For most of us a beverage is part of our daily life. It could be a fruit juice, cup of coffee or butter milk. We use all sorts of containers to drink them – Glass, steel mugs, porcelain and so on. What is common to all the beverages and the containers? They tend to stain the surface where it is placed.

Cold drinks gather precipitation on the outside. These slowly trickle down form beads of liquid and finally fall onto the table or which ever surface the container is placed on.

Hot drinks do the reverse. They heat the surface and cause scarring or leave different sorts of stains on the surface. The end result is that our precious table surfaces made of wood or glass tend to accumulate grime which looks particularly disgusting from some angles and based on the lighting of the room.

Image Courtesy : flickr.com

Given the fact that water in most of our homes is hard and salty in nature (or has sugar – in case of soft drinks), you would see stains immediately on the surface and some of them can be hard to remove.

So what is the solution for this? It is very simple. Use – Coasters. Perhaps you havent heard of the name, but you have certainly used it in one form or the other. Coaster is a simple layer of either plastic or cloth or paper, which sits in between the glass and the table surface. All the spills and chills are protected by the coaster.

If the coaster is made of cloth (or rarely paper – disposable ones), it can not only protect the surface of the paper, but also be use to wipe out spillage.

Here is a sample image of coaster. You can choose your shape and colors to match the decor or your home.

Image courtesy : global-b2b-network.com

Coasters can be made of :

• Wood
• Plastic
• Leather
• Cloth
• Paper (disposable)
• Glasss
• Steel
• Bamboo
• Leaves! (disposable)

Glass is an elegant serving dish. It has been used for a long time in Indian homes. Before the advent of plastic, glass was a popular serving dish in every home. Even the water stored in the refrigerator was bottled in glassware. Glass is not only classy but also more hygienic and safe than plastic. Of-course the downside is that it is expensive and fragile.

Image Courtesy : quartermoon.com.au. Click on the image to enlarge.

Did you know that there is a wide variety of glassware which you can adopt for your home?

• Alcohol based glassware – This would include beer glassware, wine glassware,  shot glassware etc.
• Tumbler glassware – this is referred to by multiple names such as Collins glassware, highball glassware etc.
• Iced tea glassware – also used to serve cold coffee and lassi!
• Juice glass - specifically for serving fresh juices (also tetra-pack juices )
• Glass cups – for serving coffee and tea. These usually come with saucers.
• Jugs/Pitchers – These are used to pour the liquid into the glasses and are equipped with a spout for easy pouring.

Virtually every utensil can be created with glass. Examples are serving plates, bowls, ice-cream cups and more…..

Glass is also highly suitable for microwave oven usage unlike plastic which as to be a special grade material.

For more details you may refer to wikipedia article here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glassware

Today we just show you a couple of pictures to illustrate the importance of choosing the right lights for your home. The following pictures are from our reader – Ms. Kathy Ludwig from Luxembourg. Thank you for the same !

Click on the images to enlarge

Do let us know your comments for these pictures and also feel free to ask some questions about them. We are sure Kathy can answer some of your questions !

Readers are invited to send their home pictures. We would be more than glad to put them up on “aavaas”.