Pretty Spaces....

It occurred to me after  writing my post on Atmosphere that I might share some of the little spaces in our home that I think help create atmosphere for me in my everyday living.

One of these is so basic to me that originally I did not think of it as a place that creates atmosphere: our hot drink preparation area.
It started years ago when we were given this tray for a Christmas present and I though it would be a perfect area to keep our coffee and tea in so we could made drinks easily and quickly through out the day.

Now I know this is not necessarily a particularly 'pretty' area but to me it is a 'heart warming' area.
This is due to the fact that usually when we make a hot drink it is a time to sit together relaxing of an evening or it is a time for having friends  over  as well as family just 'hanging out' and sitting together having a chat, sharing our day, sharing our lives.

Basically it is about relationships and nurturing them. Taking the time to make a hot drink implies in my opinion a willingness to give of ourselves and our time, especially in our busy lives and use that time to actually look at one another and say I care.

So having it all in one place makes it a feature of our lives that we can access easily.

So what is on our tray?
At the moment and mostly this is standard we have from back left
*A jar of cocoa ( I have another organic cocao powder in the cupboard, but this is a significantly more rich and expensive and so is for more special events)
*Coconut sugar for those confirmed sweet  tooth people . Also just off the tray is some Panella that we use more in cooking etc
*Instant coffee, Nescafe is my preferred instant brand. Again we have ground beans in the pantry for even more relaxed evenings.
* A jar of Carob -an alternative to the cocoa
* In the green bushland tea tin are tea bags of regular variety
* In front of that is a red twinnings English Breakfast Tin with tea bags in it
* A small bottle of stevia
* The Bushels tin has chai tea bags and Irish breakfast tea bags
* The very old herb tin  has more regularly used herb teas: Chamomile, peppermint, Happy moods, green tea and my home made reusable coffee/tea bags. My other herb teas are in our "Apothecary' area.

And there you have it a small space in our home that I think creates atmosphere not only through its looks but in it's function as well.

Blessings to you and your homes,