Shopping in my own cupboards

This week end, in the spirit of minimalism, I have cleaned up my kitchen cupboards....  A while ago I had already kept everything in group of 3 since we are 3 in my household... I had however keep extras... like 6 plates... not only 3...I was now ready for the next step... 

I remembered that Buddhist monk actually each have their own set of dishes and mug that they clean and wrap up in a piece of clothe after meal and put away until the next meal... It consist of a bowl, a mug and a set of sticks...  I am not saying I want to live like a Buddhist monk...  but why have so many plates and bowls and stuff...  I almost never have people over but when I do it's more for tea and snacks then for a meal... Therefore I do not need that many dishes.... 

And if ever I feel like having people over, I can do either of 3 things:

1) ask guest to bring their own dishes - it can make for an interesting meal
2) borrow from a friend a complete set
3) rent it

Therefore what I did it put everything on the table...  all plates, bowls, glasses, mugs...  and we each chose what I wanted to keep...  Instructions were:

One plate
One bowl for meals
One bowl for breakfast cereals or snacks
One glass or container for cold drinks
One mug for hot drinks

That was a minimum... of course, it was possible to keep more...

The results were amazing!!! And there's a picture above... I have put it in the cupboards in such a way that we all have our dishes in one place and mugs/glasses on top...  As seen in the picture on top...

Left side is mine...  middle my husband and right my son...

Personally I kept : One plate, One big bowl for meals, one small bowl for oatmeal, one very small for snack and one weird shape bowl for when I cut up fruits to eat it... Where I had issue was with mugs and glasses...  I kept one mason jar for cold drinks, one huge mug for chai latte, one regular mug from DixMilles village, one mug I draw myself and one very small mug for tea... 

I also kept 4 other mugs for visitors...  one was a gift my son got me in Paris, one was another gift from my son... and 2 were a gift from my brother... they are le Creuset...  (don't worry Jean, Real and Cedric kept the other 2 so we actually have that full set!  We just love them too much!)

Everything else is going away...  a few plates, mugs, glasses and many bowls.... 

I am really exited about that!!!!

How about you?  How many dishes do you really have???  Anything you keep for once a year only? Did you ever thought about giving that up?  Why or why not?

love&peace,
nath
xox
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