Vintage View: The renaissance of the kitchen pantry

With the right boxes, jars, baskets and bins, the larder can come out into the light

With the right boxes, jars, baskets and bins, the larder can come out into the light with open modular shelving. This arrangement is staged out of direct light that might over-heat the produce. Omar shelves, 2-sections €172, ikea.ie

Larders and pantry rooms are enjoying a tasty renaissance at the moment, as wall-hung cupboards are pried off to free up sightlines and anchor the kitchen more firmly to the floor. An anti-kitchen kitchen speaks of bespoke furniture that segues beautifully into neighbouring open-plan areas. There’s no aesthetic culinary/living room speed-bump signalled by a standard suspended cabinet.

The larder cupboard is the stately survivor of this attack on high cabinetry, a comprehensive storage solution that’s four to five hundred years old and focused on the cool preservation of dry goods. Poking its head to the top of the terrace, the better larder cupboard can handle robust perishables if there’s some form of climate control in place to dip the temperature, ventilate the unit or room, and to effectively seal off the door to maintain energy efficiency.