The pantry or “panetiere” in French, originated in southern provincial France around the 17th century. A panetiere was a small cupboard used to store bread.

French Accents (via)

A panetiere, circa 1750, where they stored bread-Fancy!

During the late Medieval period the panetiere, was a room within or directly off the kitchen where the bread or “pane” was kept and related food preparation done. The officer who was over the pantry was known as a pantler. The evolution of the pantry over centuries would find it repurposed and called by many names such as the buttery, butler’s pantry and china pantry.

Hoosier Cabinet (via)

Pantries went mobile when in the late 1800s into the1930s, when a freestanding rendition was introduced, the Hoosier Cabinet. This is a classic American antique piece, as these were treasured kitchen storage items. If you’ve ever seen a historic home built in the 1920s or 1930s you will see that there is very little storage built in.

Decor Pad (via)

One of my favorite things to do is add a small countertop in a walk-in pantry. It is a great place to store your appliances such as a mixer. If you’re pulling out several items, you can just place them on your work surface. Who says a pantry must be white?

Houzz (via)

See the pullouts on the left, these are a great way to organize your pantry & give you access to hard to miss items.

Elle Decor (via)

Go all the way up! A great tip is to build your pantry all the way up. One thing I love to do is to put a bank of upper cabinets all the way at the top. This is a nice place to store party supplies, linens and those other objects that you need but don’t use often.