Even though you can't eat them and you don't really serve food out of them, somehow, flower vases seem to end up being stored in the kitchen. If you're lucky enough to have a china hutch, they might find a corner to call home, but in my kitchen, my vases always seem to be in the way!
My last several homes have all been open loft style apartments or homes. I've been using open racks to hold things and while that helps me see right where things are, it also means they're buried behind 10 tons of plates and bowls any time I actually need to use them.
Prior to these modern and warehouse-y type properties I was in more traditional bungalow homes. Where did my glassware live then? At the back of the pantry or under the sink. Either way, it was never exactly convenient.
Have you figured out a great place to store yours where they're out of the way? I'll be pairing mine down so I have less, which will hopefully make them easier to store. Share your storage solutions in the comments below!
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Good point-- it's hard to find space for them sometimes. I use the unoriginal under the sink approach, but some local flower shops will take back your old vases (you know, those standard ones you don't need a bunch of) and maybe even give you a little discount on flowers. It's one way I keep my collection under control.
Plus, gives me an excuse to visit my local flower shop-- I love em!
The pantry. Hmm, that might be a good use for that space above the kitchen cabinets, though.
I have a few decorative vases that are pretty or interesting enough on their own to keep out when they don't have flowers in them. If someone sends me flowers that come in a plain glass vase, after the flowers have gone, unless I use them out in my studio for paintbrush or tool holders, I donate them somewhere (goodwill usually, but I've thought about seeing if a hospital or nursing home would like them or giving them to an independent flower hop to re-use as well, but I don't really get a lot of flower deliveries.) If I'm using flowers out of the garden I'd rather use my pretty vases.
Mine are in a cupboard above the range hood. It has all these awkward spaces because the boxed-in air duct runs right through the middle, making it well-suited for narrow upright objects.
On the mantle, with pretty colored stones in them. on top of one of the bookcases, holding different pretty stones.
scattered throughout the house serving various practical functions until such time as I need them for flowers - holding scrapers in the kitchen until I need it, then I stick the scrapers in a wide mouthed glass and use the vase.
masquerading as a mason jar - unless it's an arrangement that doesn't work in a mason jar, 80% of all flowers that come into the house go into wide mouthed quart jars.
at goodwill where I can pay $.50 to get them out of storage if I suddenly REALLY NEED a generic vase in a shape I don't already own?
good one rianne!
Mine are in my basement in a storage closet. Not very handy. I like Rianne's ideas of using them vs storing them!
Ooh, Michelle, good idea! I don't know why I didn't think of putting them above the stove. Those cabinets are almost empty because it's so hard to get to. But it's perfect for things like vases that I don't use that often! Also, I have a few pieces that are actually pitchers that occasionally double as vases, so these are easier to keep in the kitchen.
In that rather inconvenient cabinet over my refrigerator.
i keep mine scattered around the house and extras in the cabinet of my entertainment center (most of my media is digital).
Mine are also in the hard to reach over the refrigerator cabinets
Mine do live in an inconvenient cabinet in my kitchen, but now that you mention it, there are much better things to put there!
...banished to the basement, the vases moan for water and fresh living stems...
Paring.
There are some good ideas here, thanks!
In our last kitchen, an open shelf ran the length of one wall near the ceiling, and it was perfect for them. The kitchen in our new house has no such shelf. They are currently all in the dining room, awaiting a new home.
mine are hidden behind cookbooks on a bookshelf (old record shelf) in my dining room. not too inconvenient, but when i need a vase i have to pull out cookbooks until i find the one i want.
In the over the fridge cabinet - I can't reach it withotu a step stool, but rarely need to.
Used to keep them in the over the fridge cabinet. Too difficult to reach. With so little storage space, I spent years looking for something that would fit in my front hallway (just outside of my kitchen) for any type of storage. I finally found a reproduction of an antique cabinet that was only 11" deep, making it easy to walk past in the hallway. It's 113" wide and 108" high. Has 2 drawers at the top and 1 shelf below with closing doors. It turned out to be a perfect place to store my vases plus other hard to store things. Thank you for this post because it just gave me the idea to store some of those cooking utensils that aren't used often in those 2 unused drawers! I still don't know how to use those cabinets above the fridge though.
Under the kitchen sink and over the range hood, along with my punch bowl, water/juice pitchers, and little cream pitchers. I only have four or five, so it's not a big deal. As the child of florists, I never buy pre-arranged flowers but do all my own arranging. So I never have a vase surplus.
I keep mine under the sink in the guest bathroom . . . conveniently, it's a large space so I also keep most of my candleholders and tealights in there, as well as bathroom cleaning supplies to one side and extra tp on the other side.
on top of the fridge usually. Last summer, I used a pretty tray to group them in the center of my dining table, putting flowers in some and leaving others empty. It ended up looking really pretty!
I store mine in the hard to reach cabinets over the stove and refrigerator..
I store all my vases on top of my kitchen cupboards. They catch the light from the window and look beautiful!