Kitchens, Cabinets, and Pantries

To modernize or to embrace the clever answers from great-great-grandma?

The big house in a small city is an old house. Quite, old, really - it appears we are dealing with late 1800s at the latest.

Kitchens were unfitted when the house was built. There was a usually a freestanding sink, range, icebox, a freestanding cabinet, a built in storage cabinet, a table or other surface to work on, and, often, a pantry. The current standard, walls of built in cabinets and counters, really didn’t catch on until the 1950s.

I have never liked the design of modern kitchens. Apparently, I’m not alone. The unfitted kitchen is making a comeback, according to Homes & Antiques.

The big house is offering me a choice. To modernize or not to modernize?

The big house has minimal cabinetry of very poor quality. It has to go and it will be replaced. But the built-in? Spectacular.

And let’s talk about storage. This is not just a pretty face.

But that’s not nearly enough storage, you say. Today’s homeowner has gadgets to store, non-perishable items that can keep for a very long time. We have dishware, bowls, glassware, and cherished items we have collected from family and yard sale hunts. This cabinet cannot possibly handle it all.

No problem. There’s a pantry, too.

I am in the process of repainting it, but this is an absolutely enormous pantry. One wall is beadboard, the rest are plaster, and the built in shelving is so sturdy I could stand on it if I was so inclined. It has a full sized window so there’s lots of light. Twelve shelves in all, and more storage that anyone could possibly use.

The old farmhouse that is my home had a space off the kitchen that cried out to be a pantry. Maybe it was one at one time. But someone had turned it into a laundry room with dead wall space and zero appeal. I added open shelves on two walls and it now has a general store vibe. It’s not a true pantry, but it’s a fair approximation.

But how to handle this old house kitchen? Do we turn it into a modern one?

The old house’s kitchen is very spacious, and there’s plenty of room. We could add more cabinets and countertops. But I don’t want to.

Whoever buys this house is going to be an old house lover. And I think an old house lover would agree with me - there is plenty of storage here without crowding the kitchen with more built-in cabinets. There is a wall perfect for a long table as a work surface, if someone wants one. A Hoosier cabinet would be perfect there. I think that using furniture instead of built-ins allows a flexibility that is shut down by modern cabinets.

It may be true that putting in the expected full cabinetry will appeal to a wider pool of buyers. But I also believe that a house of this size and this age isn’t what that wide pool of buyers wants. This house is going to be for a connoisseur of vintage design. A full modernization of this old kitchen would ruin it.

So I’ll be back there with my paint brush and roller, putting a second coat on those pantry shelves and adding some colorful shelf lining paper. And when it’s done, I’m probably going to be a bit envious of whoever buys the big house in a small city.