Storing Dinnerware

Do you have lots of dishes and china? Some people collect shoes. I collect dishes and stemware. Fortunately, we have cupboards in the basement to store the items we do not use everyday. But, like most parts of the house that are out of sight, they can get messy and cluttered. My new project is tackling that space and sorting and organizing my dinnerware. To see more about our basement, click here.

Most of the daily use dishes and glasses are either in the kitchen or the butler’s pantry. Since I do LOVE collecting china, the basement is where the bulk of the fine china is stored. To see more about our butler’s pantry, click here.

Determine What You Need

In order to protect the dishes from damage and dust, I store them in the quilted zippered bags that are very affordable and easy to buy online. They come in various sizes for both dishes and glasses. Many come with plate dividers, but I prefer the thicker, felt separators from Richards to protect the more delicate items.

More storage for stemware from Richards.

Photograph Your Items

In order to easily identify what is in each quilted bag, I simply take a picture of the dish/glass with my phone and then print thumbnail size photos.

After cutting each photo, I glue them to a card stock tag.

Mount and Identify

A written description is added to the back of the tag so I can easily recall the number of pieces and/or the manufacturer’s name.

Hang the tags from the zipper facing outward for easy viewing.

I group the like items and companion pieces together on the shelves.

Finally with the organization complete, the dishes and glassware are easily accessible. This is an area where I also store my various chargers. Cabinets and wooden countertop are from IKEA.

As I complete the basement project, I hope to show you the before and after photos of the entire room in my next blog post. To see more storage areas of the basement, click here.

If you are visiting today from HomeTalk, welcome to my blog. Bella Terra is our historic home in Phoenix, Arizona. I post about daily life from gardening, home restoration, bread making, DIY, chicken keeping and everything in between. I would love for you to subscribe to my blog if you like what you see. You can also find me on Instagram @lifeatbellaterra and Facebook.

This post shared with Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday #620th