What Makes A Great Walk-In Pantry | Plus Advice For The Rest Of Us

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Walk-in pantry, butlers pantry, scullery, buttery, spence, cellar or closet. There are many names for the ever coveted extra storage space within a kitchen.
This live stream focusses on tips on designing a functional walk-in, plus advice for those of us who are not so richly blessed with such a scenario.
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[@imscanon]

A window in a pantry is actually not good. You don't want that if you can avoid it. Some ingredients are light sensitive and temp sensitive so you don't want sun streaming in a window heating the room up or turning your oils before their time. Dark and cool is best with just overhead lighting that can be turned off so it's dark in there again.

[@jonathansage2147]

100% agree. Honestly, the same goes for all closets. Clothes are light sensitive too.

[@roxanneherrman2107]

Windows in old 100 year plus homes were for circulation! You still had to store pot, onions squash etc., in cold dry areas! That's what those houses had cellars

[@susanhenley8240]

Some of those pantries are larger than my kitchen 😞

[@tommiefester1904]

I added a walk in pantry when we remodeled our house. It's the best!! I opted for an arched entryway with no door, beautiful cabinets and I put my wall oven/microwave in it. Lots of drawers as well as open shelves. I also added a mini-fridge. I love it almost as much as my beautiful kitchen. LOL

[@GardenGirl1994]

We built our pantry under the staircase, three large pull out drawers the depth of the stairs. We have a walk in cold cellar that looks like a pantry. Perfect for our vintage wine collection and root vegetables.

[@PamelaJ56]

For 35 years I’ve shared my pantry with the hall linen closet. Now I have a new kitchen with drawers, and pantry cabinets with pull-outs on both sides of the fridge. I’m so excited to finally have some storage space! 😍

[@tamaramartin4015]

Lighted drawers are a great idea for visually impaired folks.

[@LadyE46448]

Good conversation, pros, cons, and many things to consider for pantries. :-) I would be remiss, however, in pointing how there really are different distinctions in the types of pantries. (I enjoy history). 1. Butler’s pantries - originally were like ‘silver safe’ rooms always under lock and key the butler supervised. Then they expanded to include decanting wines which the butler supervised. Then they became the serving prep spot between a kitchen and the dining room. Butler pantries having dishes, plates, silver, etc. and no food storage. Ah … all my dishes … gotta have a different set for different seasons and reasons. ;-) 2. Scullery - a ‘back kitchen’ for the messy washing up. Think scullery maid and mess hidden away. Now sculleries must have dishwashers and sinks and all clean up stuff. 3. Dry pantry - originally the root cellar and dry pantry were the same. Now think household supplies, cleaning as well as bulk store dry good purchases (paper towels, light bulbs, TP, Kleenex) 4. Pantry - where bread was kept. The pantler was the servant in charge of the bread and was the individual who actually sliced it for the table. A lower nobleman. Then was absorbed into hotels and large commercial establishments by the pantryman, a paid position whose main function was to oversee the supplying and resupplying of bread and provisions. Now food storage and eatable provisions. 5. Cold / Milk pantry - (also called bog pantry) beverage storage along with additional refrigeration / freezer (originally were separate buildings over a river or lake to keep foods cold and the bacteria in the water kept fresh) 6. Root Cellar - dry, cool storage for root vegetables, grains, spices, dried foods. 7. Larder - storage of meats that were stored in barrels with lard. And yes, you guessed correctly. Common frontier settler root cellars were maybe a trunk. Gotta love the gilded age for separating everything out to the extreme. After WWII and especially with the depression pantries and hired help were no longer viable and pantries were replace with kitchen cabinets. History repeating itself as the more affluent and now going back to speciality pantries. Ah … I can only be so lucky. Bring on the pantry. Bring on the hired help; especially for all the messy clean up. ;-)

[@nathalie_desrosiers]

Very interesting, thank you.

[@The_Robs]

Over 50 years ago, my family moved into a circa 1900 flat that had a walk through pantry (we incorrectly referred to it as a butler’s pantry, as it had no sink) that was the passageway between the dining room and the kitchen. It did have beautiful swinging doors with brass hand plates and kick plates at both ends, a wall of glass door cabinets (there were no cabinets in the kitchen), and a wall of open shelves. There was also a short counter below a window that looked out on our neighbours’ back yard. I have a vivid memory of a tiny mouse running across my feet one night when I was quite young, and he may have been more scared than me, after I jumped about a mile in the air! There was also a bedroom off of the kitchen that we called the maid’s room, but since we were nowhere near prosperous enough for one of those, it became my older brother’s room, since it was far enough away from the other bedrooms that he could play his music and not disturb everyone too much. After nine years there, the city expropriated the property to construct a new access road to the main highway that would cut right through the city. It was a beautiful old building, with so much character, but the standout feature was that pantry.

[@FTG2Eli]

Like 'Downton Abbey', the downstairs kitchen....to butlers 😀..........love that show.

[@roxanneherrman2107]

This shot with the ladder, is a full time pantry, technically a butler's pantry. Expresso mach., running water, toaster oven, etc.

[@JRNurse2013]

We just received our house plans to start building this Fall 2024. What we hate about our current plan is the open concept where our island is usually a collect all! We love it being open to the great room where I can watch the news while cooking or talk to guests. So…we will have a hallway off the kitchen where there’s a Butler’s pantry on the right and a door to the prep kitchen/pantry is on the left. It will have a double sink in there and I can make my sourdough bread without constantly worrying about having everything out on the countertop!

[@MorningClarity]

Food lasts better in the dark, so no window in my pantry, no matter aesthetics.

[@nathalie_desrosiers]

Ohhh. I did not think about that... Thanks for the tip.

[@jaguise826]

The second pantry example would be better if the door opened outward so that storage now behind the door would be more easily accessible.

[@susanhenley8240]

I'm always concerned about the weight of heavy canning jars when it comes to shelving.

[@dawnelder9046]

I used solid wood planks when I built mine. Not a sign of sagging.

[@Waltzonthemoon]

I have a kitchen where i need storage for all the things i grow and can in my garden. We also raise our protein and need freezer space. The best walk in pantry was L shaped behind the kitchen that held everything including large pressure canner pots and tinsels.

[@susanmcbridewright6241]

I am either really disorganized or have too much crap. One corner of our garage is our pantry and storage for lesser used small appliances. Well organized and everything is within sight and easily accessible. Some day/night I will catch you live. My corner cabinet "turntable" as we don't use the LS moniker in our family, has my spices organized according to type and in clear triangular bins. Thanks for all of the tips.

[@luzy]

Good Vid- missed the live stream - it was an hr earlier than first thought. I have a small kitchen so I am going to do a floor to ceiling shelving. Even if you need a step stool. Thinking 24” wide x 8 ft high x 16” deep. I currently have 2 base cabinets that have the bulk of what we use so I’m sure that will be enough. But open to suggestions! I’m bound and determined to catch the next Live stream!! Take care everyone!!

[@debramccurley6312]

I was lucky enough to have a nice size walk in pantry once and a butler’s pantry in another. Loved each for their own but the walk in pantry was so much more helpful in my life. The first home we built we did not have enough budget to have the space for a walk in. So I did what my father had done in a home. I had 4th wall available and I built a full length pantry about 5 ft long that had a depth of 3 vegetable cans.We had trim carpenter using our home as his first chance of getting into cabinetry. So we had some shelves 12 inches tall to fit the canisters I already had, some 6inches as that was tall enough for canned goods, etc. for the whole pantry. My husband told me I couldn’t build it like that as it would be too much a pain for the carpenter. But I held 😊my decision and won that argument. (I lost the one about a corner fireplace I didn’t want.LOL) And it did teach this carpenter to build more like this in the future And not like so many spec houses were built with the standard 3 or 4 shelves wasting space.

[@runningfromabear8354]

Thanks for covering this! We're building a walk in pantry/butlers kitchen whatever you want to call it. We're pretty locked down on the kitchen design, we've renovated kitchens before and feel confident about it. Our first home had a cold storage room in the basement that was just as cold as the name implies. We've missed having that storage space. But also I got so tired of guests always walking into the kitchen and seeing all of our mess, it's like guests have a magnetic draw to kitchens. Open concept or not, they gather in there whether they're welcome or not. Limiting the mess and smelliest preps would be so nice, like the wet kitchens in Asia. I don't want to cram too much in there. I imagine doing too much prep in there will defeat the purpose of keeping some level of privacy 😅 this is good. I'll probably leave kettle and coffee maker in the kitchen, but things like the toaster could go on the counter in the pantry. Thanks

[@nathalie_desrosiers]

I am about to build my house. Of course, it's an open concept plan. I heard cooking smells will 'ruin' my furniture. I am thinking on installing folding doors between my kitchen and the dining room. And the pantry will be there mostly for the purpose of hiding the mess from the guests eyes... My childhood house had a cold room in the basement. I miss that house so much.

[@kathryntobisch6870]

Thanks for all the pantry storage ideas. With 2 pullout pantries (12"? w ea.) in our kitchen design, we may add pantry storage in the laundry room adjoining the kitchen. Congrats on upgrading the stream to 1080, HD! For the playback on this device, in Settings/Quality/ Auto (1080p), and great audio.

[@kipplockwood1368]

I say labels are a good idea, you wouldn’t want to mix up your sugar and your cocaine. 😂

[@ValeryRG]

😂😂😂

[@nathalie_desrosiers]

Wait. what??? Of course, if you have the money to fill a jar with it, I want to know you. Or maybe not... 😉

[@MTKDofficial]

lol.

[@carynvanwyk]

In my walk-in Pantry, I want it to be fairly large with enough room for maybe two stand-up freezers I would love that.

[@dawnelder9046]

Mine is in the laundry room. Need to walk threw my husband's TV room every time I need something from the freezer. No other place.

[@kimherben7866]

For that, you would definitely need constant venting, so your food items don't get overheated from the heat output of the deep-freezers. If you are also using your pantry for canned foods and non-perishables. Also, when you open your freezer door, it can add a lot of humidity to your pantry, also not the best for above-mentioned foods. An option that we use for our frost-free deep freeze is to house it in the utility room, which is 4 steps from the kitchen. Still a lot closer than keeping it in the detached garage/shop.

[@he7is7at7hand]

It seems to me like the shelves in the pantry should be not all the same height. You need to have a shelf or two where you can store those tall things. And yes I like the idea of the countertop in there. Thanks for the video.

[@donnale3881]

Quality is good 👍🏼

[@MTKDofficial]

Thanks for letting me know!

[@irenehoimes7186]

Love your video 😊 ... my walk in pantry has the door opening inward.

[@creativitybycarilyn6634]

For me, labels are not optional...you need to document the expiration date at minimum of any dry good or food. You might also want to put the exact name. For instance if you are a baker, you may want to know which container is bread flour vs. cake flour vs. all purpose. If you use a variety of coffee or teas, you will want to know which one you have and if it is decaf version. Again they all have expiration dates. Sometimes I clip off the label and date from the original package and put it inside the clear container.

[@dawnelder9046]

I turned the space under the stairs . Made a massive difference. But would love a larger one. But not possible. I use mine for storing food. Lots of food. Very messy.

[@user-js8vi6pp3t]

I have a walk in pantry. It's 4 by 5. Think small closet. I love the ones with all the pretty containers. But mine looked so messy. I switched to some bins to put like ideas in. (Cakes and cookie idems, nuts and berries for granola, baking sugers and spices.) Next is a basket for chips and snacks. I'm impressed with the hyper organized spaces, but I'm not that cool. No one in my house could handle putting thing back in its space, if there was a space people shove whatever in there.

[@roxanneherrman2107]

I'm not sure about open shelves! I'd like to see upper and lower storage with a counter top

[@robbullis5025]

Do you like a corner pantry to make the best use of the corner in a kitchen?

[@MTKDofficial]

Possibly, as lone as it's accessible!

[@connieborg6471]

❤❤

[@trinaroe5132]

You mentioned in 3/20/24 live that comments stay after you post the video to be watched later. I’ve only ever seen NEW comments added in replay, not the original live comments. If they are there as someone asked I can’t see a way to turn them on.

[@mike9132]

Check your feed. Maybe you're paying for 1080 but you're coming across as 480. Freezes, slow frame rate. Audio works.

[@MTKDofficial]

might be on your end. Others said it was great. Though I do need a better camera connection to stop the thing from freezing. But that happened before, so...

[@roxanneherrman2107]

To put flour, sugar, nuts, ect in clear jars, prevevts bugs, keeps stuff from going stale, or maybe humidity on hot days! Nothing worse than homemade baked goods with stale flour!

[@Cyrenes12]

#replay

[@jeme7339]

Our "pantry" has a heat duct running through the wall; it is very warm in there! So much for a cool, dark place. We do not use it for food. Poor planning. Houses should be designed better!

[@Gigi-fv9ky]

I would be appreciative if there was less filler conversation so as to get to the heart of it faster. It was 2 minutes from the beginning until it started, and then there was immediately another 2 minutes explaining your approach doesn’t focus on aesthetics. Then another picture, then more filler conversation at which point I gave up. I work long hours and I am tired and don’t have much time so if you could make the videos a bit more concise that would be great. You are very nice and pleasant and I don’t intend this feedback to be mean in any way. I just want to enjoy your content. 😊

[@MTKDofficial]

Thank you for the feedback. You may enjoy my regular Saturday uploads, as they are short and edited. These live steam videos are first meant for the live audience as a way for me to engage with them, and they do become chatty. Some more than others. Thanks so much for watching.