Saturday TeaDay 1/30/10 More tea and teaware than space?

[Chip]

Greetings TeaFriends and welcome to TeaDay. Please stop in and share what is in your cup throughout the day.

Yesterday we discussed how far away from home you have ordered tea. You can still vote and discuss yesterday's topic.

Today's TeaPoll and discussion topic. TeaStorage space. Have you found that your storage areas for tea/teaware somehow keeps expanding or you never seem to have enough space for all your growing numbers of teas and teawares? Please share.

I am looking forward to sharing this TD with everyone.

[artmom]

There wasn't a vacant space in my kitchen for one more cup, when I joined TeaChat. Now, everything I have purchased; tea samples, ingenuiTea, a couple of cups, thermometer, scoop, etc. are on the counter, or in a big bag sitting on a chair in the kitchen! Husband is being patient right now, but expect a fuss soon, as he cleans the kitchen when our DIL isn't able to!

I'm going to have to enlist a son or grandkid to come and do some re-arranging. Hate to ask Ed as he does so much needed "stuff" for me. The grands always need money; so this can be an earning opportunity for them. (They do things for me for free, too, "just 'cause!"

No tea yet this a.m. Didn't get a second cup on Friday.

[bsteele]

I'm pretty good with space... I just think I need more stuff to put in my open spaces

Not drinking tea but just finished a bottle of my first homebrew

[JBaymore]

The storage of teas themselves I have under control. Teawares however........ well that is a differernt story. A lot of them are part of my "collection" of ceramic works... so are out on display shelves. And the more "day-to-day" are overflowing the kitchen cabinet assigned to them.

(And of course the studio has teawares all over the place .)
best,

...............john

[Trey Winston]

To begin with, the teas took up a little portion of a cabinet shelf. Then they got the whole shelf, then the shelf under that. Now it's just "the tea cabinet". I could use more room.

Sipping some Dragon Well today.

[olivierco]

There is always some room left for teaware. I have more problems with my +5000 (and still growing) accumulation of books...

Kaboku sencha after lunch.

[gingkoseto]

I would prefer more room for both tea ware and books. Well I can do without more space, but definitely more space is preferred. Currently some of my less favored tea wares are stored in the basement and less favored books are laid at the very back of the shelf hidden behind other books.

[Victoria]

I always need more room, never seem to have enough. I have resigned myself to the fact that I am a teaware collector now.

I dream someday of a bigger house. Where the "formal dining room" is actually a tea room that a table can be moved into for holidays and such, instead of preserving a formal room that only gets used a couple times a year. What a waste.

In my cup this morning MF Saphir.

[teashionista]

I always need more room! More room = more teapots! In fact, I'm shopping for a dedicated tea cabinet. It all started with a shelf dedicated to tea, then the teas took over an entire cabinet in the kitchen, and now my teawares and premium teas are occupying half of my dh's bar... He's being patient, but the look of my yixing teapots next to Riedel glassware bugs me. Oh, and I need one of Den's tea chests/chairs!

Organic East India house blend from TeaSource (got a sample with my last order) in my cup this morning.

[brad4419]

I could use some more tea-space. Just last weekend we added extra shelves to my tea cabinet and moved some non-tea things out so now the little spice cabinet is all mine This took care of my teaware but I have all my tea sitting in a corner of my bedroom which just isn't working so pretty soon something will have to happen.

Long jing this morning

[geeber1]

I dream someday of a bigger house. Where the "formal dining room" is actually a tea room that a table can be moved into for holidays and such, instead of preserving a formal room that only gets used a couple times a year. What a waste.

I think that if you only use your dining room a couple times a year, there's no reason to wait for the tea room!

My tea boxes take up about half a shelf in the pantry. I feel a little guilty moving "real" food out of the way to make room! My small teapot collection pretty much fits onto some narrow rolling shelves from Ikea. This is mounted on the wall next to our microwave. I would have a real problem if I expanded my collection much more!

Castleton Darjeeling 2nd flush in my cup today.

[kymidwife]

I could certainly use more storage space, but I will admit I have recently done a massive reorganization of my kitchen and pantry (largely to accomodate my growing tea and wares assortment)... and I have found that better organization has given me much more space than I'd realized I had available.

Until recently, I've been keeping my tea on my countertops in cannisters and tins, sitting on a baker's rack, and in a kitchen cabinet above the countertop. The baker's rack, countertop and the cabinet were overflowing, and it was very difficult to find anything, so I knew I had to make some changes. I have a large pantry, but the shelves are the white wire sort, like ClosetMaid shelving... and tea tins don't sit well on them. Plus, they are quite deep and I could easily see some sample sizes getting buried deep in the back of shelves. Plus, smaller sample pouches/baggies etc. needed to be contained. Long story short, the shelves are a bad place for tea.

To the left of my pantry door, I had them install a hanging bar so I could have a coat closet. I keep a couple of coats there, but the majority of the hanging space was empty. After considering several options, I got one of those hanging canvas shelves with drawers that fit in each slot. I now have a drawer compartment for unflavored blacks, flavored blacks, oolongs, darjeelings, and greens. None of the drawers are full, they hold even my largest Adagio tins, and it is working out really well! And it was a really cheap storage/organization option.

Teaware is going to have more space now too, as the baker's rack is becoming a display shelf for just this purpose.

Had some TKY this morning, most delicious.

Sarah

[TubbyCow]

I dream someday of a bigger house. Where the "formal dining room" is actually a tea room that a table can be moved into for holidays and such, instead of preserving a formal room that only gets used a couple times a year. What a waste.

Thankfully we're renting a house with a rather open top floor. A few months ago I took over the dining nook area and turned it into my tea room/tea study then just moved the dining table into the living room. It's just a small table since only my husband and I use it, but it is a bit problematic when we have company.

The only problem with this whole set up is that it is, in fact, still too small. Despite two desks covered in tea, half of a china cabinet for teaware, and a floor to ceiling cabinet for tea and wares, there's never enough space. I'm not sure there ever will be I'd think I had a problem if that didn't mean I'd have to do something about it.

Cheap-o jasmine green in my cup this afternoon paired with some green tea mochi. Mmmm...

[LauraW]

I have requisitioned about half a shelf in the pantry for tea, and some random spaces for teaware, but I don't have that much teaware, so it's not that big of an issue. The tea, however, is stacked precariously in the pantry, so I could use a bit more space for that.. and of course if I had the space I'd display things instead of leaving them in the (pretty) boxes and stacking them up.

Finished off yesterday with 2 cups of one of my blends, and I sat down with lunch with a pot of Adagio's Yunnan Noir. Only 2 things left from last week's shipment to try, and overall I'm very happy with what I got! Downside: more room in the cabinet taken up with tea tins...

[Mizmax]

I am running out of space for tea, but the real problem is space for the teapots and teacups. I started collecting "just a few", but they keep multiplying. Hubby installed shelves above windows and doorways to display teapots, but still not enough room. I often give mystery theme tea parties, so I need lots of tea cups and teapots.