Room By Room~The Butler’s Pantry

Welcome to another room of our historic home. If you are new to my blog, I have a series called Room by Room, where I share a detailed peek into a specific room in our home. Today I am sharing the Butler’s Pantry. Though it is not a large room, it certainly packs a punch. This 6′ x 9′ room is located between the dining room and breakfast room via swing doors.

Unfortunately, we do not have a butler (wouldn’t that be nice?), but being a bit of a dish/glass collector, this room is perfect for storing all the tableware I love.

In addition to two swing doors, there is a small, yet pretty double-hung window and sill on the north side, providing a bit of natural light to the space. Not only do I hang our Christmas cards here, but during the rest of the year, all my garlands are hung here as well.

Still Original

The room is painted a grayish blue with Cottage White on the trim and cabinets. And the floors are the same as the rest of the house~a Canadian beech hardwood. Fortunately the original wood countertops and curved backsplash still exist and have tell-tale signs of fun parties of the past.

I am guessing that this was once an active bar decades ago as there is evidence of laying cigarettes on the counter, while making a drink or washing a glass.

Above the sink is a door that we assume allowed access into the adjacent food pantry. However, somewhere along the way someone blocked it and it’s now a place to store detergent and sponges for the sink. Here is the other pantry that shares the same wall.

I am not always this neat. To see the post on this came about, click here.

My Collections

Above the sink is a display of Modra Slovak Folk Majolica and brass trivets. I just love the colorful patterns of these dishes~they make me happy. And I wish we used trivets more at the dinner table…

Four Raymond Waites chicken plates hang on another wall.

There appears to be quite a few Raymond Waites plates for sale on eBay here.

The skirted sink is a great place to hide larger items like vases. And of course, the several cabinets with glass front doors are perfect for keeping all my cherished dishes.

Beautiful….except…

When we finally closed on the house, we were dismayed to see that most of the nice light fixtures were removed (not per the real estate agreement). However, after a nearly 9 month closing, we were just happy to finally take possession of the house.

In retrospect, I wish I had chosen a different light fixture. This one provides an abundant amount of light, but it is very difficult to clean. You would think it would be easy to disassemble, but it’s not. The dust collects inside and no matter how well you wipe it out, is still remains streaky. And it’s just big enough that when I open the cabinet door closest to it, they make contact.

Whoever designed this room, made good use of the space but it isn’t easy to get to the very top cabinets. Here is where I store those things that get used occasionally.

Organization

Many of the existing drawers have dividers already, so things like cocktail napkins, votive candles, tapers, place cards, and trays all have a place to go. Back in 2018 I did write a post on organizing this space and you can see it here.

For the most part, the pantry is kept organized, except the countertops. For some reason any flat surface becomes a dumping ground. Every now and again, I do need to tidy it up.

I hope you have enjoyed this version of Room by Room. If you have missed any of the other ones, you can find them below:

Front Hall here

Master Bedroom here

Living Room here

Can you believe there are only 3 days left to September? Fastest month ever! Have a wonderful Tuesday and thank you so much for joining me today!