Saturday, June 4, 2011

Where do I keep it all

Well, this is not going to be a pretty post. And I certainly don't claim to be the most organized person, in fact I mostly feel one step ahead of chaos. But for what it's worth, here is where I store it all. Actually, here is some of the places I store it all, I have things tucked in everywhere, and that is very hard to photograph.

First off, the most obvious places, the china cabinets and side boards.
In this side board I have quite a bit of the smaller dishes in Petit Point and the large china platters are stored in each of the doors, as well as a few of the larger silver serving pieces.



In the other side board I store my Tranquillity china and most of my Richelieu in the doors at each end. In the drawers I have an assortment of odds and ends and in the bottom drawer I have linens. Mostly smaller tablecloths and some napkins.


After that, the bulk of my stuff is stored in totes and on shelves. There are recesses on each side of our fireplace (for wood) that holds a couple of totes each. At one end is my Vanborough and a tote full of linen tablecloths and at the other end is the Belmont and the Monteigne china.

The sets are the easiest to keep track of, the silver trays, bowls, candleholders, chafing dishes, cake stands, etc is much harder. I've recently devised a system, crude, but it seems to work. I put a sheet of paper with a letter on it in the end of the tote and then I write down what's in the tote on a piece of paper with the corresponding letter as the heading. I keep all the papers in one book and just need to look through my lists to see which tote the item I want is in. I used to have to pull out all the totes until I found what I wanted.


I guess I should actually show my china cabinets. lol 


I keep most of my set of Lavender Rose in a kitchen cupboard. It's the one we usually pull out for impromptu tablesettings.

The rest is on shelves in two different storage rooms. Unfortunately, we don't have a basement, only a four foot crawl space which is alright for seasonal items only. Some of the shelving is too hard to get a good picture of, but here's one to give an idea of what a mess they all are.
Well, that's pretty much my system, if it can be called a system. I hope it's of some help to someone, but I feel more like I'm needing help.
AT

12 comments:

FABBY'S LIVING said...

Fun, fun,...I'm enjoying this tour from draw to draw and shelves where you keep your treasures! Thank you for sharing it with us!! Maybe I'll be showing my treasures, later! Hugs. FABBY

Sweetladyelaine said...

I love your honesty! I am not all that organized either....I just moved in a few months ago and have a hard time putting things away. I never thought of organizing by color because I don't have that many dishes. I loved looking at all your pretties. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings My Friend,

Sarah said...

Looks like you are really organized. I need to work on my organization. ;-)
~ Sarah

Marlis said...

You are so organized. I am so very impressed. I love that you labeled your totes. blessings, marlis

Susan Nowell @ My Place to Yours said...

Some fun ideas here! I love that you store a lot of your pretties in pretty pieces of furniture!

The Tablescaper said...

I can't believe how much you have in those cabinets. They are chcck full! Keep labeling!!!

Thanks so much for coming to the party and sharing!

- The Tablescaper

Martha said...

What organization!!! You have some lovely things as well.

Diann said...

What stunning china you have! And yur organization is wonderful! You have managed to store a lot of pretties in small spaces. Way to go! Thank your for he fun tour!

Unknown said...

Great post..so glad to know I am not alone with all the STUFF I collect for my tea passion - I am a new follower here and tea collector/lover too!

Entertaining Women said...

I'd say that with your data base system, you've made the most of an unusual storage situation of totes in the wood bin. I'm impressed! Thank you for sharing your beautiful collections with us. Cherry Kay

Denise said...

Your china cabinets and sideboards are really beautiful pieces of furniture, and your china is exquisite! I think your system of labeling is a good one; I've done a very similar system with my Christmas decorations. It does help a lot. Thanks for sharing!

Denise at Forest Manor

Miss Char said...

Bless your heart, I see that you have the same addiction as I do when it comes to china. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a note about my dish room. I could share a shelf or two with you if it would help :)