Keeping House

I am not a neat freak at all, I don't obsess over the details around the house, as a matter of fact, I am a mess. I have piles of magazines everywhere, craft supplies usually on the kitchen table and enough stuff on my coffee table to entertain us for an entire weekend without getting up from the couch (remotes, books, magazines, bag of nuts, pen, paper, headphones, phone, cell phones, laptop and a candle and matches). I do like things clean, but they don't have to be organized or picked up, does that make sense? I would rather have a pair of clean shoes on the floor than a pair caked with mud on them on the floor. We don't wear shoes in the house, but that is a good example of what I am getting at.

There is one thing that I have to have nice and organized at all times and that is the cabinet where I keep my dishes and glassware. It has to be neat and clean and at the ready for impromptu entertaining - or just for me and Tim. Unlike some people, I don't have things I only use for guests and on holidays (except for my Christmas dishes which are in stoage during the off-season) I use all my stuff all the time. I have a silver plated serving dish I use at home for snacks in front of the television and antique painted metal trays I serve dinner on when we eat in the living room (more often that at the dinner table these days). I have a small collection of vintage Pyrex glass bowls that I use for everything from rising dough to washing produce in. In my eyes these are just material things that come into our lives and we can't leave with them when we go, so why not use them? Funny, I was just saying this same thing to a friend the other day when she mentioned losing things throughout life that she would like to have now. It has happened to all of us so my recommendation is, take photos of your favorite pieces (no matter their worth) and enjoy using them while you have them. The photos will help you not to forget them and may even bring back memories of what was served on or in them. I had to take a photo of my colorful latte bowls because one broke recently, one is chipped up pretty bad and one has a crack. Some day they won't be here anymore, but I love them, use them for everything and am enjoying them while I can in case they can't be replaced.

PS - Had to add a photo of the inside of my cabinet door, because it makes me happy!