I’m short. Really short. 5 feet even, actually. With 20+ years of practice, I can get around just find in a world built for people significantly taller than me (unless there’s a glass item I need on the top shelf at the grocery store–I still haven’t figured that one out).
But there is a disadvantage to my lack-of-height when it comes to homekeeping: I can’t see the tops of shelves. I can reach the tops, I just can’t see them. They do all get dusted regularly, but if I miss something, I won’t have any idea.
So because I can’t see the piles of salt and pepper our salt and pepper grinders were leaving behind on the shelf, I didn’t realize we needed some sort of tray under them all this time. I thought for a couple days about how to get/make an itty bitty tray to put under the shakers, but I was blank until we went to Crate and Barrel for some rug shopping. They had these pretty slate trays. But I didn’t need to buy one, because we have piles of slate slabs and fractions of slabs that we’ve been pulling out of the dirt in our yard for the last 4 years.
Why is our yard filled with pretty, ready-made slate trays?
This house originally had a slate roof, and when the previous owners put a new roof on, they just tossed all the slate tiles into the yard where the ground swallowed them up. Every once in a while, the yard regurgitates one for us. I’ve been saving them because I knew there had to be something cool they could be used for. Finally, after 4 years, I realized they could be used as cheese plates, platters, trays, or to save our shelf from the salt and pepper.
PS: If you don’t have a front yard that spits out free slate tiles for you, you can get them cheaper on Amazon than at Crate and Barrel:
(affiliate links above)
Wow the roof was made of those. It must have been pretty. Good thing they did not take the slates to the dump 🙂 Good thinking. Is there enough of the slates that you could use them to cover a shed for example? I would love to see them in their original use too.
My sister is about your height. I’m about 5.3 feet, so not so tall either. So far I’ve mostly felt that it’s convenient to be small. I can fit in a seat of an airplane much nicer and I never bump my head on the door frame 🙂
I’m sure it was beautiful, I’d love to see old photos of this house. Unfortunately, there aren’t nearly enough left. I was hoping to make a backsplash in the kitchen, but there isn’t even enough for that.
And, yes, the airplanes! My favorite part is while we are all waiting to get off a plane and everyone is standing, hunched over, but I get to stand up straight. 😀
Great idea! We have slate roofs in Brittany and I like using slates, so I love your idea.