The perils of collecting; or, the porcelain traffic jam

I have written about being a sucker for Coimbra pottery. If I'm out on the loose and have a minute to spare, I will duck into T. J. Maxx or Homegoods or Tuesday Morning and see if they've received any pieces. They only get a few and they go really fast. So far, I've usually bought smallish pieces, due to serious storage issues. I started out with a few pieces displayed in the marble-topped round end table. Then they crept into my glass-front secretary desk in the foyer, the hutch on my desk in the den, even on the shelves my husband bought for storing CDs. One tray even resides on my dresser holding perfume bottles.

A few days ago I found a nice divided tray. The hunt was on for a display spot. I tried rearranging the stuff in the secretary desk; no good, the tray was too large. Then to the dining room, the den, the living room. Nothing worked. This was by far the largest piece I had bought and it defied every cabinet with its size. Then I decided that the Coimbra would play nicely with my pre-war Japanese tea set.

CAREFULLY, I removed the pieces from the case. They are about as thick as a sheet of paper and it terrifies me to touch them. Then out comes the blue and white tray which stood behind them. A quick rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul trip around the house exchanging plate stands to locate one large enough, and the tray settled into the shelf, surrounded by the blue and gold tea set. Perfect!

Now, where I am going to put the blue and white tray?