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Brownstone Kitchen and Butler's Pantry

The huge space that is the kitchen of the Manhattan Brownstone has received its finishing details. Basaltina stone covers the counters, island, desk area, and built-in bar. There is a large double-door utility closet that houses the washer and dryer, as well as brooms and cleaning supplies. The custom cabinetry has a classic wainscoting profile and an off-white catalyzed finish. There is floor-to-ceiling storage that will need to be accessed, perhaps with a library ladder to traverse the space. Project manager Chris Vila shows Bob the built-in bar space that is designed to look like a butler's pantry, complete with glass-front cupboards and restoration-glass inserts from Bendheim. The Sub Zero 42-bottle capacity wine fridge is compatible with the home's security system to safeguard precious wine collections and block access.

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Chapters from this episode

Finished Brownstone Bedroom and Patio Now Playing

Finished Brownstone Bedroom and Patio

Rinnai On-Demand Water Heaters Now Playing

Rinnai On-Demand Water Heaters

Luxury Kitchen Appliances, Finishes, and Cabinetry Now Playing

Luxury Kitchen Appliances, Finishes, and Cabinetry

Venetian Blinds for the Brownstone's Windows Now Playing

Venetian Blinds for the Brownstone's Windows

Brownstone Facade Details and Windows Now Playing

Brownstone Facade Details and Windows

Bathroom Fixtures and Porcelanosa Tile Now Playing

Bathroom Fixtures and Porcelanosa Tile

Brownstone Kitchen and Butler's Pantry Now Playing

Brownstone Kitchen and Butler's Pantry

Finished Cornice Molding, Flooring, and Fireplace Now Playing

Finished Cornice Molding, Flooring, and Fireplace

Clip Transcript For:

Brownstone Kitchen and Butler's Pantry

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" This is a large basin where the finishing touches here in the kitchen we're just tore through our punch list today him yet. It's just some of this -- stone and we put in the kitchen. So we're we're starting at. The kitchen office and the yes this is the office -- you can see we've put in a couple of holes there for cables phone connection everything. And the -- questions are being installed just with silicon and then these little pieces of wood destroying all the time we put in wedges so they set up -- but the materials that the choices here were with the kind of shop finish. In this kind of Manila halfway and on. Right this goes well the stone that's pretty neutral yet and I also think it's a good idea to use. Brushed metal like this brushed with the soft white and with the stones right to -- match so. We've got the kitchen office at this corner and then over here this is sort of an area for your. Laundry for brooms vacuum cleaners things like that happens going to be kitchen want to -- influence stacked washer dryer stacked and tons of storage above right. Actually pretty hard to get to him that so much -- and I think a lot of points in its convenience well it won't get used that you will need all hat and the option that we had here because we got twelve foot ceilings was either haven't softened a lot of dead space or go to the trouble creating extra. High storage for seldom used someone could put in the library -- how library ladder or just a regular step ladder for things that you hardly ever use and we have the bar here. We've got the end. The sub zero with the 46 bottle capacity yet the interesting thing about this is that it actually ties into the home security system secret locket and haven't looked up your alarm system neat keep the kids out of trouble and same stone and then. We decided to specs specify restoration glass is. From -- right and this is mouth blown handmade glass with this sort of ripple effect in it so that it kind of mimics -- the early plate glass that would have been here in the 1890s -- house was -- interest rates yet and I think when we're designing a kitchen at the architects. You know had a notion that it would be good to kind of have the feeling of a butler's pantry and a big old house. Regulatory."

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Converting a Mudroom to a Pantry

The entrance to the back of the house has been modified by removing the small back door and installing a triple-panel sliding glass door that looks onto the newly landscaped backyard. The mudroom was converted into a pantry and outfitted by California Closets. Chloe Durant of California Closets reviews some of the work done in the pantry. The family needed space where they could prepare lunch for the two boys. In this space, a butler's pantry was designed and installed, featuring a deep countertop, drawers for storage, and space down below for recycling. Dave Weston of California Closets explains how the unit was put into the space. The California Closets system operates on rails. The rail is attached to the wall and hangers are attached to the secured rail. These hangers allow partitions to go up and down and holds any amount of weight put upon it. The finished product has four drawers, a couple of compartments for recycling bins, countertop space, and space up above for storage of kitchen appliances.

The Kitchen and Butler's Pantry at Elm Court

The butler�s pantry of Elm Court mansion has a larger footprint than some US homes. At times up to 38 footmen would whisk in and out of the dining room to the pantry to stage grand dinners. The kitchen picks up on wood, stone, and metal motifs from the rest of the house. The amazing resiliency and strength of Terazzo flooring was shown as it was still in good shape after the vandals destroyed the kitchen.

Installing the Kitchen Cabinet Hardware

Bob meets with Mark Van Sickle from Merillat who is installing hardware on the new semi-custom kitchen cabinets. The Merillat cabinet doors and face frames are solid cherry in a cider finish. The cabinet end panels can be specified by the homeowner or architect to either match the cabinet fronts or to be made of plywood. Mark has set up a drilling jig for drilling holes for hardware to keep all holes on the same 5-inch center. He shows us the contemporary profile stainless steel pulls that will be attached to the doors. This set of cabinets has an unusual setup; it consists of 3 wall cabinets stacked on top of each other and built up on a platform for a toekick. This is an unusual installation creating a whole wall of cabinets like a butler's pantry while saving money buy using standard overhead cabinets. Solid end panels will be added to cover the seams of the stacked cabinets. Bob and Mark move over to the other wall where they notice the orgonomics - the extra organizational features that can be added to cabinetry - including a built-in wastebasket, a pull-out for cooking oils, a sink tray for scouring pads and sponges, an under sink tote for cleaning supplies, and a dishtowel holder. The pantry unit also incorporates orgonomics with slide-out wire baskets that are easy to install and adjustable to different heights - perfect for dry goods, cans, and cereal.

Kitchen Space Design

Bob joins homeowner Julie Graham and Merillat rep Faith Allen to discuss the new Merrilat kitchen that Julie has planned. Merillat has developed a new concept that they call "organomics" to help homeowners overcome some of the problems most commonly encountered in a designing a kitchen. Organomics is a blending a organization and ergonomics that allows the homeowner to take a look at the space beforehand and divide it up into activity-based zones. In the case of Julie's kitchen, the space is divided up into a storage zone with pantry, utility cabinet, and refrigerator, a sink zone for clean up, a cooking zone, a food prep zone, a planning zone encompassing the island, and then an eating zone in the nook. It's important to consider the interrelationship of all of these zones before ordering your cabinets.