The rise of the walk-in larder: Number growing in bespoke kitchens as pantry becomes the latest middle-class must-have
• Food-lovers are building walk-in larders into their kitchens, say experts
• TV property guru Phil Spencer confirmed sharp rise in houses with larders
• He credited the increased popularity of cooking shows such as Bake Off
• As we become more 'adventurous' with ingredients, we need more space
By LOUISE ECCLES PROPERTY CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 00:43, 22 September 2015 | UPDATED: 08:47, 22 September 2015
Television property guru Phil Spencer said he has seen a sharp rise in the number of homes being marketed with a larder.
The latest middle-class must-have is a walk-in larder, according to experts. They say there has been a rise in the popularity of the pantry, with many food-lovers now building one into their bespoke kitchens.
The Victorian throwback was once used to keep food such as milk, eggs and butter cool before modern refrigeration.
ButHe credited the increased popularity of cooking shows such as The Great British Bake-Off, which have reignited a love of traditional baking – and old-fashioned storage.
As we become more ‘adventurous’ with ingredients, we have expanded our collection of spice and condiments, and now needed the extra space, he suggested.
Homeowners are apparently transforming old storage cupboards, which once held vacuum cleaners and pots of paint, into food dens, while others are having them specially built when they renovate their kitchens.
The presenter of Channel 4’s Location, Location, Location told the Mail: ‘I have seen a great increase in the popularity of the larder off the kitchen. People are creating it wherever they can.
‘Most people have got their food stored in loads of different cupboards but, to be able to open a concealed door and disappear and have in all your kitchen supplies and condiments in one space, is really attractive.’
Mr Spencer said a pantry made a property stand out from the rest and ‘sounds quite oldie worldy and Downton Abbey’.
He added: ‘It’s almost saying, “I have enough space for pantry, this must be a huge kitchen”. Actually it’s just being clever with where you store things and the space you have got.
Inspiration: Mr Spencer credited the increased popularity of cooking shows such as The Great British Bake-Off, which have reignited a love of traditional baking – and old-fashioned storage
‘Reading through a set of sales details, deciding which house to go and look at, a pantry would be attractive because it immediately implies somewhere that’s quite spacious.’
Mr Spencer said one new trend he could not abide, however, was the vast number of bathrooms in new-build properties.
Speaking as an ambassador for the British Gas campaign, #NoPlaceLikeHome, he said: ‘I don’t agree with developers building an en-suite to every bedroom.
‘You go to see a five or six bedroom house and it’s got six or seven bathrooms – I just think that’s bonkers.
‘Children don’t need an en-suite, it is more to clean and it is using up valuable space.
'I think that trend has gone too far. I don’t believe that’s what people are looking for.’
He claimed the traditional dining room was becoming redundant and that people were generally knocking it down to create large kitchen-diners, or renaming it a games room, family room or cinema.
The presenter said: ‘Entertaining formally in a dining room, I think, has had its day.
‘Space is so valuable that every square foot of your house has to earn its crust so you have to use it.
‘If you are a person who entertains every fortnight and has dinner parties then you will want a dining room, but if it’s one Sunday lunch a month and high days and holidays then you should naturally question how you are using that space.’
He said many had ditched their dining room in favour of a ‘snug’ or television room, but added, ‘If you could dress it up and call it a cinema then so much the better.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3244038/The-rise-walk-larder-Number-growing-bespoke-kitchens-pantry-latest-middle-class-have.html#ixzz3mSTpKJZY
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