your arm to get into those items at the back. With a drawer there is no need – you can see everything and easily pick up what is required. Three drawer units can, therefore, increase storage space for that cabinet by over 50%!
Pull out pantry
Pantries are so frequently used by so many members of the household that they quickly become messy. Make your pantry easy to access and well organised to eliminate the problem. Pull-out pantries offer quick, easy, and ergonomic access to all items – right to the back. There are a variety of models to suit all pantry sizes and budgets. Ask your designer about the right one for your pantry.
Keep my appliances on the bench but also out of sight
For high-use appliances, such as toaster, kettle, and microwave, appliance cabinets provide the best access and there is no lifting involved. Part of the appeal of these cabinets is that the doors can be left open when you are in the kitchen and closed when not in use. On a well-designed appliance cabinet, leaving the door/s open provides no impediment to working in the kitchen. Appliance cabinets have been around for years, but these days they blend beautifully with the style of your kitchen because of the range of finishes on offer.
Bi-fold doors
Bi-fold doors glide out of the way and work best on cabinets that are set slightly back from the benchtop in order to maintain ease of movement around the kitchen. The setback from the bench provides space for the folded doors to sit while the appliances are in use. A setback from the edge of the bench is sometimes necessary to allow steam from toasters and kettles to dissipate more effectively as appliances can be slid out from under a low shelf.
Pocket sliding doors
Pocket sliding retractable doors work well on cabinets that are flush with the benchtop. The doors open to the sides as usual, but then tuck back into the cabinet. This maintains freedom of movement within the kitchen.
Roller door
A roller door works well on all types of cabinets that come down to the benchtop. They are colour matched to your cabinetry and they are easy to pull up and down as access is required.
Whatever you desire for your kitchen, Smith & Smith is here to help. Our friendly designers are trained to listen. Together you will create a kitchen that suits your life and style.
