By Elizabeth Prata
I like a clean surface. I do not like clutter. I like to have all my flat surfaces be as uncluttered as possible.
Sometimes this is hard in the kitchen. All my appliances except the coffee pot are stowed in cupboards below. Yet I need what I need and I frequently use what I frequently use. This means whisk, salt and pepper shakers, salt cellar. I recently acquired a pewter pottinger bowl and I like it too and have started finding it useful for things.
I recently acquired a Kurt Radke Bauhaus/modernist WMF mustard/jam holder manufactured in 1953. It's sleek and beautiful. The mark says Cromargan Germany, which is two words: "Crom" and "Argan". "Crom" because the steel has a high chrome content, and "Argan" because it looks like silver. The advantages of Cromargan is that it is acid-proof, rust-proof, tasteless, easy to clean, dishwasher-safe and has an almost unlimited shelf life, as we can see by the fact that it is still gorgeous 70 years later!
I love the design of these things, as well as their functionality when I cook. But I didn't want them scattered on the counter. What to do?
Put them together on a tiered shelf. But I didn't want the shelf to be wooden, it would distract from the beauty of the stainless and crystal objects I wanted to see. I don't enjoy eye-stopping objects to distract from the marble counter, either. Nor do I want a tall shelf, I like them nestled next to the stove and equal or lesser height.
I found some mini-risers at Amazon in clear plastic. Yay! Here is how it came out
The small whisk was in the drainer, drying, so, not pictured, but I placed that on the top shelf when it dried.
It makes me happy to solve a problem. Like finding a zipper pull in my junk drawer to attach to my purse so I don't have to struggle to dig out the zipper EVERY time I try to open my purse. To use the Kurt Radke designed jam jar for a salt cellar so it becomes functional while remaining on the counter so as to admire its design. Same with Pottinger bowl.
I also acquired a small oil painting last week. I hung it on the window sill where when I look up from typing it is in direct view. This also makes me happy, as also when the later afternoon sunlight streams across the window I see my plants and the art glow in the "Golden Hour".
Let the little things in life charm you. Admire the design of something. Bask in the glow of an afternoon Golden Hour sunlight. Solve a problem with minimal money or even just 'shopping' your own home to re-purpose it.
But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. 1 Timothy 6:6
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