Spring Cleaning the Silver

Some friends gave me a generous gift—a gift card to one of my all-time favorite stores for home accessories. I totally geeked out this weekend looking at new pillows and decorative containers and placemats of the "in" color! My house has a nice fresh look for spring.

And while I was in this freshen-up mode, I went through the cabinets to see what I could toss. I found the silver. I really love the silver. I love it's elegance and its charming feel for the old formal ways of entertaining. For years I've collected this silver fantasizing about the fabulous tea parties I'd throw in my even more fabulous garden. The tea parties that played on the big screen in my head included ladies who wore fancy hats and delicately dipped warm madelines into their tea.

I never actually threw a tea party like that, but it didn't stop me from collecting platters and bowls and coasters and candy dishes.

So I decided it was time to free all that silver. Until I saw this great decorating idea on Real Simple's website. They suggest hanging my collection of silver trays to serve as an eclectic eye-catching wall decoration. Done!

Brilliant!