Our dining room turned butler’s pantry is finally finished! I’m so excited that I got to design and execute a room like this. I had the idea to turn our last dining room into a pantry in our previous home, but the setup of our house didn’t really make it practical. We wouldn’t have had anywhere to eat as a family – and that’s definitely a no-no! In this house, though, we have a full size table in the sunroom, a long kitchen peninsula suitable for 4-5 stools and another table/banquette area planned for in the ‘playroom’ so losing the formal dining room was no trouble at all.
It’s a good thing, too, because when we removed a wall in the kitchen we lost a decent amount of storage. Besides that we also removed another set of uppers to make room for a dramatic built-in cove above our soon-to-be 48″ range.
Butler’s Pantry Reveal.
I first started posting about our pantry project back in March (if you’d like to see the progression of the project – including the BEFORE – click here). It’s now August.. FIVE whole months of waiting and working but I think it may have just been worth it!
There are a couple of big things that still need to change in here – I’m still on the hunt for a small wooden island for the middle of the room (I would LOVE to have this). When that gets sorted out, I’ll also be putting in a new overhead light!
Another thing that will change is the area above the sink. I’ve been going back and forth on what I’d like there. Currently, I’m thinking I may go with a pot rail to hang.. well.. pots and a few decor items OR I may build some more open shelves for that spot. Do you have a preference or another suggestion? Let me know in the comments below.. I’d GLADLY welcome the input!
Cutting board wall.
I’ve been wanting to do a cutting board wall for a long time now – ever since I saw Chris Loves Julia do theirs a few years back. I originally thought mine would go in our kitchen once it was finished, but this large empty wall was begging for some pretty boards. What do you think?! Some of my boards are ones I’ve been collecting over the years, but some I just picked up and can link for you! You can find a few of the exact ones as well as some similar in the clickable links below.
No-fuss affordable checkerboard tile.
Let’s talk about this checkerboard floor for a second!
From the beginning, I knew I wanted a checkerboard tile in our butler’s pantry. However, because of previous experience with marble flooring (in our last home’s bathrooms), I knew I wanted to avoid the usual marble checkerboard setup. I tell you.. I searched high and low for affordable checkerboard flooring in a 12×12 format but with no luck. It wasn’t until I broadened my search to larger format tile that I came across the PERFECT marble-look option.
This flooring, while it does have that marble-like variation and striation in the coloring and design, is actually porcelain! Why is that such a good thing? It’s more affordable and MUCH more durable/easy to care for than marble. It’s even made by the same brand in one easy-to-navigate listing online. It comes in several colors – I chose the ‘white’ and ‘asphalt’ variations to create this look!
Another cool thing about this tile is that, because it is large format (24×24), it creates the illusion that the room is bigger than it is. We loved this tile so much that, instead of returning the extra boxes we had from the pantry project, we ordered one more and installed it in our laundry/mudroom as well! If that doesn’t speak volumes as far as my recommendation – I don’t know what will 😉
Shop our checkerboard flooring here:
Hydrangea print.
Since I know many of you will be wondering about this hydrangea print, I wanted to provide the link here. You can even use code AFB15 for 15% off your entire purchase! The photographer of this print (and owner of Carolyn Allen Prints) is my very dear friend and I love getting the chance to shamelessly plug her amazing work whenever I can 🙂 Go check out her stuff! It’s perfect for anyone who loves the Florida coast (or coasts in general), florals of all kinds and seaside treasures that captivate the eye!
Shop our butler’s pantry!
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