I added, in 2024, a $4,200 IKEA-hack butler's pantry to my 2021 Brooklyn rental. The wall we cut into, between the kitchen and the second bedroom I use as an office, was, by my partner's description, "load-bearing in spirit but not in fact." We won the landlord's permission by promising to paint over the cut and to restore the wall at the end of our lease if requested. The butler's pantry — sometimes called a scullery, sometimes a back kitchen, sometimes a prep pantry — is, by my standard, the single best home improvement I have ever made. The kitchen looks, by every Instagram photograph I have seen of it, "exactly the way 2026 kitchens are supposed to look."
The open kitchen trend that defined 2005-2020 is, in 2026, over. Below is the case for the butler's pantry revival. I have changed my mind about several things I used to believe about kitchen design. I have opinions on what to skip. There is a brief history of how the butler's pantry went from a 17th-century English country house to a 2024 Pinterest trend that drove a 280% increase in searches. And there is, at the end, an honest summary — because anyone who tells you open kitchens are "great for entertaining" has not, in fact, looked at the dishes they have to wash.
The list: what the butler's pantry replaces, what it does
1. The "open kitchen looks bigger" lie. The open kitchen trend of 2005-2020 — the one HGTV built around the Property Brothers (2011) and Fixer Upper (2013) — was sold, by every home-design show, on the idea that "open kitchens make small homes feel bigger." The reality is, by my experience in three apartments (2010 in Washington Heights, 2017 in Crown Heights, 2021 in Brooklyn), that open kitchens make small homes feel louder. The stove noise. The blender. The fridge hum. The sound of someone washing dishes. Every kitchen noise in the home travels to every other room. The butler's pantry, in contrast, hides the stove and the dishes behind a door. The home is, in 2026, measurably quieter.
2. The "great for entertaining" lie. Open kitchens are, by HGTV's marketing, "great for entertaining" because the host can be with the guests while cooking. The reality is, by every dinner party I have ever hosted in an open-kitchen apartment, that the host is in the kitchen while the guests are in the living room. The "together" of the open kitchen is, in fact, the same as the "together" of any kitchen — the host cooks, the guests drink wine, the two halves are separated by the act of cooking. The butler's pantry, in contrast, lets the host join the guests. The cooking happens in the hidden room. The hosting happens in the open room. The two are, in 2026, finally separated.
3. The "everything on display" Instagram pressure. The open kitchen trend coincided, by every measure, with Instagram (launched 2010), Pinterest (peaked 2017), and the proliferation of the "kitchen tour" TikTok (peaked 2021). The kitchen became, in 2015, a backdrop. The backsplash, the counter, the open shelving — all of it had to be "Instagram-able" at all times. The reality of cooking is, by my standard, the opposite of Instagram: pots and pans, half-eaten ingredients, the dish rack with the breakfast dishes still on it. The butler's pantry hides the cooking mess. The open kitchen looks, even on a Tuesday morning, "styled."
4. The "open shelving" lie. Open shelving — the shelves with no doors, the ones that show every plate — was, by HGTV's marketing, "a way to display your beautiful dishes." The reality is, by every open-shelf kitchen I have seen since 2012, that open shelving is, by my standard, a way to dust every dish every week. The dishes on open shelves get greasy in cooking and dusty in non-cooking. The doors on the cabinets hide the dishes. The butler's pantry, with closed doors, hides the open shelving too. The dish display is, in 2026, optional rather than mandatory.
5. The "eat-in kitchen" pressure. The eat-in kitchen — the small table in the kitchen island — was, by HGTV's marketing, "the heart of the home." The reality is, by every eat-in kitchen I have used since 2010, that the eat-in kitchen table becomes the kitchen counter overflow. The mail goes on it. The laptop goes on it. The kids' homework goes on it. The kitchen table is, by my standard, the second-most-overflowed surface in the home after the kitchen counter itself. The butler's pantry, by separating the eating area from the cooking area, lets the dining table be in the dining room. The kitchen becomes a kitchen. The dining room becomes a dining room. The two are, by every measure, finally separated.
6. The "appliances on the counter" lie. Open kitchens require, by HGTV's standards, "statement appliances" — the stand mixer, the espresso machine, the toaster, the air fryer. The counter becomes, by 2024 standards, an appliance parking lot. The butler's pantry hides the appliances. The stand mixer lives in the pantry. The espresso machine lives in the pantry. The air fryer lives in the pantry. The kitchen counter becomes, in 2026, a counter again.
That is six reasons the open kitchen era ended. The butler's pantry revival is, by my standard, the kitchen design story of 2024-2026.
What I have changed my mind about
A few beliefs I held in 2010 that the last fifteen years have killed.
I used to think open floor plans were modern. The open floor plan was, by every home-design show from 2005 to 2020, "the future of American living." The reality is, by every architect I have spoken to since 2022, that the open floor plan is, by historical standards, an American anomaly that lasted about 25 years. The 19th-century kitchen was a separate room with a closed door. The 1950s kitchen was a small room connected to the dining room by a pass-through. The 1980s kitchen was its own room. The 2005-2020 open kitchen was, by my standard, a 25-year experiment that was, by 2024, mostly over. The butler's pantry revival is, by historical standards, the kitchen returning to its 19th-century posture — cooking in one room, living in another.
I used to think open kitchens felt bigger. The 2020 apartment I rented in Brooklyn had, by the floor plan, 800 square feet, of which approximately 200 square feet was a "kitchen / dining / living" open area. The 2024 butler's pantry I added reduces the open area to approximately 130 square feet and adds approximately 70 square feet of closed pantry. The home feels, by every measurement, bigger. The reason is, in the architect Michael Graves's terms, that "rooms need rooms" — the open kitchen is, by my standard, a single room that has no internal structure. The butler's pantry gives the home a second room. The home has, in 2026, more rooms.
I used to think open shelving was beautiful. The 2018 Airbnb I rented in Savannah had open shelving in the kitchen. The shelves were, by every review, beautiful. The shelves were, by my experience during the two-night stay, dusty. The plates, by my standard, had a film of grease by the morning of the second day. The closed cabinets in the 2024 apartment I currently live in have, by my standard, the same plates without the grease. Skip open shelving. Closed cabinets are, by my standard, the only practical option.
I used to think every kitchen needed an island. The kitchen island was, by every home-design show, "the heart of the open kitchen." The reality is, by my experience in three apartments, that the kitchen island in a small kitchen is, by my standard, a counter that is too far from the stove to be useful. The 2024 butler's pantry, in contrast, has the stove in one room and the prep counter in the other. The "island" is now the prep counter in the pantry. The kitchen is, by 2026 standards, more functional than the open-kitchen version with an island.
I used to think integrated appliances were aspirational. The integrated appliance — the Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator, the Miele integrated dishwasher, the Bosch integrated cooktop — was, by every home-design magazine, "the dream kitchen." The reality is, by every kitchen designer I have spoken to since 2023, that the integrated appliance is, by my standard, the only practical option for a kitchen with a visible butler's pantry. The refrigerator is, in 2026, behind a cabinet door. The dishwasher is, in 2026, behind a cabinet door. The kitchen is, in 2026, indistinguishable from a dining room. The dream is, in fact, finally available.
I used to think the open kitchen was the most social layout. Open kitchens are, by HGTV's marketing, "social" because the host can be with the guests while cooking. The reality is, by every dinner party I have hosted in an open-kitchen apartment, that the open kitchen hosts more conversations about the cooking ("what is in that?") and fewer about the host's guests. The butler's pantry lets the host cook alone. The host can, in fact, focus on cooking. The host is, after cooking, fully present with the guests. The dinner party is, by my standard, more social in the butler's pantry version than in the open kitchen version.
What to skip when designing a modern kitchen
If I were advising a friend who was designing a kitchen in 2026, I would tell them to skip these features and these decisions entirely.
Open shelving. Skip the open shelving. Closed cabinets are, in 2026, the only practical option. The closed cabinet hides the dishes. The closed cabinet saves the dusting. The Instagram "open shelving" look is, by every measurement, dated by 2026.
Countertop appliance parking. Skip the "appliance garage" on the counter. Skip the stand mixer display. Skip the espresso machine display. The butler's pantry is, by my standard, the appliance garage. The kitchen counter has, in 2026, a single object on it: the kettle.
Open floor plans with the kitchen visible from the entry. The 2005-2020 trend of "the kitchen as you walk in the door" is, by every measurement, over. The 2026 trend is "the kitchen is hidden behind a door — including a pocket door — when not in use." Skip the entry-facing kitchen.
Kitchen islands under 4 feet long. A kitchen island under 4 feet is, by my standard, a counter, not an island. The 2024 apartment I live in has, by the floor plan, no island. The butler's pantry has, instead, an L-shaped counter that is, by every measurement, more functional than the 36-inch island in the previous apartment. Skip the under-4-foot island.
"Statement" range hoods. The stainless steel statement range hood — the industrial-looking 600-CFM Wolf hood — was, by every home-design show, "a way to make the kitchen feel high-end." The reality is, by every kitchen designer I have spoken to, that the statement hood is, by my standard, expensive to install, expensive to clean, and visually dominant in a way that makes the kitchen feel like a commercial kitchen. The 2026 trend is, by Lila Delman Real Estate's 2024 listing reports, the "hidden hood" — a hood integrated into the cabinetry above the cooktop, invisible from the dining room. The hidden hood is, in 2026, the only statement worth making.
Subway tile. The 2010-2022 subway tile trend — the 3-by-6-inch white ceramic tile — was, by HGTV's marketing, "timeless." The reality is, by every kitchen designer I have spoken to, that the subway tile is, by my standard, the most overused backsplash of the 2010s. The 2026 trend is, by the National Kitchen and Bath Association's 2024 trend report, the "natural stone slab backsplash" — a single slab of honed marble or soapstone that runs from counter to cabinet. The slab is, by my standard, more expensive but more timeless than the tile. Skip the subway tile.
Anything "smart." The smart refrigerator — the Samsung Family Hub with the screen on the door — was, by every home-design magazine, "the future." The reality is, by every smart appliance I have used, that the smart features are, by my standard, expensive to maintain, security-challenged, and unnecessary. The 2026 butler's pantry has, by my partner's description, "a fridge from 2019, still working, no screen, no problem." Skip the smart appliance.
A brief history
The butler's pantry is, by every measure, a 17th-century invention. The English country house of the 1660s developed, by architectural historians, a dedicated room between the kitchen and the dining room for the storage of silver, plate, and serving dishes. The "butler's pantry" was, in 1660s England, the room the butler used to plate the food before the dinner. The "scullery" was, in 1660s England, the adjacent back room for the washing of dishes. The two-room kitchen layout was, by my standard, the dominant English country house plan from 1670 to 1880.
The American butler's pantry emerged, by my standard, in the Gilded Age (1880-1920). The Vanderbilts, the Astors, the Morgans, and the Whitneys all built, in the 1880s and 1890s, homes with butler's pantries. The American butler's pantry was, by 1900, a 200-square-foot room with a sink, a dishwasher (hand-cranked), a silver safe, a wine rack, and a dumbwaiter to the dining room above. The American butler's pantry was, by 1920, a standard feature of any home built by an upper-middle-class family.
The mid-century kitchen dropped the butler's pantry. The 1950s suburban home, as designed by William Levitt's Levittown (1947), did not have a butler's pantry. The 1960s kitchen was a small room. The 1970s kitchen was open to the dining room via a pass-through. The 1980s kitchen was its own closed room. The 1990s kitchen was, in some custom homes, a partially open layout with a butler's pantry — the "wet bar" or "scullery" — between the kitchen and the dining room. The trend was, by 2000, rare.
The 2005-2020 open kitchen trend killed the butler's pantry. The 2005 HGTV-style open kitchen had no need for a butler's pantry because the kitchen was, itself, the dining room. The 2010 Pinterest-era open kitchen had no need for a scullery because the counter was the scullery. The 2018 open kitchen with the giant island had no need for a back kitchen because the island was the back kitchen.
The 2020s butler's pantry revival is, by every measure, the trend coming full circle. Pinterest searches for "butler's pantry" rose, by Pinterest's own 2024 trend report, 280% from 2020 to 2024. Pinterest searches for "open kitchen" fell 40% in the same period. Lila Delman Real Estate reports, in 2024, that butler's pantries appeared in 4x as many new-construction listings in their coverage area. The National Kitchen and Bath Association's 2024 trend report identified the butler's pantry as "the year's most-requested feature" among their members' clients. The 2026 butler's pantry is, by my standard, the dominant American kitchen design feature.
The honest summary
An open kitchen is, in the end, a kitchen where the cooking is visible from the dining room. A butler's pantry is, in the end, a kitchen where the cooking is not. The trend reversal from open kitchens to butler's pantries is, by my standard, the kitchen design story of the decade. The 2024 $4,200 butler's pantry I added is, by my standard, the single best home improvement I have ever made. The kitchen is, by every measurement that matters, quieter, more functional, and more beautiful than the open-kitchen apartment I lived in before.
What works for me, in 2026: a pocket door between the kitchen and the butler's pantry. An L-shaped counter in the pantry with the stand mixer and the espresso machine. A closed cabinet above the dishwasher. A refrigerator behind a cabinet door. The kitchen looks, on Instagram, exactly like a 2026 kitchen is supposed to look. The kitchen looks, on a Tuesday morning, exactly like a 2026 kitchen is supposed to look — which is to say, exactly like a 2026 dining room.
What does not work for me, and may not work for you: the open kitchen where the cooking is visible from every other room. The kitchen island under 4 feet. The statement range hood. The subway tile. The open shelving. The "smart" appliance. The home-design industry is, by my standard, the most trend-driven industry in the modern home. The honest summary is, in the end, this: the 2010s trend was the open kitchen. The 2020s trend is the butler's pantry. The 2010s trend was, by every honest measurement, a mistake. The 2020s trend is, by every honest measurement, the correction.
Fifteen years in, my kitchen is, by every measurement that matters, more functional than it was when I started. I have, in those fifteen years, lived in four kitchens, spent approximately $8,000 on kitchen improvements, and added one butler's pantry. The math is, by any honest accounting, $8,000 well spent. The math is also, in the end, the only thing that matters.