Introducing The Butler’s Pantry
Open concept living has become all the rage over the past few years, but as wonderful as these modern innovations are, did we really think this through?
When the whole family is over and the den is filled with cousins, kids, toys and football, it’s wonderful to remain a part of the fun from inside your busy kitchen. Bravo! Excellent idea.
What happens when more formal entertaining is required? Do you really want your pots and pans shoved in the face of your company’s CEO all during dinner? Will the committee chairman be impressed with your exotic display of dirty dishes?.
What if we created a custom Butler’s Pantry between your fabulous, open-plan kitchen and your elegantly laid, formal dining room. We can’t claim to have invented the Butler’s Pantry, but we do believe it could support your informal daily lifestyle, while preserving the elegance of special occasions.
Butler’s Pantries were popular in the magnificent houses at the turn of the19th century when the likes of “Lord and Lady Grantham” entertained with lavish dinners and soirées. Kitchens back then were steamy, noisy places filled with cooks, cleaners and servers that no guest was ever allowed to see. The Butler was the ring master of this circus and kept things flowing beautifully from oven to table. Everything he needed to make this magic happen was kept in the Butler’s Pantry. The crystal, the silver cutlery, fine china and exquisite table linens were kept there, under the watchful eye of the family’s butler. Some very expensive, opened bottles of wine were also kept in the Butler’s Pantry.
Today’s Butler’s Pantries re-imagine these transitional spaces. Modern homeowners demand designs that have it all. Think functionality meets trendy style, with timeless beauty.
This clutter-free and organized Butler’s Pantry will save you time and alleviate “pre-event” stress because everything you need is in one place and is instantly available at your fingertips. If you’re handing over the cooking to a caterer, the chef may actually kiss you for providing him with a Butler’s Pantry!
Your custom, luxury Butler’s Pantry can serve as a staging area for meal preparation that gobbles up copious amounts of counter space and cabinetry. It can serve as your drinks station with room for wine bottles and tea pitchers.
Did we mention all of the additional storage that a well-designed Butler’s Pantry has to offer? There are some kitchen appliances that are never used except for formal-ish dinners, so just stick them in the Butler’s Pantry cabinets.
Why not add an additional micro-wave oven, or small refrigerator to your Butler’s Pantry? You could even add warming drawers and ice makers to your Butler's Pantry, and the addition of a second sink is practically a “must have” in your luxury custom Butler’s Pantry.
TLK Custom Luxury Homes can help you design a dream Butler’s Pantry. We will help you coordinate cabinetry and counter tops to compliment the style of the rest of your house. We can add elements that echo the character of your home and help you choose lighting and fixtures that make your Butler’s Pantry look stylishly modern or lavishly extravagant, and all points in between.
When your neighbor brags about their recent trip to Europe, just say, “that’s nice dear, but have you seen my Butler’s Pantry!”
Magical, Mystery Mudroom
Why magical? Not only is a mudroom like a mote that protects your beautiful castle from muddy shoes, wet coats and stinky socks, it magically puts you in a more philosophical mood about all those things.
Mystical because it’s a mystery to us that every custom home doesn’t have a mudroom built into its design!
Well designed mudrooms make economical use of vertical space, providing plenty of hooks or pegs for hanging up coats, scarves, hats and backpacks. We can also design our mudrooms with actual lockers for children’s school books, backpacks, coats and shoes. Ample shelves and cabinets are a must in the mudroom for additional storage as is at least one bench to sit on while removing messy footwear.
A mudroom provides the perfect place to handle the clutter of shoes, outerwear, book bags, briefcases and is an alternative to the coat closet. The mudroom has user friendly storage for the family, bestowing a sense of livability and tidiness to a home.
Our most popular designs are Combo Mud Rooms. One option combines all the features of a great drop-off zone with an easily accessible laundry room. Another option is combining your Mud room with a pet-friendly zone. Imagine an area where Fido can eat his meals, access his water bowl 24-7 and even has a custom cubby hole with his favorite pillow where he can take a nap. Easy-to-clean floors and stylish utility sinks are standard in all of our Mud room designs, but if you really want the best in pet luxury, we can build in a custom, tiled facility for Fido and Fifi’s baths!
Heaven right here on Earth just might be the sense of peace and calm you get from having a mudroom dedicated entirely to handling the accumulated “stuff” of our daily lives, far away from our public living spaces.
Wine Storage Meets Open Concept
With the trendy move toward open concept layouts in luxury custom homes, one issue consistently pops up: Where do we hide all our stuff. Creative and decorative storage is the answer to that problem and has the added benefit of impressing your guests!
Luxury custom home builder, TL Kneedler suggests you turn the problem into a feature. One classic example of that is finding creative ways to display your everyday wine bottles as well as your treasured vino collection.
The more edgy the storage idea, the more clever you will seem to your friends. Why not hand your wine on your wall like a rare painting? Better yet, why not utilize the space under a staircase or in a hall to carve out a refrigerated mini-wine room?
Glass showcase cellars are an even more bold and beautiful way to proudly share your wine collection. Combining glass walls with metal racking and LED lighting with clear, frosted or etched glass comes off as the height of sophistication. TLK Luxury Custom Homes can build these features into your new home or re-create them in your existing home.
Walk In Closets in Every Bedroom
One of the most sizzling hot buttons for luxury home buyers right now are walk-in closets in every bedroom. The big closet in the guest room may be spacious, yet utilitarian, but the master bedroom must be amazing!
Today's luxury home buyer wants more than just hangers, shelves and drawers in their closet. She wants glamour. He wants glass doors, polished metal, polished wood in his luxury closet. You guessed it, his and hers closets are especially on trend in luxury custom homes.
Luxury home buyers want pizazz! They want floor to ceiling mirrors, an elegant vanity, and a giant island in the middle of the room. Islands are as trendy in luxury closets as they are in custom kitchens. It's practically island mania!
Islands filled with drawers and even attached plush seating are particularly popular. Top your luxury closet island off with a slab of polished marble and you've got the perfect surface for folding the clothes you're packing for an unexpected weekend get away. Of course, your new closet's island will also have a built in charging station for all your electronics.
Buyers want their luxury closet to mimic their favorite clothes shopping experience, complete with an elegant dressing area. Today's luxury home buyer wants little mini-condos for their shoes and LED back lighting or maybe a few crystal chandeliers. She may be inspired by a quirky little shop she saw in New York. He may want a gun safe or a refrigerator in his closet.
So will custom builders be building a boutique inside the new home or creating some sort of fantasy-land mega-closet? Yes and yes.
Why build a luxury home anyway if you can't have it customized to make your closet dreams come true and WOW your envious friends who come to visit?