If you’re anything like me, you will be reading the news, watching a show, or just hear of something that will take you down an internet Rabbit Hole. That happens to me on the reg, so I decided to share some of those trips with you, dear readers.

This week’s trip take us into the world of the Butler’s Pantry. I was watching an episode of the TV show “In With the Old” when this special part of the home came up. Which got me thinking – I NEED TO KNOW MORE!

Butler’s Pantries got their start in the large homes of Europe and America in the 18th and 19th centuries. As the name suggests, they acted as the office of the Butler, and were a storage place for the fine china, linen and silver of the home. These areas served many purposes depending on the demand of the home but they key to all of them was discretion.

Butler’s pantries were most often located between the Kitchen and Dining Room. These areas acted as a buffer between the sights, sounds and smells of the kitchen and formal dining room; they were also the staging area for the meals and beverages. The vast majority of pantries had doors separating these spaces both from the Kitchen and from the Dining Room. It made it look as if everything appeared out of thin air and very little work was done (when in fact, the exact opposite was true). They often featured sinks, counters, storage, and some even had locked areas for the more expensive items.

One fun fact I learned from the TV show is that most Butler’s Pantries featured wooden counters, since wood is softer than stone. The wood surface is less likely to chip the China and scratch the silver.

As the eras came and went, Butler’s Pantries when out of fashion due to the diminishing need for wait staff and everyone’s more utilitarian relationship with the kitchen. Many a pantry was done away with to create a larger kitchen, larger dining area, or both. Then came the trend of ‘make your whole house feel open’, which dealt another blow to pantries everywhere.

Finally though, the pendulum is swinging back and Butler’s Pantries are becoming one of the most requested spaces in home renovations. According to one study, homes that have Butler’s Pantries sell 15-20% faster than those that do not.

Our current home was built in the early 2000s, which was when the ‘open concept’ was just gaining traction and thus, does not have a Butler’s Pantry, but you can bet that it’s on my list when it’s time to do a renovation.