Fancy a walk-in larder or pantry? We do!
Here is a fabulous larder cupboard from one of our recent projects.
As lovers of space saving and clever storage, at Blackbrook Kitchens we’re definitely embracing the current resurgence of the kitchen pantry-slash-larder.
Appearing in stylish kitchens across instagram, Pinterest and in homes near you, are an array of fabulous wall-to ceiling larder cupboards, walk-in pantries, magically tardis-like food stores and wonderfully well organised culinary supplies. We’re increasingly being asked to incorporate pantries or larders into our kitchen designs - and we’re more than happy to oblige!
Larders were historically the pre-refrigerator rooms used to lard raw meat (ie. to cover it in fat for preserving). By the 18th century, the term ‘larder’ had expanded to include the storage of bread, pastry, milk, butter and meat. The word ‘pantry’ comes from the French word ‘paneterie’ where bread (pain) was stored. When fridges came into play, convenience food became the go-to supper solution and everyone could nip round to the supermarket to get whatever they fancied, so larders became rather defunct. Either metamorphosing into utility rooms, or merging into main kitchen spaces to free up room for the kitchen cabinets and worktops popular in modern kitchens.
Larders or pantries make a lot of sense for modern kitchens.
Now that the buzzword is sustainability, goal posts are moving again. We’re all keen to buy in bulk to cut down food miles and packaging - so we need room to store those giant sacks of pasta. All the sourdough baking we’re doing means we need room to store our beautiful jars of artisan flour. Our enthusiasm for cooking means shelves which showcase our new found interesting ingredients are a must. Time constraints mean we want to be able to grab exactly what we need without any faff and the fact we love to post our culinary exploits on insta means that our kitchens must be clean, clutter free and beautiful… even inside the cupboards.
If your kitchen is large or you have pre-existing cupboards, excessive boxing-in or an under-used cloakroom, you may be able to create a roomy walk-in larder.
If you have seen the particularly covetable example on Nigella’s ‘Sleep, Eat, Repeat’ tv programme, you’ll know what we mean… step through to a hidden world of shelves housing beautiful screw top vintage jars, plenty of room for stacking artisan packed foodstuffs and a few carefully strewn strands of twinkly fairy lights. Fabulous.
If you’re a little bit more strapped for space, there are still lots of options for fabulous fold out larder cupboards, which will open to reveal shelving to rival the kind you’d spy at a branch of Dean & DeLuca.
You could fill an entire wall with a larder cupboard, conceal it in a corner or just incorporate it as a useful addition within a more minimalist designed kitchen.
At Blackbrook Kitchens, we’re all about making your dream kitchen a reality, so if you’re hankering after a kitchen that includes a larder or pantry then that’s just the kind of kitchen we like.
Why not get in touch to make an appointment at our showroom and we can discuss how we can redesign your kitchen space to accommodate that perfect kitchen storage solution.
Then all you need to do is focus on what you’ll eventually fill it with - and what culinary masterpieces you’ll be using its bounty for…