In this post: Want to organize your dishes once and for all? Here’s how I transformed my dining room storage and finally organized my tableware for easy access.⇒
This is THAT post.
You know, the one I’ve been promising for a long time.
Without a doubt, the one question I get asked more than any other is where I store all my dishes. For the longest time, that was an easy answer, as everything was well organized and I simply needed to photograph it and share.
But over time, even my systems has broken down.
Suddenly I realized, if I showed you what was behind those doors, you wouldn’t find it very helpful. And at the same time, it had become difficult for me to find things when I needed them.
It looked something like this:
There were plates stacked on top of each other and layered 2 rows deep. The chargers were impossible to get to because they were piled so high. The disorder on the top shelves caused me to knock things over to find and get to what I needed.
And this same over-run system extended to all the storage pieces in the dining room, as well as beyond.
China in the basement. A mix of items in the butler’s pantry. And more spillover in the kitchen.
It was time for a complete overhaul.
Empty the Cabinets
Let me start by saying, I begin all organizing projects the same way – by taking everything out. However, in this case, that wasn’t so easy to do. I simply have too many dishes and tableware to unload and look at it all at one time.
But my rule is unbending. In order for me to consider something organized, I have to be able to see and reach everything without difficulty. Likewise, to be able to find things without searching, all like items need to be kept together.
So, I emptied one piece of furniture at a time and placed everything on the dining table. I then gathered all the similar items from the other cabinets and placed them there too. If I was going to do this in pieces, I had to be sure I could see everything in each category all together, in order to determine how much space was needed to house it.
I did a lot of looking and planning. I circled that table many times.
Then I diverted things on one side of the table to their new home, making room for the next category to be gathered there to be assessed and reassigned.
Divide Everything Into Categories
Before I could separate everything into categories, I had to determine what defined a category. Some things were obvious like stemware or candles. But other things were less obvious. Would all plates go together? Or would dinner sets be isolated by pattern. Would salad plates be stored with dinner plates? Or would dishes be divided by size, color, occasion or formality?
I decided to keep china sets as one category and casual plates as another and hence they would be stored separately.
Decide Where You Will Store Each Category
You may remember a few months ago, when, in anticipation of this project and to temporarily solve the overflow of dishes and other tabletop items, I created space in a closet near the dining room to store some of my surplus tableware collection.
It was a great fix in the meantime, adding much needed additional storage, but it didn’t solve the problem of overall disorder and the goals of ease and accessibility.
Now with a complete plan to address the tableware in its entirety, I could use the new closet system for the first category that I would put back in a more permanent spot.
Hence, I added a few more “H” shelves to maximize the storage available and this is where I decided to house my varied collections of casual plates. I included both dinner and salad sizes and made sure each shelf had only one pattern.
This solved my key goal of being able to see what I have and to be able to reach it without having to move things stored on top.
Put the Prettiest Items Where They Will Be Seen
This should be fairly obvious, yet, remarkably, I had previously stored my china behind the closed doors on the bottom of the china cabinet. I had one set packed away in the basement and another partial set sitting on the bar cart.
Now, perhaps most people don’t even need to find storage for 4 sets of china, but I’m at that weird stage in life where I’ve acquired china from my mom and my mother-in-law, yet my kids are not married yet and ready for china to be passed on to them. So, fortunately the 4 sets peacefully coexist and I’ve determined to move them to the top of the cabinet where they can be seen and often appreciated.
If you’ve seen my table settings, you know I frequently mix them together anyway!
Use Shelf Helpers to Make Access Easier
Arguably the single biggest improvement to entire storage system was adding helper shelves to my lower cabinets, making it possible for me to separate each set of charger plates so I could grab the set I want without moving the heavy sets stacked above them. This has made table setting infinitely easier and never again will I choose my chargers based on which ones I could reach because the set I really wanted was too difficult to get to.
Move the Stemware Near the Drinks
If you are lucky enough to have a butler’s pantry, it’s a great place to store all of your stemware. As long time readers know, our home did not come with this space, and instead it was a closet that we converted for this purpose.
In the past it displayed both plates and glassware and while I loved the way that looked, it makes much more sense to keep all of our stemware together so I always know where to find it.
If you don’t have such a space, you might commandeer a buffet in the dining room or study, or even in a cabinet in a corner of the kitchen. The main thing is to keep everything together and preferably near where the spirits will be poured.
Don’t Forget About Outdoor Dishes
Living in a townhouse with our patio right off the kitchen, we don’t often set up formal meals outside. Nonetheless, we do have casual get togethers that spill onto the patio, so I keep outdoor dishes and drinkware for these occasions. Since they’re not used that frequently I opted to use the bottom cabinets in the pantry to store these items and keep them gathered together.
This is another category that was previously scattered about the house, so it’s a pleasure to always know where to find them.
Use Drawers for Smaller Items
The sideboard in our dining room is not my favorite piece, yet it provides some extra storage that comes in handy pretty often. At the top there are two drawers that I use for storing napkin rings, divided into sets in simple ziplock bags.
(Some day I may paint this piece, but it’s really a bit too small. It’s one of the few pieces left in our home that instead might be replaced. Time will tell… ;-))
What About Those Odd Shaped Items?
There’s always those one-off odd shaped items that don’t belong in a category and can’t be neatly lined up like soldiers. This comprises things like small vases or large candle holders, but might include other oddities that belong nowhere else. I do my best to make sure to keep only things I use, so this group is pared down and requires less in the way of storage. I’m keeping them in the sideboard in rows as orderly as possible.
Larger vases are either kept out on display or in an upper cabinet in the kitchen, so this is really limited to outliers.
In the corner of our dining room we keep a petite bar cart with a small cluster of vintage crystal decanters. This is one of several spots around our home where tableware can be found both in use and for a pretty flourish. These vignettes are often reserved for favorite items which should never need to be stored away.
But they should also be taken into account as part of your storage plan because they offer a home to these items.
I can’t tell you how good it feels to finally have my tableware neatly organized. This will make entertaining and setting my tables a whole lot easier and hence infinitely more enjoyable.
Now all we need is to end the quarantine so we can have an opportunity to have guests around our table!
Dining Room Storage Resource List
To get the look, click on the items below for direct links to the products. Where actual items were no longer available, I’ve provided many similar options. If an item is out of stock but may be restocked, I left it on the list.
(This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.)
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This is great! I am now inspired to organize my China cabinet and buffet. The family china as well as the china cabinet was passed down to me when my Father passed away but I just combined it with my china and collectibles, but never organized it all. Now’s the time for me to organize it and display my Grandmother’s China in the top of the cabinet where it can be seen. Thank you for this post and the inspiration!
Thank you, Judy, and I’m so glad you were inspired! I had very much the same situation, where I was organized until I started fusing into my own collection bits of other people’s collections. Part of cleaning out is also knowing what to keep and what to let go of, so you can appreciate what’s left… 🙂
Wow! This is wonderful! Thank you for sharing! I have a weakness for dishes but your collection makes me weak in the knees! So beautiful and sooo beautifully organized!
Beautiful and very well organized! I wish I had room for more!
Great job making your dish collection look so stunning and organized. So beautiful.
Gosh girl, you have a lot of dishes. A weakness of mine too.
hi lory, sharing on the weekend edit sometime today ;0)
This storage closet of plates calms me! xo laura in Colorado
Thanks!! yeah, I’m like that too. I need organization to be calm… 🙂
That must have been so fun Lory – I love organizing if I actually have a place to put things! 😉 Congrats on getting it all done! 💗 Happy Saturday!
Love the storage for your dishes. I have several sets of casual and fine china. The issue I found is COFFEE CUPS and MUGS. Sheesh, does anyone use those anymore for meals other than breakfast? They take up so much room.
Thanks for sharing!
Yes! That is so true. For the coffee/tea cups that come with the china sets, I nest 2 or 3 together. Mugs I keep in a kitchen cabinet. I use only white mugs so I can keep them in the glass front cabinets, but hubby loves those mugs with school logos or teams on them. You can be sure those are hidden behind wood cabinet doors… 😉
This is my first time responding to your post because the font is so hard to see but organization I should say is my thing. I really dislike to dust so every one of my dishes are behind doors. Your idea to turn a closet into China storage. Is ideal.
I’m so glad it resonated with you!
As for the font, are you reading on your phone? Is it the size, color or the font itself? I keep making it larger and darker, but when people are reading on tiny devices, it’s still hard to see. Not sure what else to do as its nearly black now. If you are reading on your phone, perhaps if you turn it sideways, the font gets larger. Maybe that will help?
Lory, you’ve got some great tips here! Thanks. I have a thing for all kinds of plates but you’ve got quite the stash too! I have to ask though, where did you get those gorgeous candle hurricanes on your dining room table?
Thanks for the kind words, Sharon! You can find the hurricanes here: https://rstyle.me/+SBvL86tTSjORXvtpO5nxbA
I love that painted detail small sideboard that’s below the mirror with the wine glasses on top of it. I think it’s adorable the way it is. Don’t paint it because it’s unique and it’s not mass produced and white trendy. I love your organization skills with trying to tame all of those dishes. I have dishes for just about all of the seasons and some odd holidays. I love the H shelves. I might invest in those because they will break up different sets of dishes so that I will be able to see without constantly moving things just to get to a single set etc.. Love your ideas
Thank you, Susan!
Regarding the sideboard, too late… 😉 It’s already painted. I actually like the room much better now, but I understand if it’s not your thing. Here’s how it came out: https://designthusiasm.com/white-chalk-paint-vintage-sideboard/
I love everything you have…..except those SKULLS!! Yikes. I’m French vintage all the way. NO skulls, lol.
Are you referring to my Halloween candles that are in the cabinet?
Yes. just kidding. Whatever you like. They are certainly scary looking.
Lol… have you never seen my Halloween tablescape? Not so scary, I think… https://designthusiasm.com/elegant-halloween-dinner/
I understand that your collection of dishes and accessories is part of your life and life’s work, but I am at an age where I am seriously down-sizing and struggling to part with treasures. I am keeping some lovely furniture and will take on board your suggestion to show off the treasures and hide the day-to-day. Since my ancestors are French and my visits there, I hanker after the French country look and can’t wait to retire and get into my hew home and enjoy the time I will have to make m,y house a home to love – even with less.
Believe it or not, I’ve gotten rid of a lot too! I do tend to keep dishes more than anything because I like to entertain, but even that I weed out constantly. We can’t keep everything and learning how to strike that balance between what we would miss and what we’ll never even think about again is quite a valuable skill! Good luck!
Do you use felt (or other) dish dividers to protect your stacks of plates and bowls? I consider these to be essential for preventing damage to my dishes, especially the antique sets.
I don’t anymore. I used to store my dishes in those quilted cases with a piece of paper towel between every plate, but I use my dishes too often. I think if I continued to store them that way I’d stop using them, so I prefer to use them and hope that nothing happens. I also put them in the dishwasher… 🙂
Wow! If you put your Haviland and other antique dishes in the dishwasher, you are indeed lucky if none have been damaged or broken! Storing these dishes in stacks without some kind of protection (at least paper towels) will eventually result in scratches or damage to the decorations. I’m glad you are using your antique dishes, silver, and crystal, but they were not designed for harsh treatment. I love using my antique dishes for serving, but not if they are damaged. Because I live in earthquake country (California), I store all 17 sets of my dishes in quilted cases with felt dish pads between the plates and bowls. I love using them whenever I can.
I once wrote a blog post about how I came to collect vintage china. The quick version is that I used to keep them up in our finished attic in quilted cases. One year I was bringing them down the stairs to the dining room and fell down the stairs. I wound up with a quilted case full of broken china. This opened me up to collecting and using mixed sets of china, something I’ve come to delight in. If I washed my dishes by hand, I’d be likely to drop one and break it. With the exception of the fall, my china has stayed in one piece despite using the dishwasher for the past 30 some odd years. My theory is better to use and enjoy them than keep them in pristine condition… 🙂
Guess you were lucky to survive the fall yourself!
Love your organization posts. They are very motivating for me! Thank you.
So glad to hear that!!
Loved this article. I have a passion for tableware too. Your closet of plates in such neat stacks is fabulous. Seeing a stack of plates is always enticing to me.
My house was built over 250 years ago, so there are no closets. I solved my accumulated tableware storage by acquiring several furniture ‘china closets.’ Kate in Connecticut.
P.S. I also have an extensive set of flatware. I have added to the set from my nana. While my solution is similar to yours; it is quite different. I’ll have to send your some pictures of how I customized my flatware storage. I think you’ll like it
Ah, I’m intrigued! Always so nice to find like-minded people… 🙂
Love all your beautiful dishes, napkin rings, & how well organized you have everything. I can only imagine the fun you have creating beautiful place settings. Pretty dishes are a must in my book!
Thank you so much!! And yes, it’s one of my favorite things to do… 🙂