signe.knudsen.98's Profile

The greatest thing for unpainted (though finished is fine) wood is "food grade" mineral oil. You can buy this as "butcher block oil" in a hardware store but you can get the same thing for half the cost in a pharmacy where it is sold for people with constipation. Rub this oil on your cutting boards, your salad bowls, your dining table and chairs. If you have a piece of dried out wood or wood with scratches, put some of this on with a soft cloth and let it sit awhile. Add more if the oil is all absorbed. Wipe off the excess if there is any. This will rejuvenate dry wood and prevent any wood from drying out. I use it on everything wooden!

I get old suitcases for a dollar each (or less when there is a glut and they have a sale on them) at a place where one of the thrift stores sends things that didn't sell. I put a tag on each one saying what it contains and then put like items in each suitcase. So there is a suitcase with material, one with tablecloths, one with wooden bowls and statues, etc., and one with metal candlesticks, for example. I can then pile them up on the floor of a closet, for example, and I have the things if I need them but don't have to take up a lot of display or storage space in cupboards for them. For those with the collector gene, it's a good compromise between viewing all the collections all the time and getting rid of them to clear the clutter. The Japanese used to keep all their treasures in separate wooden boxes and would take out one item at a time, place it in the "tokonoma" and view it for a week or two, and then put it away again. This is sort of the same concept but they didn't have nice old wooden boxes at the thrift store, just suitcases.