Everything and the Kitchen Sink

I started a new kitchen folder recently which then expanded to include butler's pantries and open shelved storage.  Which then expanded to include a few shots of food and greenery and flowers.  It's an everything and the kitchen sink post literally and figuratively.  It also seemed fitting to post it now as many will be sitting down to Passover and Easter meals with their families.  Since I celebrate Easter, I didn't realize how much cleaning must be done in preparation for Passover.  Jews must remove all traces of leaven or chametz which "is defined as the result of grain that ferments" from their kitchen and home. I feel like I could stand to remove all leaven from my life too after all the bread I ate this weekend and do some spring cleaning of my own. Happy holidays to all who are celebrating this week.

Larry McGuire of Josephine House in Austin

Photo by Karen Rosenlund.  When I was putting these images together, I didn't realize I had three from Karen who has a great site here and blog here. 

Photo by Karen Rosenlund

Martha Stewart

via Honey & Jam

Photo by Karen Rosenlund

via Skona Hem

Photo by Laura Moss

via Tricia Foley

via Lonny

Heydt Designs

Sage Design

via House Beautiful

via Tricia Foley

via Bunny Williams

Tim Barber Architecture

via Apartment Therapy

via Chalon

via Desire to Inspire

Ina Garten

Ann Lee Thornton

Roman and Willaims

Top Image: via Sarah Klassen

Little China Girl

I can't wait until I can design my own house someday because it's definitely getting a china closet and butler's pantry.  Right now, I have to pull things out of a cabinet in order to get to something else.  I long for the day when everything has a place and is easily accessible.  I've already been tucking away tear sheets and these are just some spaces that I find inspiring.  A few are actually kitchens but can be adapted to any room.  Enjoy!

Walk in china closets like this Nymphenburg one are amazing.

I hope Janet de Botton has a good housekeeper to dust all her china.

I think everyone is envious of Bunny Williams' china closet. 

Bunny Williams has another fabulous china closet in her house in the Dominican Republic.

Thanks to all the readers who pointed out that this one belongs to Carolyne Roehm.  I love the garden view.

When Stefan and I toured Vizcaya in Miami, we enjoyed the butler's pantries and china rooms.

This smaller butler's pantry at Vizcaya served the Banquet room.

It was hard to photograph but there was a clean up sink on the left side of the room and a shelf outside the room to hold plates and dishes.

I think this room is from Southern Accents. 

Kate Spade has a butler's pantry that leads to the kitchen.

Love this room designed by Suzanne Kasler.

Martha Stewart created this little china closet.

I think Kelly Wearsler's china was stored in her kitchen but the dark color is dramatic.

I read that some butler's pantries were painted white for hygienic reasons so they could make sure they were clean.  The light ironware pieces pop against this dark room.

This is a kitchen designed by Miles Redd but the blue color would be beautiful for a butler's pantry and especially if it complemented your china.

Miles Redd also designed this blue wet bar which is also on my future house wish list.

The silver was locked up in a special room at Vizcaya as it was at the Copshaholm estate in South Bend, Indiana.

This butler's pantry was designed by McKim, Mead and White in 1896 for Staatsburgh House in New York.

The butler's pantry at Skylands, Martha Stewart's house in Maine came with the previous owners china.  The previous owners happened to be Mr. and Mrs. Edsel Ford so it was pretty snazzy.

Martha's butler's pantry also has a linen press.

Martha's perfectly pressed napkins.

Tablecloths at Skylands are rolled and hung on the wall so they remain wrinkle free and ready to go.  I definitely want this too!

Hamptons Designer Showhouse: Rooms by Katie Ridder

Sometimes it is the smallest rooms in a showhouse that make the biggest impact and that is definitely the case with designer Katie Ridder's butler pantry and bathroom in the Hampton Designer Showhouse this year. She is lucky that she had her own great line of wallpapers to choose from but how many people would really wallpaper a butler's pantry in real life? Usually they are such a small room that they get overlooked in the design process but with this bright cheerful paper, it becomes a jewel box.

One of the other designers in the house mentioned that she at first felt sorry that Katie Ridder got such small rooms but clearly she managed to do a lot with the wallpaper and accessories.

When you walk down the hall, the room makes you smile as you walk past it.

It's hard to photograph powder rooms well but you can get a sense of how cute the sailboat paper looks in a house by the beach! Small rooms are great places to make a big impact with wallpaper and take chances with pattern because there is less of a chance of a homeowner getting tired of the design since they see it in small doses.

Photos by Heather Clawson