I have never been one to follow trends. I don't care whether my kitchen is suitable to appear in the next glossy magazine, as long as it is functional for what I want. I look at "trends" just in case there is something new out there that looks functional for my needs, but I certainly wouldn't care if something I like is no longer "on trend" What is funny, I think, is that (having come from Europe) my grandmother's kitchen, complete with butler's pantry (not called that, of course) was very much like the kitchen I want today (with more power points, of course) I really think it is amazing how we are back to the future. When I came to Australia, no one heard of parquetry (or even timber - HAD to be covered with wall to wall carpet) I remember my Aunty was having a house built in the 60s and had huge arguments with the builder... She wanted ceramic tiles in her kitchen and laundry and the builder told her she was mad. She also wanted parquetry. She won the argument (had a lot of trouble finding a person the lay the parquetry) but the builder told her that she will be calling him back in 6 months to rip it all up. We also had an indoor clothes line, that you could pull up and down to the ceiling with a pulley. I just read about someone "inventing" this here. :-) Just remembered another thing we have recently invented here. Double glazing :-)

We will be building in about 12 months and a butler's pantry is an absolute must. Bear in mind though that we have bought 100 acres and my aim is self sufficiency. We will have our own beef, pork, chicken, duck and of course eggs and veges. Butler's pantry for me will be a food prep area for preservation and storage and to have probably at least 2 large freezers. Now I could arguably just use the kitchen but I want a door way to articulate outside to the garden and I still want a space (kitchen) to do normal cooking and living. I know this is a little different from a suburban situation buI I have to mention that my very suburban sister has a small butler's pantry and I love it. The toaster and the coffee machine are out of sight but hugely accessible. She can have that messy and nobody knows out cares! At the end of the day I obviously love a good pantry but there are also some innovative cupboard ideas that certainly seem worth looking at!

H Tracey, When you have males in the family you need an extra loo, they tend to like to use that as their reading room!! Our house has beautiful parquetry floors as well and we love them wouldn't have anything else. Love that window so can see why hubbie was wanting to sit by it and read, but not really the best quiet place in the house, so thinking again. but did think that would make a great pantry to the kitchen and if the door was left open at the other end of the pantry that's what you would see. Also a great spot to continue a bench from the kitchen (as per photo) that you could sit at and ponder what to cook for dinner while searching the internet Just like corner cabinets in a kitchens which I hate and think are bad design, I prefer not to have islands that only give you one way access it's too restrictive, a free standing island is far more functional by giving easy access to the meals and the family area, and in my opinion looks better and up to date if you're looking to update your kitchen. Keeping mind that the old Pantry is/could be load bearing I still think it's a better use to have the pantry over a reading room, even with the lovely window, perhaps you could move it to a better place where it could be enjoyed by all. Cheers,

Personally I love angles & splays, BUT they have to have purpose and be functional. Without seeing more surrounding context hard to comment but i can't help wondering why this all being so squeezed in one area, but then almost wasted/under-utilised space in-between the island and the table - it's like the pantry's boxing/internalising the kitchen which is not ideal.....either way I'd make sure that it flows and is functional and not awkward anywhere