Does anyone have a built in larder? Thinking of getting rid of ours.

[Honey1975]

We moves recently into a 1960's house which has a built in larder in the corner in the kitchen.
When I first viewed the house I lives it as it reminded me of the one we had in our house growing up. It also holds a lot of stuff with its many shelves.

Now we're living here I'm not sure I like the larder. It is clearly very old, a bit grubby, musty and in need of a paint. My DH agreed to paint it this weekend so I began clearing it out and noticed something grey looking at the bottom near the floor. I thought it was mould but dh tells me it is wire wool and I know that is used for pest problems although he said there is no evidence of current activity (he used to work in this area)! So one of the previous owners must have put it there presumably because there was a problem.

I absolutely detest mice and pathetic as it may sound to some, I really have a phobia of them. Just seeing the wire wool means I want to clear all food out of there and no longer use it.

We also need more worktop space so now we're wondering if we should get the larder knocked down and add more worktops and cupboards into that corner instead.

I'd be interested to hear from other people who have or have had larders as to what you think of them. Would it be a mistake to get rid of it? Thanks

I would keep it. About to build one in our new kitchen!

The landslide - I always thought a pantry was walk-in and a larder was just a pimped up cupboard. But it might vary regionally. Here in London where few people have much space our kitchen shop marketed suped-up cupboards as larders.

I wouldn't get rid of it personally
The storage so much more than cupboards and larger things you want out of way can go on floor (boxes of drinks at Christmas, big boxes washing powder etc)
I had one a bit unsightly so had redone with new shelves, painted, new floor etc
Loved that pantry
Hook on back of door to dangle brooms etc and reusable shopping bags
I do miss it

I'm not getting your logic that getting rid of the larder will somehow solve a mouse problem.

I love a larder and It's so nice to have one in our new house. Ours was a bit grubby and we just cleaned and painted it and it made such a difference.

We have a larder/pantry walk in cupboard thing. It was in a sorry state when we moved in and so we re-tiled the floor, put wood panelling on the lower part of the walls and gave it the mother of all clear ups. Sealed it up as much as possible. No more mould or damp for 2 years now.

However, we didn't have mice...so not sure if these solutions would work for you. But maybe worth a try?

We have one. We keep so much in there - all the recycling boxes, loads of open shelves, full height freezer, shopping bags, booze. I love being able to keep all those things in one place. The only food items in the actual kitchen are the bread, fruit bowl, tea/coffee type stuff and the fridge. It frees up so much space.

So jealous of all these larders. Wish I had one.