Why a larder is the new object of desire and how to design one

Kitchen storage can be a bugbear for almost everyone; no matter how big your kitchen actually is, stuff seems to expand to fill it. Those of us with small kitchens can only dream of the days when every kitchen accessory and appliance will have its own dedicated home, rather than cluttering up the countertops. One of the latest trends in kitchen design is particularly covetable for storage-seekers: the larder. Calling it a new trend is of course rather misleading, as larders have been around for centuries, but regardless, we're glad to see them back.

Larders started out life as stone-walled storage areas where meat could be preserved by covering it in fat, but later on, by the 19th century, became more all-purpose places to prepare and store food. Before the days of glorious electric appliances like fridges and freezers, the world of the kitchen was a very different place, and in order to cool meat and dairy products, they had to be kept as well-insulated as possible from the warmth of the kitchen. Larders tend to be a little more compact than walk-in pantries or sculleries, which are rooms (separate from the kitchen) used for storing bulkier things like soft drinks, wine, canned goods and often also appliances, vases and tableware.

Named a ‘larder’ because of the ‘lard’ that was historically used to preserve meats, the rooms tended to feature cool quarry tiled flooring, a fixed metal window (perforated to let in the cold air), stone slabs or ‘thrawls’ to keep food fresh, pine shelving, and pale blue walls because Victorians reportedly believed that it kept the flies away. Ice would harvested in the winter and kept in the larder surrounded by layers of hay insulation to retain its coldness all through the warmer months. Victorian pantries would have been managed by the ‘pantler’ or ‘pantry butler.’

Many kitchen designers have now started incorporating freestanding or built-in larders into their schemes: floor-to-ceiling cupboards, sometimes deeper than the surrounding kitchen cabinets, which include shelving, drawers, and often a countertop as well. The range of freestanding and built-in pantries by Smallbone is particularly nifty, and they're available in a wide range of finishes including sustainable European oak, rosewood, mahogany, American walnut and maple.

“When we designed the house, the first thing we knew we wanted was a larder. With two kids and a love for cooking, amazing food, and great products, it was something we really wanted to try and fit into the space,” says Angus of Buchanan Studio, who has a particularly enviable larder at the back of his open-plan kitchen. “Built with bespoke joinery and French doors that match the kitchen, it’s versatile – able to be part of the room or tucked away. Design decisions, like the fluted glass and our skirt curtain in Buchanan Studio’s Ticking Rose, look good but are also perfect for hiding away any mess when we have guests over.”