Celebrating Modern Jewish Living Through Food, Tradition, and Family
Organizing Crystal & Glassware
My mother-in-law is one of those whirling dervishes who can organize any disaster you can throw her way. Attic, garage or walk-in closet that you can’t even look at? No problem; she can have the entire thing done in an hour or two and have it looking better than Martha Stewart on her best day.
Since we’ve known each other, we have reupholstered my kitchen chairs, transitioned my son’s room from a little boy’s room to a big kid room, hung drapes and re-done my daughter’s bedroom, and completely redone my patio. This does not include the numerous decorative touch-ups over the years (of which there have been many).
Not too long ago, I kvetched to her that I couldn’t even see what was inside my china cabinet and I wanted to make better use of my glassware and candlesticks, etc. I should have realized what that triggered: minutes later she started to clear the darn thing out but within an hour: total bliss. She completely changed how I use everything in there for the better and it looks just beautiful.
As you can see from the photo, she organized tall champagne flutes in the center of the top two shelves, with wine and water glasses on either side–colored goblets on the top shelf (which I use for the High Holidays, Hanukkah and Thanksgiving) and crystal on the second shelf which I use for everything else and sometimes every day. My silver candlesticks and assorted kiddish cups are toward the front, for easy reach on Shabbat and holidays. Having them front and center also gives me a simple sense of pride when I pass by my dining room (sounds silly, but it’s true) a million times a day.
The third and fourth shelves (not pictured) house numerous cake stands and platters, stacked neatly and prettily, and for once, not bumping into each other haphazardly. Most of all, I can actually see what I have. If you’re looking to reorganize glassware, this is a wonderful model to follow. You can see exactly what you have, grab what you need, and putting things back in this order makes perfect sense.
Unfortunately, she’s not for hire, but if she were…how lucky you’d be 🙂