THE WALK-IN PANTRY. A LOVE STORY
Much has been written lately about the relationship of man and shed.
And, in particular, its importance as a sanctuary where a bloke can find solitude and respite from the world of women. Where, surrounded by jars of screws, tins of bolts and a Pirelli swimsuit calendar, man can potter, tinker and contemplate the human condition.
There’s now an Australian Men’s Shed Association with 500 sheds across the land registered as a place where the male of the species can gather, and as the organisation says: “If you looked inside one you might see a number of men restoring furniture, perhaps restoring bicycles for a local school, maybe making Mynah bird traps or fixing lawn mowers or making a kids cubby house for Camp Quality to raffle.” Good on them.
It’s a place to find mateship and promote good mental health for blokes.
I have always suspected that men are genetically programmed to live in a shed. Nothing I enjoy more than hearing a man say : “I’ll be in the shed, if you need me.”
I’ve found that I rarely do.
If he emerges, hours later, with something useful, like a set of sharpened kitchen knives or a mended spice rack? All the better.
With the promotion of dual occupancy, smaller housing blocks and flat dwelling, the traditional backyard shed has been lost to a new generation of Australian men. However, we women are doing it tough too. We mourn the loss of our walk-in pantries. They’ve been down-sized for that new room full of home computers, video games and gym equipment.
The joy of the walk-in pantry! What a loss to womankind.
My sister’s got, not only a walk-in pantry, but a walk-in cool room too! I envy the hell out of her, but since she lives on a farm and there’s often an entire dead cow in there, I don’t suppose I can complain.
But, geez, I’d love a big walk-in pantry.
My late Great Aunty Claire’s pantry was a wonder. She was a strong, resourceful and industrious woman who lived at Bamganie in the Western District of Victoria in Henry Bolte country.
Tucked away at the back of the kitchen, her pantry was a sacred space. Dim and mysterious, lit by a single globe, with shelves from floor to ceiling.
And every shelf was full.
The fruit from the garden was candied, crystallized and glaceed, pickled, preserved, made into relish, sauce, chutney, curd, butter, marmalade, cordial, cheese, jam and jelly. There were biscuits in tins, slices in trays, sponges under lace covers and pies in deep dishes.On another shelf were potted meats and pastes, spiced vinegars and dried herbs, and above that, bunches of dried flowers, strings of garlic, plum puddings, Christmas cakes and tantalising jars of coconut ice and toffee…sadly out of reach.
When I was a kid I thought I could have died and gone to heaven locked in Great Aunty Claire’s pantry.
Except for the fact that there was so much food in there I would have lived to be a hundred and they would never have dragged my bloated body through the door.
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28 Responses to this article
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ally September 17, 2012
We recently attended sustainable house day – we got lots of great sustainable ideas looking through other people’s houses – however one of my friends lost focus when she discovered a walk in pantry with a dumb waiter from the down stairs garage – she really didn’t care about anything else sustainable and we had a drag her out of the pantry.
Currently looking for a new house and the size of the pantry is taken into consideration when looking at a new house.
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Nikki @ Styling You September 17, 2012
No I do not but I’m with you. In my dream house it’s up there with a designated Lady Room … a walk-in wardrobe will not suffice. I need a whole room.
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KM September 17, 2012
“What are you doing in here?” he asked, knowing how I hate to cook. I sheepishly replied, “hiding”.
Don’t remember what was happening in the kitchen, but it was obviously not to my liking.
Pantry is 3.5m x 2m and holds fridge, microwave, blenders and small work bench.
Next house would have exactly the same plus own office.
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Jenny September 17, 2012
I have been looking for a new (or used!) house for some time, and a walk-in pantry is one of the essentials! I recognize that I am reaching for the moon with this, and I may be forced to compromise if the otherwise right house comes along. But I will be absolutely positively doing my utmost to find a space into which a walk-in pantry can be retro-fitted! I have never lived in a house which has one, and I am sooo envious of those friends who do.
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The Huntress September 17, 2012
*sigh* I would LOVE a walk in pantry. I whole room dedicated to the storage of wonderful, home-prepped food. Cooking and food is my passion and hobby, so for me it really is an amazing dream, shelves stacked with every type of flour I could want, sugars stocked by colour and grain size and there would be herbs and spices in alphabetical order. Of course in my mind the vision is neat, but in reality I know it would turn into what my pantry actually is. A jumbled mess of stuff that has just been shoved out of the way – though in my defence I know where to find everything.
A walk in pantry and a dedicated room for my wardrobe would be my dream. But, in the meantime I am happy in my little townhouse because I don’t want to live in a big house anyway
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Lisa September 17, 2012
Friend’s of mine recently built a house with (quite outrageously I thought) his and hers garages. I’ve no idea where his is, but hers pulls right up to the door of her remarkable walk-in pantry…. Inspired, really. And it’s on my new house wishlist
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Mel September 17, 2012
In the process of designing our new home – a walk in pantry is definitely on the priority list.
But remembering back to my dear Nana’s house – 3 bedroom clinker brick built by my Poppa who not only had a shed but a builders yard next to the house with the old fuel pump out the front – I remember Nana’s kitchen always smelling of lemons. She wasn’t so fortunate to have a walk in pantry but her kitchen cupboards were always overflowing with biscuits, slices, cakes and the likes. What she did have though was a linen press which was a holding space for the preserves and home made sauces plus picnic basket and dress ups for when we would visit!
What amazes me though in designing our home – is how little bench space Nana had to prepare such delights in comparison to the new homes of today. Imagine how much more she could have baked! How we miss her and her beautiful baking.
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Leila September 17, 2012
I would have insisted on a walk-in pantry had we not found our dream home. As it stands, I have the LadyHaven, complete with girlie dresser, built-ins along one wall (my clothes and a shoedrobe), and the much-admired daybed…although, neither of us have had to use it yet.
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Kris September 17, 2012
The kitchen I have now is so small, you can barely fit two people in it at the same time. Oh, how I would love a walk-in pantry. And a decent sized kitchen. And decent bench space. And just a few more cupboards. Oh well. A girl can dream…
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Ann-Maree from Taree September 17, 2012
I don’t have a walk in pantry…but I do have a sewing room…..bliss!!!
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Cate minchin September 17, 2012
Oh how I love my walk in pantry, calender and hooks for school notes, and a lock on the outside to keep the kids out of this wonderous place!!
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Vivian September 17, 2012
We had a walk-in pantry when I was a child and it was my favourite place to hide. Whilst in there, I couldn’t resist sticking my finger into the container of icing sugar or stealing a few other delicious items. I thought my mother didn’t know – I found out recently she did – but seeing as she had done the same thing as a child, she let me do it too!
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Annie Parkinson September 17, 2012
When we were looking at display homes before we built, I discovered the joy of a walk in pantry. I told my husband there and then, I don’t care about the alfresco area, you pick that, I just want a walk in pantry. Got my wish, beautiful pantry for only me & a walk in robe too, bliss! I understand why my Grandma got my Grandpop to build her one!
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Karen September 17, 2012
Oh how I miss my walk-in pantry. When I separated from my ex husband, he stayed in the house. Don’t care about all the other wonderful areas of the home, but the neat rows of perfectly labelled Tupperware, pullout shelves for multitudes of jars and tins, ample space for every mixer, blender, toaster to be hidden from view. The perfect place to stash everything (pretend tidying !). My new girlfriend just can’t understand my lust for m former pantry
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Kaz September 17, 2012
Like Vivian, I remember hiding in the walk-in pantry as a child. I remember steaiing baking choc-chips, 2 or 3 at a time.
A walk-in pantry would be nice, but I’d rather have a study that i didn’t have to share with anyone else. -
Robin September 17, 2012
My mum – widowed with 3 kids under 6 at age 32 – used to store the sherry in the walk in pantry and have a few quiet ones with the door closed about dinner time. It wasn’t till I had my own kids that I fully understood why.
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Shiralee September 17, 2012
My dream is a real kitchen not one of those stupid ketchenetes. One of my favorite memories from childhood is sitting around the kitchen table at my grandmothers house and talking or preparing the family party meals.
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Astrid September 17, 2012
A walk in pantry is planned for when we build, along with the coolroom (we need somewhere to hang the goat’s).
If find the corner pantries in most modern kitchens to be useless and I am always in fear that the shelves will collapse. We have one being held up by a golden syrup jar.
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cathy September 17, 2012
I am renovating our house at the moment and have managed to squeeze in (much to my husband’s dismay) a walk in pantry. As well as storing all my food it also holds my fridge, microwave and all my many appliances. I am sooooo excited to finally have this. I still have my mums fowler vacola set and can’t wait to fill it with preserves, etc. I even hope to have a brown paper and string dispenser above my bench— bliss!– and all my vases so I can do a spot of gift wrapping and flower arranging in there while sneaking a glass of sherry!
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anna September 18, 2012
walk in pantry, big laundry, library and shoe shelves are a few of my fav things! Full of nostalgia of my relatives homes too..
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naomi September 18, 2012
i have the “walk in pantry” but its always been called the cucina – a hang over from when my hubbies grandparents lived in this house. In fact I didnt realise that i was in a select few when the walk in pantry started appearing in home design mags. Ours for the last 18 years has been duly filled with vacola jars and jams, olives and dried sausages and the grappa and cherry brandy – its where our dry goods live and the freezer. But the reason i am writing this i am so often told that i am a dinosaur…none of my friends preserve any foods of any sort and in fact one even asked if she could taste the fruit in a jar – “to see if its the same as tinned fruit”!! surely , at 40 I cant be the only one my age that does these kinds of preserving…
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Erika September 19, 2012
We had walk-in pantries in our houses until I was what – 18? REALLY good memories – food storage, china, all the odds and sods that you gather over the years (yes, Fowler’s kit, I’m looking at you), the ability to buy in bulk because you had somewhere to put things…
I would seriously love to have one again, but make do with an ancient kitchen dresser (a quarter of which is generally full of home made sauces, jellies and marmalades) and a couple of shelves in a bookcase for dry goods (what, doesn’t everyone have a bookcase in the kitchen?) in addition to the limited kitchen cupboards. I am still trying to train myself out of buying food as if I was still living in the country (also known as stocking up). I would also love a box room and a dedicated office cum sewing room. I *do* have a dedicated library yet have managed to overflow into almost every other room in the house….
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Airdre September 20, 2012
I have a pantry (looks smug). I adore my pantry. I can go on and on about my pantry. And, I might add its NOT a storage place for anyone’s old junk. Its a very special place where you can unexpectedly find treats on cold nights when you don’t want to go out. That, friends, is one its magical powers.
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Sally September 20, 2012
Am I the only one to envy Nigella Lawsons marvellous pantry in her TV shows? I love that it has natural light and she stocks it with things that are beautiful to look at not just good to eat.
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Scandi Coast Home September 21, 2012
I literally designed my little weatherboard house around the walk in pantry……true story.
It’s 1.8m square after my husband made me cut it down to size……and I still don’t like cooking ;o)
Tania xx -
Leah September 22, 2012
I am currently using my linen closet as a pantry as the apartment doesn’t have one (the top of the built-in robe is used as the linen closet).
I would kill for any sort of purpose-built pantry, really. -
Angie October 7, 2012
Wendy, we bought a house with a walk in pantry this year. I love cooking so its FAB, but… beware how messy the walk in pantry can become! I had to set aside time on the long weekend to clean it out, and assess my 6 bottles of soy sauce. A pantry can be an abyss of food stuffs since you have too much storage space to buy, buy, buy!
