An Arched Glazed Pantry Cupboard: The Woldingham Project
Our
furniture runs throughout this 20th-century mansion, and the house was large enough to have two quite different pantries. Off the main kitchen is a walk-in pantry used for preparation, storage and clearing up. In the kitchen itself, along the window wall, is something less usual: a glazed pantry cupboard with arched doors and glass shelves, built to display jars rather than hide them. This post is about that glazed cupboard. The walk-in pantry is covered in full in our post on the
.
The Glazed Pantry Cupboard at a Glance
A glazed pantry cupboard is a pantry with glass doors and shelves, designed to put its contents on show. This one sits on the Polaris White Quartzite worktop between traditional windows, with arched glazed doors in a solid painted frame, glass shelves, an aged chrome latch and integrated spotlights. It is hand-painted in Fired Earth Weald Green to match the rest of the kitchen and holds herbs, spices and dry goods in glass jars. Handmade Kitchen Company design and hand-build pantries like this from our workshop in Essex.
The design
The cupboard sits between the kitchen's traditional windows, directly on the Polaris White Quartzite worktop, so it reads as part of the window wall rather than a unit standing against it. The arched doors echo the period detailing of the house and are set in a solid traditional frame, hung to open easily. It is finished with an aged latch in chrome and hand-painted in Weald Green by Fired Earth, a rich, rounded green with grey undertones that runs through the rest of the kitchen.
Glass shelves and lighting
Glass shelves let light pass through the whole height of the cupboard, so the jars on every shelf are lit rather than only the top one. Spotlights inside make it useful on dark evenings and turn it into soft mood lighting when the kitchen is being used for entertaining. It only works because the contents are worth looking at. Herbs, spices and dry goods decanted into matching glass jars look deliberate; the same shelves full of packets would not. A glazed pantry is a commitment to keeping it tidy.
The walk-in pantry beyond
Off the main kitchen, the
carries the same green through, with a Wolf coffee system, storage for bulk stock and dry goods, open shelving for baking ingredients in jars, a generous run of worktop and its own sink, so it can be used while someone else is working in the main kitchen.
Glazed Pantry FAQs
What is a glazed pantry cupboard?
A pantry with glass doors, and usually glass shelves, designed to display its contents rather than conceal them. It suits dry goods kept in matching jars and works well sitting on the worktop as part of a run, where it doubles as a decorative feature.
Why use glass shelves in a pantry?
They let light pass through, so integrated lighting at the top reaches every shelf below. In a glazed cupboard that means the whole contents are lit, not just the upper shelf.
Is a glass-fronted pantry practical?
It is if you are happy to keep it orderly. Decanting into matching jars makes it look intentional and lets you see at a glance what is running low. If you would rather not, a solid-door pantry or reeded glass, which blurs the contents, is the better choice.
Can a pantry sit on the worktop?
Yes. A worktop-mounted pantry cupboard uses the space between worktop and ceiling, keeps ingredients at a comfortable height, and suits positions such as between windows where a full-height unit would block light.
Where does Handmade Kitchen Company build pantries?
We design, hand-build and hand-paint bespoke pantries and larders, from worktop cupboards to
, at our workshop in Essex, for clients across Essex, Hertfordshire and North London. If you would like to know more about our bespoke handmade pantries,
today. We look forward to hearing from you.
