Teaware & Storage

First, a quick administrative note to the anon. poster who asked after AOT’s Fucha tea. I did indeed get it, and must have forgotten to post a review! So I’ll get that review up on Wednesday, and I hope it will be helpful to you in time to make a decision.

On to our topic du jour: Teaware. I cleaned out several of my kitchen cupboards this weekend, and it was quite a chore. I had to get rid of tableware and reorganize because things just weren’t fitting anymore. Part of the reason was my ever-growing teaware collection, which was cleverly trying to push all of my tableware out of the cupboards and take over the whole thing. This called for drastic measures to get the problem under control.

In the end, I ended up removing my collectable knick knacks from the curio cabinet in the dining room, and shelving the bulk of my teapots there instead, along with the puerh cakes that have been floating around my house trying to find a home for a good long while now. It’s not the ideal place for tea to age, but better than in a cardboard box collecting dust. And my teapots look quite nice there, if a little cluttered.

Unfortunately, I was taking the picture last night, so no matter where I stood, the flash was in the way. My Yixing pots are on the top two shelves of the curio, the ones you can’t see. The rest of my porcelain pots are below, along with my gaiwans and small tasting cups. The glass teapots didn’t fit (and due to all the mirroring would have disappeared anyways) and neither did my Japanese style set, so they are in my dining room cupboard, on a shelf specifically for them and my tea trays. So for now, my troublesome teapots are tamed, and there’s room in my kitchen cupboards for tableware once again (and my teacups, of course).

Obviously, I can’t part with any of my teaware - that would be sacrilege! But I do find myself wondering whatever I’ll do the next time I just have to have a piece…or two…
So where/how do you store your teaware? Do you have enough room? Or are you of superhuman strength, and able to withstand the temptation to buy lovely wares to complement your tea?