kitchen pantry storage is probably one of those innovative designs that are often overlooked for owners of new and older family homes. pantry cabinet is what people normally go for but for the home that does not want to put everything on show, having a separate room with all the food and kitchen paraphernalia out of sight is perhaps the best idea. In older houses, small rooms were built off the eating and cooking areas to facilitate the storing of all kinds of food and equipment. Some had small cupboards with ventilation grill for keeping root vegetables and such, while on top was a huge solid slab of some kind of stone to make sure of a cold space for setting milk and dairy products on to have some semblance of keeping it fresh for longer.

These days, naturally, most homes have huge refrigerators which keep all kinds of food exactly in the right conditions. Some have freezers incorporated for keeping food for up to several months. How on earth did people survive without this beautiful piece of equipment?

Nowadays, some people will opt for larder style cupboards so that they can buy store larger quantities of goods. This often works out cheaper in the long run, and it also saves on fuel and excess wear on the car and tires. Some have even got grocery shopping down to a fine art! But for those who have larger families, and perhaps several pets, the necessity to have more space for all of this food is becoming an ever growing problem. This is where larders are absolutely essential. Instead of using that cupboard off the utility room for brooms, coats and other kinds of bits and pieces, try fitting it out with a few shelves so that the need to have everything in one room is not necessary. Sacks of dog food, for example, are getting bigger and bulkier by the week so holding them somewhere out of sight is necessary.

Cereal boxes too take up a lot of space and several varieties per person is the norm. Gone are the days when everyone would eat the same items in the morning. Seven people can often mean seven different boxes which makes keeping them to hand a very tricky problem. Without making the eating area look like a great advert for the local supermarket, these boxes can be tidied away every morning to the larder room to keep them dry, neat and tidy.

The emphasis these days is to make sure that all rooms appear like they have just jumped off the pages of some design magazine. For this, cupboards are very necessary to take all the material that a family produces. There is nothing worse than having to show your ‘mess’ to the unexpected caller because there is just nowhere to keep it all. Planning for extra space, units and larder cupboards was never easier. They come in many different finishes to compliment and contrast with the furniture already in situ. Of course, once the family has grown and flown the nest, so to speak, this extra space will be taken over by Mom and Dad with their respective projects.