Organizing the Butler’s Pantry
The butler’s pantry is a service room between a kitchen and dining room, typically equipped with counters, a sink, and storage space for china and silver. The origin of the butler’s pantry was between 1810-1820. Our butler’s pantry fits that definition to a tee.
The only thing missing in our butler’s pantry is the butler. I would really like a butler.
Above is a typical day in the butler’s pantry-messy and unorganized. There is tall upper storage on either side, a sink in the middle and the original wood countertops. Several drawers are below on both sides as well.
This weekend I decided to clean and organize this pantry.
The original shelf paper was rubber and started to break down (since I first did this nearly 17 years ago). I replaced it with Con-Tact, a non-self adhesive fabric with a non-slip grip purchased at The Container Store.
I washed each and every glass, got rid of the chipped, cracked and mismatched ones. I rediscovered items I loved but had overlooked. This project took so much longer than I anticipated, but everything sparkles and is in place.
The drawers below hold everything from napkins to candles.
Each drawer is labeled which helps me put things back where they belong. I love my labeler.
There is flat storage for trays and behind the skirt under the sink, I keep large vases for flowers.
Living in an historical home can offer some experiences of what has come before. The countertop on either side of the sink is marked with cigarette burns~~my assumption is that back in the day one would lay down their cigarette to make a cocktail or wash a glass.
After I completely reorganized the left side of the pantry, I tackled the right side, which holds some of my china.
And my pots de creme collection (as if I make pots de creme all the time!!!)….
I have too many sets of china and most of the dinnerware is stored in the basement.
Here are the after photos. Sorry for the quality as I took it early this morning them rather low light.
This project took nearly 3 days to complete as I found many pieces of silver that needed polishing, crystal needing washing, plus the sorting and organizing part. Now I know why people had butlers to do all this work!
Just a reminder that any words that are italicized bring you to the source. If it is a product on Amazon, please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you purchase something through my website, I receive a small (very small!) stipend, which doesn’t affect the price you pay at all. My goal is to make sourcing the items easy for you. Thank you for your continued support.
We built a large Queen Anne Victorian, finishing it in July 2003. The house is 2 stories with a full drive out (garage) basement which includes a tornado shelter and workout area. Our builder suggested a way to get stairs to the attic. My husband looked at plans, and by reversing the stairs, that happened. We were in the attic one day and our builder said “we need to take the elevator to the attic.” He also said he was going to build walls to support the roof. I said, “we have stairs, elevator and walls, I feel like we need to add a bathroom and have a 5th guest room.” My husband said, “go ahead. When she says ‘I feel,’ she already knows something we don’t.” We now have 9 grandchildren and with 4 married children, we use all the bedrooms. (Sorry, I got sidetracked.) We added a bulter’s pantry between the dining room and kitchen.
DeeDee, your Queen Anne victorian sounds lovely. I once restored an 1894 Victorian in the San Francisco Bay Area which has so many fabulous features. I wish I had taken really good pictures back then to share but it was quite the house. Thanks for your story!
I wish I had a butler too! LOL This is such a nice feature as it seems really great for entertaining! The “after” looks very clean and organized. Thank you for sharing this vintage feature of Bella Terra! Bella Terra is so cool and beautiful!
You can have a butler…for a slight fee. ; )
Oh, wouldn’t I LOVE one!!!!