A New Version of Storage Wars...

When Alma at The Tablescaper announced her link party entitled, Where Do You Keep it All? Part 5  I knew I wanted to participate.  I thought it would be eye-opening to me to really evaluate where I have been storing all my tablescaping items.  I'm fairly new to the hobby (my Blogaversary of One Year won't be until September), but I've LOVED plates and crystal for forever, so my collection had a pretty good head start.  I've got to tell you, this post has totally inspired me to get a handle on my organizational flaws!! When I took an honest look at the pictures I had taken, I thought, "I can't possibly post these pictures on my blog! It's too embarrassing! Even if all my storage areas are surreptitiously hidden behind closet doors, others will look at the chaos and enter my name as a contestant on the show, Hoaders: Buried Alive! But, I'll take a chance, and if nothing else, please know this blog entry will hopefully serve as a "BEFORE" series. Stay posted for the "AFTER" series of photos when I can come up with a better system. So, here goes!

THIS IS HOW IT ALL STARTED:
Before we did renovations about ten years ago and added a new kitchen, dining area and family room (better known as a Great Room), we had a small dining area off a small galley kitchen. I had an antique cabinet I called my sideboard where I could store linens and placemats and use for additional serving space during a holiday dinner. I had one closet that served as an appliance garage and held the zippered china storage sets with my "good" china and Christmas dishes.   I also had a corner cabinet that served as my "hutch". This held some serving pieces and my crystal stemware.  Here's how the corner cabinet looks today where it's been relocated to my living room.  I have collectibles in it now, and some crystal and porcelain serving pieces.

After the new addition was added, I began with one closet in my Great Room area. At first, I had a shelf for Spring/Easter plates, one shelf for Fall/Thanksgiving plates, and one shelf for Christmas dishes. Other shelves held serving platters and bowls, boxed cups and glasses and some table decorations. As you can see, the original plan has morphed into more of a "just put it wherever there is room!" type of organization:

The original appliance garage now has shelves added for stemware storage. It is also sorely in need of re-organization!

This is the hutch that is a part of the dining set we purchased after our new dining area was added. The top section serves as a display area for holiday and season changes (and also adds some badly needed space for plates and crystal. Flatware, linens (tablecloths and napkins) and accent pieces for my tablescaping are stored in the bottom cabinets.

SEEKING OUT OTHER PLACES:

Once I got my blog started last year, I began earnestly perusing antique stores, swapmeets and discount stores for plates and accent pieces. It was glorious!!  However, it quickly became apparent that more storage was needed for all my purchases.  After my oldest daughter went to college, her room became my office and our guest room. We had a desk unit and cabinets installed and that became the place I spent my years as a High School English teacher: MANY hours of lesson planning and grading essays!! I've been retired almost six years now, and haven't really emptied my cabinets of teaching supplies yet! But, the closet was perfect for storage.  It started out so well organized. One industrial strength storage rack:  shelves for plates; one shelf for chargers and round placemats; a plastic bin for flatware and lots of room left over for lanterns and other accent pieces. Then I added a shoe organizer that worked perfectly for napkins.  I kept the clothing rod in the closet and that became storage for tablecloths! However, the frenzy of collecting tablescaping components has now made my organized shelving unit and closet now look like this:

(Pretty scary, huh?)



I then had to look at the desk unit for additional storage and started adding tall pitchers, teapots and faux flowers to my collection of family photos!

Then I moved across the room to my book shelf for additional storage. The top shelf houses stemware and tumblers.....

Finally, I got some plastic bins for the overflow (they are located UNDER my desk unit!) I recently found these handled baskets at the Dollar Tree store.  They work perfectly for my flatware.  Now I want to find a way to close off this storage area. Any ideas?  I thought about curtains on spring rods as well as some type of shutter.

I now have filled up the room except for one other area: my book cabinets (remember: they're still full of teaching materials!) So.....I have to make some decisions. The elimination of these remnants of my teaching career is a daunting task.  I keep thinking...what if I want to tutor? what if my grandkids need extra learning support? what if....what if.....? Bottom line is I have to be willing to "LET IT GO!! LET IT GO....."( start hearing the swelling of an orchestra and the voice of Idina Menzel!)  It's so hard to say good-bye to these things that filled my waking hours for so many years.  But, there is no where else to turn for storage.

So----this is where I store my tablescaping items, and where my future "dish room" will be.  Like I said, please consider this post a BEFORE glimpse.  Hopefully, once life calms down a bit, I can work on the AFTER product. I still keep my eyes open for successful storage unit ideas.  That is why I am looking forward to Alma's link party.  I'm hoping I'll see what other tablescapers have done to keep their stash under control!  Any suggestions you can offer are appreciated.  Just leave a comment and I will take your suggestions to heart!

I'll be linking to Alma's "Where Do You Keep It All, Part 5" at  http://thetablescaper.blogspot.com
and Dawn's History and Home Link party at www.wecallitjunkin.com   Thank you, Alma and Dawn for hosting these parties!

If you'd like to become a follower of my blog, please just go the top of the blog post, add your email address where indicated, and hit "Submit"!  Many thanks....

Stars and Stripes Forever...

Happy Memorial Day, Everyone!!   The table I created today can be used for these next few holidays: today, for Memorial Day, June 14th for Flag Day and July 4th for the Fourth of July.  I enjoyed putting it together, and spent the beginning of this week checking out Tuesday Morning to see what would work for my table, without breaking the bank!

Here's the Table:

Here's How It Was Created:

I started with a red checked vinyl tablecloth that I found at Big Lots. I don't generally use vinyl cloths inside the house (usually they're for use outside on the picnic table!) but I wanted this dinner to be informal, and thought the tablecloth would reflect this.

I added a navy blue placemat for contrast and as a base for my dish stack.

I found these square paper plates at Big Lots and absolutely loved the pattern, so I decided to use them for the celebration. Memorial Day dinner fare is usually B-B-Q tri-tip, hamburgers or hot dogs, potato and fruit salad, corn-on-the-cob, baked beans and garlic toast; so a bit of informality with paper plates is appropriate.

I found these red, white and blue salad plates decorated with an anchor while at Tuesday Morning. I actually saw them one day, rejected them as not a necessity, thought about them all night, then went back the next day and was relieved to still find them there! Has that ever happened to any of you?  I figure I can use them for these summer tables and maybe even a nautical table I have been thinking about (I collect lighthouses and nautical items!) They are labeled cmg: handmade in Portugal.

My place setting is completed with red goblets from Home Goods, and plastic plaid tumblers from Ross. The flatware is from WalMart.  My red-checkered napkins have been in my linen collection for some time now.  I also added a white bread-and-butter plate that is unmarked and found as a set of four on an antiquing hunt.  The knife spreaders were a find at Tuesday Morning. I'm quite pleased with their quality and detail of decoration. There are four different patterns.

My centerpiece started with a basket platter that I found at Home Goods. It came with the red gingham ribbon, but I figure I can weave other colors of ribbon depending upon my table design. Right now, the red gingham works well!  I found the patriotic pitcher in Tuesday Morning and it is sitting in a pie plate that was gifted to me by a dear friend. I love the fact that a recipe for apple pie decorates the bottom of the plate!  Ceramic salt and pepper shakers and faux flowers from Michael's as well as weighted star-burst decorations festooned with small American flags from Michael's complete the centerpiece for my Memorial Day table.

I love the colors of red, white and blue together, and their brightness really accentuates that this table will be for a special family dinner to honor the brave men and women of our armed forces who spend their lives making sure our freedom is safe, and to remember those who have perished in the service of our country to insure the Stars and Stripes of our Flag will Forever fly over our precious land as a symbol of its strength and pride.

                                                                    Enjoy your day!
    I'll be linking up to Christine's Table It! Link Party at  www.rustic-refined.com
    and Susan's Tablescape Thursay at www.betweennapsontheporch.net
                                    Thank you, Ladies, for hosting these fun parties!


Thank you in advance for your kind comments. Your encouragement is so appreciated!

Welcome to Butterfly Meadow, CA

After Easter last year, a local department store was having a sale on the Lenox pattern, Butterfly Meadow.  I had always oohed and ahhed at these dishes.  They have scalloped edges and their white porcelain finish is accented with four different garden patterns of delicate sprigs of flowers, ladybugs, bumblebees and of course, colorful butterflies.  There are  numerous accent pieces, as well: platters, cream and sugar sets, salt and pepper shakers, vases, mugs, bread and butter plates (highlighted with spring pastel-colored borders), bowls and teapots.  I could never pass the display in the store without stopping by to admire the sets.  Few tablescapers could resist the call of these lovely dishes!  My Hubby saw me stop in my tracks as I gazed at the sale prices last year.  He was very impressed with the price on the boxed sets (4 place settings which included dinner and salad plates and mugs).   Before I knew it, three boxed sets made their way to the check-out line, and my table for this year's Easter Dinner was set!! ( Sorry, ladies, this generous man is taken!!).  Over this year I added accent pieces, as well as a tablecloth and napkins and napkin rings.  I have been eagerly anticipating Easter Dinner this year because not everyone knew they'd be greeted by a new set of Lenox plates.  The pictures that follow show how my Easter table turned out.  I don't generally like a "matchy-matchy" table, but I was happy with the outcome of this one.

Here's the table: (There were 11 adults at the main table)

Here's How It Was Created:

I started with my Butterfly Meadow tablecloth.  It is a garden tableau of flowers, dragonflies, butterflies and bumblebees.  I was so happy to find it in a Banquet size because we have to use all four table leaves when the family comes to dinner now (four daughters and four sons-in-law, plus a cousin!)

For my first layer of the dish stack I decided to use my silver chargers from Michael's.  I decided I wanted a formal look this year to highlight my new dinnerware.

The next layer of the dish stack is the dinner plate.  There are 4 different patterns to the set.  I LOVE each one.

Next comes the salad plate.  Again, each plate reflects a different view of the garden. I especially adore the tiny ladybugs that find their way onto each plate!  Can you see the one crawling on the green leaf?

I used a silver napkin sheath to surround the napkins that match the tablecloth and added the butterfly napkin rings that are designed to coordinate with the tablecloth and plates.  There are turquoise, pink, yellow and green enameled napkin rings.  And they finish my dish stack.

I completed each place setting with my Mikasa Regent Bead flatware and Mikasa water glasses.

I kept my centerpiece small because everyone in the family contributed a side dish and I knew there would be a full dinner table, so I needed the room for serving pieces!  It consisted of an Easter Bunny I found at HomeGoods many years ago, nestled in some Easter grass and sitting atop an Easter plate found on a trip to Northern CA at a favorite gift shop we always stop at while traveling up north.  I had room for a special pair of candlesticks that were a wedding gift from a precious friend.

My Fitz and Floyd salt and pepper shakers join us every Easter!

This bud vase was a Christmas gift from my daughter and son-in-law who knew I had gotten new Lenox dinnerware.

These salt and pepper shakers are a part of the Butterfly Meadow collection.

These are additional accent pieces from the Butterfly Meadow collection.

These are the salad plates with their various patterns.

These are the various dinner plate patterns in the set.



Unfortunately, the photos from the "Kid's Table" came out blurry for some reason. The 7 grandkids had their own table and I wanted to share it, so what I did do this morning is take a picture of the plates that I used for them:

All in all, it was a wonderful Easter this year.  I hope all of you had a blessed Easter surrounded by family and friends!

I'll be linking up to  www.betweennapsontheporch.net for Susan's Tablescape Thursday.
Thank you, Susan, for hosting!!

I love to read your comments. They are always an encouragement and appreciated.

If you'd like to follow my blog, please go to the top where it says, "Follow by Email".  Put in your email address and hit "Submit"!