butler's pantry Archives | Monster House Plans Blog

The storm season is upon us!

For those of you who welcome the return of the Storm Watching Season, you know first-hand the value of certain house plans with features that make cold weather easy to enjoy inside a safe and cozy home. Whether you live on one of the coastlines or make your home on land located somewhere in between, winter is full of dynamic and intense weather systems that move across our landscapes with startling regularity.

There are some obvious weather concerns that an architect and a builder will pay close attention to: proximity to tide-affected water, for example, or a lot in hurricane-prone areas will inform many of the structural decisions to be made when building your dream home. In fact, this is one of the major reasons families opt to build from custom house plans rather than buy a pre-built home: it is a precious opportunity to cater the needs of your family to the demands of your specific region.

But even beyond these important concerns, there are smaller details to think about that are no less important as we head into the rough weather and low temperatures of a North American winter. When searching through house plans of the various homes that catch your eye, also think about the things that help you to feel safe when some of your amenities are unavailable.

Keeping Rooms

The keeping room in this house plan serves a gathering place for busy families.

Many house plans include a keeping or hearth room adjacent to the kitchen. These rooms typically have a wood burning fireplace and an open space in which your family can gather when the rest of the house is a bit chilly. These keeping or hearth rooms were a staple in early American Southern-style homes. The keeping room is an informal and cozy space; often these are rooms with few electronic devices and plenty of comfortable seating.

Outdoor Kitchens

Outdoor kitchens provide cooking alternatives when the power goes out during storm season.

Not just for summer bbq’s, a built-in outdoor kitchen is typically an enclosed space to keep out inclement weather and regulate temperature and ventilation while cooking. If you live in a place where electricity can go out for extended periods of time, having an alternate place to prepare meals and still be protected from the elements can make all the difference when in the midst of a storm. A non-electric grill is typically built in to these outdoor kitchens, but wood burning fireplaces are also common additions. Dress up your fireplace with a cooking grate and a roasting spit from which to hang a pot of steaming soup and you’ll hardly even notice when the lights come back on!

Walk-In / Butler’s Pantries

Wrought iron gates at the entry of the walk-in pantry lend an artistic flair to this breathtaking kitchen.

When the bad weather warnings come, many families feel the need to stock up on essentials. Whether you preserve a seasonal harvest or head to the local shop for canned soups and bottled water, having these necessities on hand helps everyone feel more at ease when facing a stormy season. A generous pantry provides lots of space for your supplies and makes keeping track of what’s on hand a cinch.

The ability to craft exactly what your family needs into your dream house plan is exactly why so many people are choosing to build rather than buy a pre-made house. Consider the seasonal factors in your area and include in your floor plan the features that will best serve your unique family. To get started, browse through these curated collections here:

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Every family I know is always trying to find ways to live more frugally and stretch their dollars further. For many people, this begins with identifying waste and superfluous purchases. In terms of the rising cost of food for a family, creating a well-stocked pantry is one of the best and easiest ways to save money in the check-out line.

By focusing on ingredients and food items with a long shelf life, the danger of wasting food that goes bad before it can be eaten is drastically reduced. Here are a few categories of pantry staples to get you started:

Dry Goods:

Dried staples are a great and inexpensive way to save money and keep your pantry well stocked.

Stock up on things like dry beans, pasta, nuts, popcorn, rice and ancient grains like quinoa. These things benefit from an overnight soaking before cooking, but it is not required especially if you plan on cooking with a slow cooker. With a few minutes’ prep time in the morning you can come home in the evening to a hot pot of chili or soup without making an additional stop at the store.

Canned goods:

Canned foods are an easy way to keep your pantry full of easy meal ingredients.

Large cans of whole peeled tomatoes, “cream of” soups, evaporated milk, vegetables like green beans and corn, tomato sauce, stock and soup bases, tuna, chili, and peanut butter are some of the major staples that can easily be made into a meal using just what you have on hand.

Short Cuts: Bouillon cubes, seasoning packets, sauce mixes,

Freezer:

Buy in bulk and freeze extra meat and produce.

Depending on how your utility bills add up, many families actually save money by purchasing an additional chest freezer for storing bulk purchases. Food items like frozen meats, berries and other fruits, homemade stock and soup that can be frozen into individual portions, fresh vegetables enjoy a longer life when frozen, jams and jellies, and even casseroles can be made up in large batches and frozen for an easy dinner later on in the week.

In short, planning ahead and maintain a well-stocked pantry can save you hundreds of dollars a year by providing the necessary ingredients for many meals. And by focusing on ingredients rather than buying everything fresh the food waste is significantly reduced simply by lowering the risk of food going bad before it can be eaten.

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Storm Savvy House Plans

The Well-Stocked Pantry