Trend watch: why pantry porn is back on the agenda

It's been around for a while but #PantryPorn is back on our radar thanks to the pandemic. It's time to get your cupboards in order
Matt Writtle

This isn’t the latest MILF money spinner, or at least not on the parts of the internet Homes & Property frequents – this is a family newspaper. No, #PantryPorn is the celeb-endorsed trend for showing off an immaculately organised kitchen cupboard, which has - of course - peaked in the pandemic.

But I thought Kim Kardashian was involved?

Yes, Kim Kardashian is an enthusiast of the genre but she has long moved on from her sex tape days. Pantry porn is a different kind of perversion entirely, lusting over photos of other people’s houses.

Like a Peeping Tom?

Not quite guilty as charged, the voyeurism extends only to the kitchen cupboards.

So what does KK have to do with this?

Cast your mind back to January last year when she shared a video on Instagram of her intimidatingly orderly kitchen shelves. The trend has been around for a while: Gwyneth Paltrow, Busy Philipps and Zoella have all shared images of the inside of their cupboards but unsurprisingly, its gained new legs in lockdown.

So is this just another way for the super rich to show off their nuts?

Not entirely. Anyone can get in on the action. Just get yourself a Dymo label maker and a lot of glass storage jars.

And where, pray, does one keep a Kilner jar collection in a studio flat?

All you really need is an Instagram account. There are thousands of posts under the hashtag #pantryporn showing row upon row of aesthetically arranged granola, dried beans and lentils.

Who has a pantry in the 21st century?

A surprising number of people. The Wall Street Journal declared the pantry the new walk-in wardrobe as the pandemic has shifted homeowners’ priorities, while Reese Witherspoon-produced Netflix series Get Organized With The Home Edit got every rabid organisationaphile’s juices flowing.

Even lesser mortals are getting in on the act though. Modish kitchen brands such as Pluck London and British Standard have smart cupboard shelving. Failing a full kitchen renovation, all sorts of cupboard organisers are widely available, from steps to lazy Susans.

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