Before & After: Our China Cabinet
I’ve never seen my mom’s Waterford crystal glassware, because it’s been in my parents’ attic since before I was born. They have a hutch in their dining room, but there’s little display space in the upper half and Mom shows off her curios there instead. The china place settings and serving dishes are tucked away in the hutch’s bottom shelves, hidden by solid doors. She’s always wanted a “proper” china cabinet with glass doors, and I never understood why until I registered for china (Lenox’s “Floral Veil”).
bridalbuds.com
It’s really quite pretty, and I want to show it off. When we moved into our house and realized that there was room for a china cabinet in our dining room, I had to have one. Our kitchen/dining room setup is casual, so the cabinet had to be, too and we went with a “some assembly required” version from Crate & Barrel (“Pivot”, which isn’t sold anymore).
When I got it, all our china and glassware went in, but I gave little thought to how it was displayed. Last weekend that changed, when I took everything out and started over.
It went from this jumbled mess:
sliding doors in the bottom section close to hide more serving dishes
To a much more organized and thought-out display:
I achieved my desired look by putting the blue bowl down below and pulling out a white one, staggering the martini and margarita glasses, and stacking cups (bottom ones are upside down) so they would take up less space. Now, our pretty Waterford toasting flutes (a wedding gift from my in-laws) are a focus, instead of blending in with the basic champagne flutes.
Here are some inspirational china cabinets from around the www:
countryliving.com
Shoener Wohnen via The Estate of Things
countryliving.com
eddieross.com
Wow! The new arrangement makes a huge difference. You did a great job.
It looks great Laura! I love the look of staggering items of varying heights and layering the look of things.
What a makeover!! I just love the after, its much more dramatic and makes a fabulous statement- great job!
Someday I hope to be as “grown up” as you and actually have china and a beautiful china cabinet to display it all in!
It looks great! And I really like the sliding doors in the cabinet, very cool.
Laura! It looks great! I love the new styling…very chic!
I definitely like the “after” — it’s a very artful arrangement that really highlights your best pieces. Brava!
I need to do something similar…you wouldn’t believe how sad my china cabinet looks right now.