A butler’s pantry can work wonders for the ambience of your Arizona home. It can help you create sophistication and beauty while also providing you with a convenient area for organized storage. But there’s one problem: it can get out of hand very quickly. To avoid overusing the room, it’s important to determine what you want to use it for and stick with it.

Originally, a butler’s pantry was all about the fine China. Clearly, owning China is not as prestigious as it was generations ago, but a butler’s pantry adds value for today’s lifestyle as well. Although its purpose has changed with the times, it’s still a wonderful feature of any home, as long as you incorporate beautiful design themes.

Consider these 13 design and organization ideas.

Butler’s Pantry Organization and Usage

• Store glasses and dishes that are reserved for guests and special occasions in the cabinets.

• Use the countertops to prep and serve hors d’oeuvres. Leave elegant dishware, serving spoons, and utensils on the counter for your guests to use.

• Store less frequently used utensils, cookware, and dishware inside the cabinets in order to free space in your kitchen.

Design and Decor

• Use clear glass cabinets or remove the cabinet doors altogether to create a designer display case full of kitchenware and art. If you do this, regularly dust, polish, and organize the contents to maintain the posh appearance.

• Turn the room into a bar. Include a wine rack or wine cooler, and hang wine glasses over the countertop. Place higher-end liquor and drinking glasses inside the cabinets, and store additional drinks in a mini refrigerator that matches the design of the rest of the room.

• For a modern minimalist design style, consider adding wood shelves where you can place artwork.

• If you’re going for a breezy look, paint the room in bright, neutral colors and add plants and whimsical pieces of art. If possible, install a window in the room to enhance the vibe.

• To represent your hometown, consider giving your butler’s pantry a southwest theme by strategically placing a few potted cactus plants on shelves, inside the clear-glass cabinets, or on wall shelves.

• If you would prefer to pay homage to the traditional Victorian-style, 19th century look, research historical pictures of butler’s pantries in order to incorporate some of the design elements into your room. Polished wood will likely be the theme in this case.

• It’s important to separate the butler’s pantry from the kitchen and living room, yet blend its design into that of the overall home. For instance, keep the backsplash for the kitchen, but give the butler’s pantry a bold look with statement wallpaper that matches the theme of the rest of the home.

• Add a vibrant pop of color in the butler’s pantry that matches decorative accents found elsewhere in the home.

• Hang a chandelier from the ceiling to enhance the ambience and add a shimmer to the room, which is especially effective if you have glass cabinet doors.

Where to Place It

As you’re making plans for a kitchen renovation, you may wish to consider adding a butler’s pantry into your home if you don’t already have one. Traditionally, a butler’s pantry is located between the kitchen and dining room or living room.

However, you have many more options than that if you want to incorporate a similar room. Consider, for instance:

• the space under or beside your staircase
• a corner of your existing kitchen
• your sundeck
• the basement
• the end of a hallway

Take a walk around, and you’ll likely find several areas where such a room could work perfectly to beautify your home.