Stylish Ideas for Modern Butler’s Pantries

Originally popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, these supplemental storage rooms are gaining new popularity as entertainers’ go-to prep spaces — and we’ll show you how to outfit your own.

December 22, 2020

By: Lauren Oster

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The Origin Story

Butler’s pantries became popular in the Victorian era as narrow spaces between kitchens and formal dining rooms where valuable family silver and crystal were stored. (They gained their name from the fact that some luckless butlers actually slept beside the pieces they polished, in order to keep an eye on them.)

From: James Farmer

The Next Generation

Since most people only see butlers (and massive silver and crystal collections, for that matter) on prestige television dramas, butler’s pantries have evolved into spaces that serve as both wet bars and storage areas that aid in entertaining, offer serious supplemental counter space and help keep kitchens themselves clean and uncluttered. In the 21st century, they’re becoming popular all over again — and here’s how contemporary hosts are putting them to work.

From: Parks Realty and Luxury Portfolio International®

Frame of Reference

Like butler’s pantries of yore, this galley-style space connects a kitchen and formal dining room; it also boasts key updates like bonus appliances and ornate floating shelves. Because rooms configured like this one frame views of other spaces, they’re excellent places to deploy contrasting wall treatments (like the handsome variegated blue grass cloth seen here).

Showing Your Work

The modern butler’s pantry is no hidden luxury: It’s meant to be seen, and it often boasts refined details like this prism-embellished chandelier and custom cabinetry. Once again, blue grass cloth wallpaper accents another view — and in this case, that deep tone gains another level of texture from the slightly lighter color chosen for the molding surrounding the door.

From: Duet Design Group

Cocktail Corner

Here’s a butler’s pantry Mad Men's Don Draper might appreciate, speaking of prestige television: Swathed in wallpaper intended to evoke the look of a gentleman’s tailored tweed suit, this space is devoted to mixologist’s accessories and a well-outfitted trio of bar shelves. A custom tray ceiling treatment completes the room’s metropolitan feel.

From: Nastasi Vail Design

Built-In Beauty

In lieu of the massive serving pieces and over-the-top flatware collections that would have filled a room like this one a century ago, this space’s embellishments are built in. Here, iridescent subway tile, a marble countertop and gleaming gold hardware on the cabinets, pendant and canisters are the stars of the show.

From: Zoe Feldman Design

Tropical Teal

Glass-fronted, Shaker-style cabinets gain personality with a coat of Caribbean blue paint and contrasting latches. The pantry’s main characters are the Capuchin monkeys perched in the greenery on its fanciful wallpaper; like powder rooms, spaces like these are excellent places to experiment with bold prints.

From: Michelle Gage

Treasure Trove

This walk-in butler’s pantry is a nook rather than a space to pass through, but it’s just as ready for its close-up, thanks to creamy cabinetry with X mullions, an ornate, star-shaped flush-mount fixture and framed art complete with gallery lighting.

From: Ashley Gilbreath

Nautical Nook

Crisp custom cabinetry in maritime blue, a backsplash with geometric marble tiles and an antiqued pendant give this butler’s pantry an atmosphere a sea captain might appreciate. (The well-stocked bar and built-in wine fridge are key contributors there as well.)

From: Jennifer Stoner Interiors

Coastal Herringbone

A barely there, dune-inspired palette of pale oak flooring, sandy cabinetry and intricate tone-on-tone backsplash tiling combine to create a gracious entertaining space in this beachfront home.

From: North Fork Design Co.

One-of-a-Kind Window

This luxurious waterfront butler’s pantry features artful echoes of the living room beyond it: A porthole-inspired window echoes the sculptural art in matching cabinetry, and an intricately painted Chinese ginger jar would look right at home on a mantel.

From: Houlihan Lawrence and Luxury Portfolio International®

Unabashed Glamour

This butler’s pantry is as darkly elegant as the pale kitchen beyond it is light and airy: Crisp black cabinets give way to dramatic veined countertops, high-gloss hexagonal tiles rise to a vintage gold pendant and even the sink features hammered heavy metal.

A Few Extra Hands

This well-appointed, transitional butler’s pantry is an apt example of how a bit of supplemental space can relieve pressure on crowded kitchen countertops. That said, its unquestionable MVP is the dishwasher: How lovely would it be to tuck a dinner party’s remains away and keep on hosting without stepping around a mess?

From: Martha O'Hara Interiors

All in the Details

As this Arizona butler’s pantry demonstrates, galley-style spaces are ideal places to deploy intricate runners (which won’t suffer as much wear as they would in a kitchen). They’re also well suited to substantial accessories like this wine refrigerator, which would gobble up serious real estate in a kitchen (but is well situated for entertaining here).

From: Andrea Bazilus

Country Charmer

This traditional space, in turn, is all about contrast: It features both the dramatic serving pieces (like the silver carafe and champagne bucket) one would expect to find in a classic butler’s pantry and more angular, rustic touches like the oxidized chandelier and suspended iron shelves. In the 21st century, in other words, you can use a space like this one for anything you like.

From: The Refined Group

Shop This Look

Photo By: Emily Followill

Photo By: Parks Realty, a member of Luxury Portfolio International

Photo By: Robert Peterson

Photo By: Emily Minton Redfield

Photo By: Genevieve Garrupp

Photo By: Stacy Zarin Goldberg

Photo By: Rebecca McAlpin

Photo By: Ashley Gilbreath

Photo By: Gordon Gregory Photography

Photo By: Kyle Caldwell

Photo By: Houlihan Lawrence, a member of Luxury Portfolio International

Photo By: Christopher Stinner, Juwan Li and Adrian Van Anz, courtesy of Aaron Kirman Group

Photo By: Spacecrafting

Photo By: Courtney Lively Photography

Photo By: Sun Valley Photo

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