Are You A “Show-Er”?

By Shara Koplowitz

Are You A “Show-Er”?

Hi:

I worked on a kitchen yesterday where my client loves to keep everything out to see…and I mean everything!  I can relate as I used to be a “show-er”.  I used to buy canisters, picture frames, vases, decorative boxes and bowls all the time.  I loved to redecorate and arrange things over and over.   Eventually, I started to realize that I was spending a lot of money on all of these things and was starting to not have enough storage space for all the extras that I no longer wanted out on display -not to mention, when things are left out they collect dust.  I was also always throwing random things  into  these little boxes, vases and bowls and they quickly became junk holders. I wasted so much time having to scour through them to find things like missing buttons. matches, earrings, etc.

So, the kitchen. It was a challenge to say the least.  I knew I had to organize things well enough so my client would trust she would be able to find things even if they were put away. I am a firm believer that if every item has a designated place then you can cut out major frustration and wasted time spent constantly looking for things.  That’s not to say that things cant have a designated space on a counter-it’s a personal preference. I had a knife block sitting on my counter for many years until I heard they aren’t the most sanitary way of storing knives. Now, I prefer to store my knives in a drawer. My client had so much stuff out that she honestly had less than a foot of counter space available.  She cooks often, but her pots, pans, spices, bake-ware, etc. were all over the kitchen.  I streamlined her space, utilized all the vertical space I could find and put things away in convenient places.  She called me later last night and said she was thrilled.  She missed her drain board out on the counter and didn’t like the smaller one I bought to go in her sink-but other than that she said making dinner was a breeze and that she loved it.

That made me happy!

xShara

Author: Shara Koplowitz

Date Published: October 10, 2012