Just Like a Restaurant, but without the Waiters

I've been hearing some complaints from moms like myself lately about the durability of the plates and glasses in their kitchen. For them, and everyone else who has high traffic in the kitchen, I have some helpful advice: pretend your kitchen is a restaurant and stock it accordingly.

Restaurants typically use porcelain or stoneware plates because they don't chip or break easily, and they can survive millions of trips through the dishwasher. Don't confuse porcelain with china -- I'm talking heavy, thick porcelain plates. I think the best source for really durable white plates is Williams Sonoma.
They have Buffalo China, American made dinnerware still used in many restaurants:

And Apilco, a beautiful and heavy french porcelain that's perfect for a busy kitchen:

For their glassware, restaurants typically use pressed glass because of it's durability. Blown glass, even the heavy mexican variety looks pretty, but is prone to breaking and chipping. My favorite glass is the restaurant pint jar:

They're big, they're hard to break, and they stack in your cupboard. At AbestKitchen you can get two dozen of them for $46, so you can even break a few.

Probably the most angst inducing item in the family kitchen's cupboard is the wine glass. Even a working mom likes to have a glass of wine once in a while. However, if the thought of exposing your stemware to wagging tails, flailing arms and the occasional flying soccer ball raises your blood pressure, then Schott Zweisel is the glass for you.

It's virtually unbreakable. This video shows some of the tests that the company performs on the glassware to ensure durability -- nothing compared to what goes on in my house, but it's a start.

I've personally whacked a Schott Zweisel bordeaux glass on the edge of my office desk to conduct my own product quality test, and was unable to break it. Perfect.

My husband and I have had the same two dozen white porcelain dinner plates in our cupboard since we were married 17 years ago, and haven't broken a single one. Those regular Suburban Zen readers who are familiar with what goes on in the Furber house will find that shocking.

I can't say the same for my wine glasses, but that's a post for another day. And maybe another blog.

You Can Have Your Table Back, We Have Some Better Ideas!

Study Nirvana, by Andie
Being an almost-8th Grader, I know I'm going to have A LOT of homework, projects, and tests to study for, so I'm going to want the best possible place to do it all. My ideal study space would have EVERYTHING I would possibly need. My desk right now is huge, and has lots of space to spread out my projects, so I think that would remain in my study nirvana. I'd have lots of fun colored bins to put pens, pencils, markers, scissors, and everything else in. There would be a fun colored lamp for late-night study sessions. The last thing that I would have is a bin for my folders, and put one for each subject. But a giant to-do list wouldn't be so bad either!
My study nirvana would be a place that's organized, colorful, and totally stocked with supplies. Even if I have my perfect study space in my room, I'd still want my whole family around me, so sorry Mom, I'd probably still study at the kitchen table!

My Crib's Already Boring Enough, by Jack
My dream study space would be a place where every kid can feel like a kid. There would be massages every day at 4 o'clock, an ice cream man, a mini fridge right next to my big vibrating chair, a slushee machine, and a churro machine, cubbies to hold all of my study stuff, my own bathroom and room service. I would be extra great if my little sister would bring me a pizza once in a while. If I had a study space like that, well then, Sayonara Mom! See you when I graduate.


I Can't Wait For Kindergarten, I'll Study All The Time, by Katie
In my kindergarten study space, there would be.....a notebook, a lamp, a comfy chair, and a homework book, and a pink table. And.....that's it.

Can I Have My Kitchen Table Back, Please?

School is approaching, and I have to say I'm looking forward to getting back into our school year routine. During the school year everyone wakes up and goes to bed at civilized hours, everyone eats three somewhat nutritious meals each day, and best of all, during the school year, everyone reads more and the TV doesn't seem to always be on.

As we get ready for the school year, study time seems to be the thing that takes us the longest to settle into. Each kid has a study space in their room, but the Furbers all like to be together, so they tend to gravitate toward the kitchen table looking for company. We have our family office, but that seems to be used more for pleasure than for business.

I will now turn Suburban Zen over to the three Furber kids to describe the perfect study spaces that would inspire them to retire to their rooms to do their homework each day.

Life in the White House

My friend Sheryl stopped by the other night to pick up her son after a playdate with Jack and we were discussing the new slipcovers I had just bought for my family room sofas. When I told her they were white, she said "WHAT?! White? Why would you do that?"

I realized then that it's time to share a secret with all my fellow moms: white is the most under-used and under-rated color in the interior palette of a family home. Unlike bright colors, or other non-white neutrals, white can be washed in hot water and bleached. I buy everything that gets tons of use in white: I have white sheets and a white duvet on my bed, white bathtowels in my bathrooms, white floursack towels in my kitchen, white slipcovers on my sofas, white table linens in my linen closet.

I don't worry too much about spilling. If I did, I'd be in a straightjacket -- I've watched my son Jack wipe his face on the sofa. Whenever something gets messy, I just give it a warm, sudsy, bleachy bath and it's good as new. When something needs a little extra brightening, I make like my Mother-in-Law and put it out in the sun for an afternoon.

Because my basics spend lots of time in the pool, I've learned to always have a few extra sets of everything, and to pay a little more for quality base fabrics so the items last longer. Here are some rules I live by:

For sheets and towels, I always buy combed cotton when I can, because carded cotton pills.

For slipcovers, I always buy denim or canvas when I can, because those fabrications have more body, and don't get too wrinkly in the dryer.

For kitchen towels, I always buy the classic floursack towels made by Ritz. They're the best, they don't leave lint on your glasses, and they're cheap -- you can get 4 for about $10 from any restaurant supply or kitchen store.

For table linens, I always buy classic hotel linens. The good ones have a really thick, mitered border all around, so they don't shrivel up in the wash, and whatever that fabrication is, it lasts forever. Best of all, the hotel linens don't really need to be ironed. Which works for me because the last time I had an iron out, my daughter Andie said "what's that?" The time before that, my Mother-in-Law took a picture of me with the iron because she wanted to have it on film.

Waiting until the kids are out of the house to indulge in white is for wusses. I've got a Maytag Neptune and a bottle of Clorox. Bring it on!

I Love My Fridge

In my life, nothing is ever quite finished:

• My kids are always a work in progress
• My job is one long, ever-evolving project
• I'm always redoing one or more of the rooms in my house
• I've always got some self-improvement project going

That's why I get a great deal of satisfaction from my refrigerator. My husband does most of the grocery shopping during the week and every other Tuesday we get a delivery of organic produce from Farm Fresh to You. So by the time Saturday rolls around, the fridge is nice and full, and I clean it out.

• I pull out all the produce, clean it, cut it up, put it in containers that are all the same size and create an altar for them where I can admire their beauty, and the kids can have easy access to them
• I organize all the cheese and meat in one place, the leftovers in another
• I make a big pan of lasagna for my son Jack, who loves lasagna, and give that it's own shelf
  
• I throw away all the expired condiments -- sometimes I throw out something that's not quite expired just to have the satisfaction of purging something
• I like my refrigerator to have lots of pretty colors in it, so sometimes I make an extra trip to the store to fill in a blank in the palette.

Most Saturdays, my littlest Katie will help me. She puts on her apron, pushes her rolly stool up to the counter and we wash, chop and prep together. Me with my Ikon Chef's Knife, Katie with her plastic knife.

When we're done, I step back and admire our work. If our work is especially beautiful, I sometimes call the other kids in to admire with me. They roll their eyes and say "we know, Mom, you do this every Saturday."

As I read back what I've written so far, I realize I sound like a nut, but there's nothing like a project that has a beginning, an end, and a tangible result to make you feel like you've accomplished something. I love my fridge.