How I'm Organizing My Butlers Pantry

Do you have any spaces in your home that always seem to be a mess? For those of us with children, toy organization seems to always be a priority, sometimes keeping us from getting other areas organized well.

One area that was a struggle was the kitchen. Originally, it was because I just didn’t have enough space. But last year, we did some renovations to our home. One thing we did was give up our master bedroom to widen the kitchen and create a butlers pantry. #BestDecisionEver!

Organizing My Butlers Pantry {And Why Every Home Needs This Space!}

Why Every Home Needs A Butlers Pantry

The main purpose of a butlers pantry has always been storage space. So I’m going to start off by sharing why I feel every home needs this special room. A butlers pantry functions as a utility room and allows the host to both prepare and clean up food in an area that’s out of sight to guests. Initially used as a pantry between the kitchen and dining area, the contemporary butlers pantry now provides additional cabinetry and storage space.

I feel every home needs a great pantry because the complaint that is most often heard is ‘I just don’t have enough space!’ Adding this special pantry to your home can be a great solution to this problem. If you like to entertain, even a large kitchen can get congested at times. Especially if you’re busy preparing and serving food to all your guests. This room can become whatever you need it to be. Prep space. Food storage space. Small appliance catch-all. Or whatever you happen to need for your circumstances.

What Is The Difference Between A Typical Pantry And A Butlers Pantry?

A typical house pantry tends to be a small, modest storage area. It usually features several shelves and may or may not have space to actually walk in. A butlers pantry will have space to walk in and typically features a decent amount of storage for small appliances, food, and accessories. It has space to walk around and room to work. It may or may not feature a sink.

What Size Should My Butlers Pantry Be?

This question is a little open ended as it may come down to preferences. However, what you need to consider when deciding on size is what you hope to gain from this room. Do you want a second oven in it? Perhaps a spare fridge? As I mentioned, we took our master bedroom and converted part of it to the kitchen expansion. And the remaining became our walk in butlers pantry. So our room ended up being 11 feet by 13 feet.

Video Walk-Through Tour Of Our Organized Pantry

Because sometimes, it’s just easier to gauge something in person, I wanted to give you the next best thing. A short video tour of our results after our pantry organization makeover:

Something I want to point out. It’s extremely important to have a door on your pantry. You’ll want to be able to close the space off at times. So pick something you love. We went with a raindrop pocket door. I didn’t want a swinging door as I felt it would be in the way. The pocket style door was the perfect solution for me. And I decided I didn’t want a solid door either, as I wanted some light to be able to come through. So that is why I chose the raindrop glass.

Organizing My Butlers Pantry

In all honestly, my pantry was a disaster. We finished our renovations just a couple days before we were set to host Easter last year. So nothing was really put away where it should have gone. We just threw everything in a door, drawer, or cupboard and called it good. So almost a year later and I was going insane with the impractical placing of items. In a moment of frustration, I decided my pantry needed an organizing overhaul. Thankfully, mDesign was here to help.

While not completely horrible, there was a definite lack of organization. Appliances were randomly scattered everywhere. We had canned goods and boxes in a variety of areas, without rhyme or reason. Things were just plopped on empty spaces. I didn’t even know half of what I had on hand.

Organization Help From mDesign

“More than.” These two words describe the very essence of mDesign’s being. They are more than organization. They’re more than functional. They are more than basic. I love that mDesign offers inspirational essentials that will provide you stylish home storage and furnishings solutions at affordable prices.

mDesign Products That Helped Me Get Organized

Utilizing these storage items really helped us get organized. We spent three hours completely emptying the pantry and then sorting, organizing, and finding suitable places for every single item. It was nice to group items that ‘went together’ into baskets. For example: now when someone wants a hot drink, we just grab down this basket and have everything at our fingertips.

Previously, we had the canned goods in the pantry drawers. Utilizing dispenser racks on our open shelving allows me to see at a glance what we have on hand and what needs restocking. So much more organized!

Air tight storage containers are a must in any pantry. They help to protect the food inside while keeping it fresh.

Before our reorganization, I kept our baking mixes behind a cupboard door. This meant, boxes were stacking in front of each other, on top of each other, and all over. So it was hard to know what we had on hand. Moving them to a pull-out drawer means I can now take stock in mere seconds.

As you can see, our mDesign pantry makeover has made a huge difference. Every time I walk into our Butlers Pantry now, I just LOVE how fresh, open, clean, and organized everything is!