...blissfully bluebell: party wear

Another challenge in this same kitchen, was the height of the top cupboards. They were above head level, so it was difficult to reach up and bring heavy objects down, such as these platters and bowls-

So I moved these down to a lower drawer

I find that "less is more" when it comes to organising heavier objects such as these platters. The more that are stored in the one place, the more difficult it can be to access the one you are after. So instead of over-crowding this drawer, I also used this cupboard which is underneath the end bench, to store the remainder platters. Also here are the cake trays and oven trays, all kept upright and beautifully neat thanks to yet another Howard's product. These plastic stands are fantastic! They are of the perfect weight and have textured surface, so there is no chance things will slide around or break.

Back to the higher cupboards- here is a before photo of vases and beautiful little coffee cups. Also up there are some small glass cake stands that the Mum wanted to be able to reach, without having to get the step-ladder out

I discovered that the shelves were easy to move- so I did just that. I also moved the coffee cups to the cupboard next door, and placed the small cake stands here on the lower shelf which are easier to reach. Even though the vases are now higher, they are stil easy to access, as you naturally reach for the bottom of the vase to bring it down.

This family are big on parties- and apparently throw fantastic ones, isn't that great? I'm looking forward to throwing children's birthday parties myself one day :-) Their "party cupboard" would get a lot of use throughout the year, so it needed a little help to stay organised. I was impressed with how many wonderful party things they had- fun party hats, table cloths, sparklers, decorations, candles, etc etc.

It didn't take me long to group like items together and pop them into these inexpensive boxes from Ikea, and label the boxes. Now the family can easily find the right items for the next party-

The tall bottles such as oil, tomato sauce etc, had to stay up in one of these top cupboards due to their sizes. I put them into these little baskets, so the whole basket can be grabbed instead of having to bring each sauce down one by one. It also helps prevent things getting lost at the back of the cupboard. Before-