{"id":173092,"date":"2022-04-14T05:25:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-14T10:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kitchenbathdesign.com\/?p=173092"},"modified":"2024-08-12T16:16:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T21:16:01","slug":"walk-in-pantries-hidden-gems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kitchenbathdesign.com\/walk-in-pantries-hidden-gems\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk-in Pantries: Hidden Gems"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reacting to the changes in consumer attitudes since the early lockdowns from COVID-19, think tanks and trade associations have been researching and forecasting how the post-pandemic homeowner wants to live. With people spending so much time at home, needs and desires have undergone a metamorphosis, and kitchen and bath designers are taking notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the trends that has emerged out of the pandemic is the increasing interest in large walk-in pantries. Home cooking and storage of extra food became all-important during the pandemic, and that trend remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But kitchen designers say that, while Instagram-worthy pantries with rows of cork-topped spice containers and apothecary jars of dog treats have gone mainstream, the pantry as accessory kitchen predates COVID. And that type of pantry promises to be the real trend ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a recent kitchen design summit, the National Kitchen & Bath Association defined the majority of luxury pantries as either a walk-in space for dry goods and kitchen items or an outsized, floor-to-ceiling space just for dry goods. But experienced kitchen designers like Sarah Robertson and Heather Hungeling say that prep or \u201cmess\u201d kitchens are on their way to replace the conventional pantry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMain Street is catching on to the convenience of the prep kitchen concept,\u201d says Hungeling, an Atlanta, GA-based kitchen designer and influential blogger. \u201cSavvy builders are already offering home designs with these supplemental workspaces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She finds it ironic how it has gotten to a point where there is a need for an ancillary kitchen. \u201cWe\u2019ve been craving open floor plans for so long,\u201d she explains. \u201cEvery home improvement show on television has had the designer knocking down the walls in the main living space to create those open floor plans. In addition, homeowners wanted to increase the number of windows in their kitchen, inevitably leading to a lack of storage and convenience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hungeling continues, \u201cWe\u2019ve gladly accepted these trade-offs as part of getting a kitchen that we can live in, until we realized that we had nowhere to put the toaster. Also, we\u2019ve found ourselves feeling burdened by the need to have our kitchen be pristinely displayed at all times. The solution to this pickle is the prep kitchen. It allows us to have the openness and beauty in our main kitchen while giving us an extra work\/storage area that\u2019s a bit out of sight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robertson, principal, Studio Dearborn, in Mamaroneck, NY agrees. She calls pantries that offer more than storage \u201chot.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBe it a coffee bar, a home bar or a secondary prep\/cooking area, people love it because it allows the main kitchen to be designed more as a luxury living space,\u201d she observes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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