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| Dish Pantry in dining room with door closed. |
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| Surprise, look what's inside. |
All my life, I have dreamed of having a home with a Butlers Pantry. Don't ask me why? I guess cause I am sick in the head! I don't think it is a lot to ask.But then, I guess it is, as I never have found a house that I could afford with a Butlers Pantry. I see them on movie sets and in houses that I tour. I worked for a Lady in St.Louis, who lived in a old mansion that had a great Butlers Pantry. I cooked for her and served for parties. I took over that pantry like it was mine. I could have lived there and been happy. It was huge and had a silver closet inside it. There was a big porcelain sink, dish washer and broom closet, A center island for serving. Heaven, that pantry might be as close as I will get to Heaven.
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| Cut glass vases for flower arrangements. |
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| Ice cream set. |
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| French Lovers, in the closet?! |
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| German Berry Set. My Father found this many years ago and when he wasn't looking, I snatched it.He never missed it. Bad Child! |
I came close once to having a pantry, with a wonderful old house that I had in St.Louis. There was a small pantry between the dining room and the kitchen. It was kind of a hall way. One wall had built in cabinets with glass doors at the top, a space and wood doors at the bottom. I had all my dishes and glass ware, all arranged in there, real pretty like. I painted the inside pink, of course. When I moved to Long Island New York, a Hampton's town called Sag Harbor, I rented the first floor of and old Victorian mansion. There was a pantry off the kitchen, more like a pantry one would store food in. But, I made it into a dish pantry. When I bought, My Old Historic House, there was a closet in the dining room. At one time, in 1845, when the house was first built, it was used as a stage coach inn and the dining room at that time was a bed room that was rented. I guess that is why there was a closet. It is not big, about 4 foot wide and 18 inches deep. Well I added shelves, wallpaper, and oh yes, gold gilt trim ,and made it into a some what Butlers Pantry. And for now I guess it will have to do!
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| English Sterling Egg Codle |
The wallpaper I chose, is a French Toile. It is real pale green and has darker green design. And yes, there are Cherubs in the design. I wallpapered the walls and ceiling and the shelves all the way around. I finished the shelves off with a wood trim that I hand gold leaved. I also used the same gold trim to make a plate rack, by nailing the trim to the shelves, about 1 inch from the back.
It really is handy to put all the china and crystal, right there in the dining room, where it is needed. I keep the door closed and when I give tours, I talk about the house being an inn and that there is a closet in almost every room, and I say, you can open the one in here and see. People are so surprised to see all the dishes and pretty stuff inside.
I hope you enjoy my dish pantry, that I want to be a Butlers Pantry. I wish you could come by some time soon for a tour. I will leave the lights on and Sissy Dog will meet you with a jump and a kiss. Heck, we might even get some of those dishes out and have a mess of something to eat.
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| Gold leaf trim. |
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| Cherubs on the wallpaper. |
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| My Nieman Marcus desert plates with cherubs, that I use for parties. |
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| Another view of the wallpaper. |
I found this old spoon rack at a yard sale for $3.00. Makes a good place to store and display all my serving pieces.
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| See the spoon rack on the back of the door. Handy, don't you think? |
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| Love these English platters. |
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| This old pressed glass compote has a hand pedestal. |
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| Spring continues here in Missouri,as my Southern Magnolias are in full bloom. I worried so much about them, as we had such a hard winter. But they are alive and doing well. |
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| These two magnolia trees were a Second Year Birthday gift to, My Old Historic House. I closed on the house, March 5th, and every year in March, the house gets a Birthday present. They were 5 foot tall, that was 2007. Now they are 11 feet tall. My favorite tree in all the world. |
