First, I weeded through them and tossed what I don't love or use.

Seasonal ones are stored with seasonal items in the basement.

The remaining day-to-day ones are stored standing on their sides, on an adjustable shelf, in a lower cabinet. I have them between a wire-rack organizer (maybe designed for lids for pots and pans?)I like them on their sides for easy access. I also put one of those rubber waffle-weave placemats beneath this rack to prevent scratches, chips, and to keep them from sliding.

The over-sized ones share a space with my cookie sheets. This lower cabinet has a built-in divider, three sections: serving platters, cookie sheets, cutting boards.

Good luck!

PS -- I also use this type of rack to store a few 9x13 Pyrex serving dishes and lids, including pie plates.

Here is a link that might be useful: wire divider rack

The serving platters for everyday dishes is on a shelf in the kitchen cabinet with the everyday dishes.

The serving platter for the good china set is in the china cabinet in the dining room (with the other china pieces!).

The turkey platter is in the sideboard in the dining room (used for just that one meal!).

Do you have a tallish cabinet? Over the fridge, or under the sink, tall enough to stand those platters on their edges?

If so, you can install a couple of these, called "tray dividers" (Container Store carries them, too, but this is the best online price I've found) to keep the platters from falling down. Get a few, so you don't end up trying to store toom any platters in a single space--about three, no more, per "compartment."

I also stand my platters on their edges behind the plates in my china cabinet, against the back wall.

I don't necessarily try to keep them all together--I don't use them w/ the same frequency, so I keep the ones I *do* use together, and nearer the action.

But I've found that day-to-day, I use an extra plate for a platter.

I really should ditch a few of my platters, but I love them so much, I just can't (I did ditch the ones I don't care much about). And if I ever *do* go back to entertaining more, I'll use them all.

First, our kitchen is very small and we have limited useful storage space.

Like Talley Sue, we usually use dinner plates for platters for the family, and we only entertain "big" once a year or so.

So... I decluttered most of our big platters. First I got rid of the seasonal ones, then I got rid of the big ones that were too hard to store (especially the 24" round ones). I figure if we ever get back to "big" entertaining, I can buy new. I did keep the fake-crystal glass platters that are about the size of dinner plates because we use them several times a year.

Platters can look very nice as a wall treatment. Grouped by color or theme and hung on the wall is a great way to show off a collection.

I saw a great platter storage system that used the normally wasted space between studs in a kitchen wall. They opened up the wall to expose the studs, put up shelves to stand the platters on between the studs, put in a light and some thin rods to keep the platters from falling down, and finished it nicely. Now the platters are all displayed without hanging "on" the wall but, rather, are "in" the wall space. We planned to do this on a big wall in our last house, but never got around to it before we sold the house. Might manage to do it this time around. *grin*

We don't entertain much either, so I have gotten rid of all but one. Before, I had an electric range and I kept them in the bottom drawer with some padding so they didn't chip. When we remodeled I just put them in a bag on a garage shelf. I used them so seldom that I had to wash them anyway. Most large kitchen items like the turkey roaster ended up on a designated garage shelf.

Gloria

I had a large plate rack built to my specifications and it holds all my platters (well, most of them anyway). There are two grooves on each self and I measured the depth and height of all I wanted to display to get it just right. One of the best things I did for my kitchen. It is in the hallway between the kitchen and laundry room.

The three at the bottom are pie plates and overall, this is a big plate rack! The anchoring platters are huge.
I don't entertain often so "messing up the arrangement" isn't a big deal.

Ok, I did it. Responded to an OLD post! Uhhh, I'm seasoned too....

Bumblebeez, I read through the whole thread and never noticed it was old until I got to your last entry. I wasn't a member back in '06, so the subject/thread was new to me. Personally I'm glad you brought it back as it was an interesting read, to me at least. I've never really understood the rule on this forum and others about never bringing up an old thread. It's not old to everyone and if you read it already, just ignore it. Sometimes there's new info that should be shared. But I will try not to bring up an old one lest I get in trouble.

Oh, it's not a faux pas by any means gardenpea!
Bring up those old posts!

It's just that most posters respond to a thread to help a poster solve a problem so it becomes pointless in old threads.

I agree with the old thread posting-why not bring it back! People always seem to have the same problems.

My platters are stacked 'pretty high' but I'm kind ofnafraid to put them on their sides to rest for all eternity.

Bumblebeez, great that you added to this thread!

I didn't say, back in '06, that if you are installing tray dividers, install them closer together than most people do.

That way the platters don't lean as much (less chance of breakage) AND you can fit more in the space.

A couple of years ago, I had an open-house party to celebrate my DD's confirmation, and I *did* use all those platters I thought I should get rid of. Every one of them.

Has anyone tried utilizing the cab above the range hood for platters, and leaving the cab without doors?
I realize they will get greasy, but I wash before use anyway.

We don't have very many, but we put them at the back of cupboards on their sides, facing out. So they "decorate" the interior cupboard, we don't lose track of them and they're not in the way.

Here's a clever way to store them using curtain tension rods.

http://ext.homedepot.com/community/blog/create-vertical-storage-for-trays-and-cutting-boards/

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Depot suggestion for organizing platters

What a GREAT idea msmarich! Thanks for posting that.

I like it because it doesn't require a drill!

Dawn

The whole article is pretty good. Got a few keeper ideas! Thanks for bringing up and old thread...