China Cabinet Refresh and Restyle

Hello again friends!

Are there things in your home that have been a certain way for-ev-ah and they’re just there. No pizzazz. Nothing special. (Come on, I’m not the only one, am I?)

Here’s a photo of my Dining Room china cabinet as it has been for many, many years.

It’s not horrible but it’s also nothing special. Most of the shelves are filled with my wedding china pattern and crystal. My wedding (silk) bouquet also sits in the cabinet with a mix of other knick-knacks. It’s been this way for years. Like I said earlier…it was just “there”.

Well, I decided to change that. Here’s a photo of the After…

I decided to use a simple color scheme mainly of white with pops of different shades of green. My goal was to get rid of all any little items and either use one large piece or group many similar items together for a more cohesive look. I wanted to catch the eye and provide something interesting to focus on.

The bouquets were taken out as well as some of the collectibles I sat inside the cabinet just so they’d have a place to be. I also cleaned the glass well inside and out. Just cleaning the glass was a transformation in itself. I couldn’t believe how dirty it was!

For the center shelves, I used a soup tureen filled with preserved hydrangea. (I will share with you in another post how I preserved the hydrangea so that they kept their beautiful colors and stayed pliable.) Below the tureen is a shelf filled with some of my collected glass snack plates.

Some of the salad and bread plates from my wedding china collection is stacked on the top shelf along with a white teapot, crystal salt and pepper shakers (found at an estate sale) with a small silver vase filled with artificial rosemary.

Before, most shelves were filled with my china pattern displayed upright on plate stands. For the redo, I only have one shelf with the plates standing up. This shows off my pattern (Shenandoah by Noritake) but I varied the displays. On some shelves I simply stacked the plates. I topped one stack with artificial pears for color.

Simplifying the decor made a huge difference! I love that when I walk in the room I first see that beautiful bowl of hydrangea. The redesign catches your attention and adds to the decor of the room. It doesn’t look like a storage cabinet that just happened to have glass doors so you could see everything.

This motivated me to move on to the next cabinet I have.

This china cabinet is located in the room we call The Lunchroom. The cabinet was given to me by my Aunt Peggy and was originally my MeMaw’s. MeMaw loved the Braves (like me) and I felt that it was only fitting to have my autographed Atlanta Braves baseballs displayed in this cabinet.

With the doors opened, you can see the unmatched items inside. With the doors closed, it’s really hard to see anything because of the wood trim decor on the doors.

I began by cleaning the glass. That helped.

For this cabinet, I decided to use a white theme. This came very easy for me because I have accumulated a lot of white dishes and decor and needed a good place to store them. This became a win-win for me because the white brightened the cabinet and provided me easy access to all of the white dishes.

Starting at the top shelf, I spray painted a large rectangular basket, sat it on it’s side and filled it with dried hydrangea. I have soooo much hydrangea. I NEVER throw out a hydrangea but dry or preserve them. They come in so handy in decor. I have even used them to decorate a Christmas tree by lightly spraying them with glitter spray and laying them on the tree’s branches.

To add movement on the shelves, I varied the heights and sizes of the dishes and added fillers such as books, decor balls, greenery and candles.

My small collection of pottery sits on top of the cabinet. I am not sure that I’ll keep these here but they’re good for now.

Moving on into my Living Room, I have one small display cabinet that was just as unorganized and unattractive as the others. In my excitement to redo it’s contents, I failed to take a before photo. My apologizes…

Here’s the AFTER:

Using the same method here as well as a similar color scheme as the Dining Room, I placed a white bowl of artificial pears on the top shelf. Another large soup tureen sits alone on the bottom shelf. I had my beloved Lenox nativity scene on the top shelf before the redo but moving it to a lower shelf looks much better and lets it be seen easier. For a little color, I used a white bowl with yellow flowers for an arrangement and put one framed family photo inside. This is such a small cabinet that I don’t think anything else is needed here.

What I learned from restyling my cabinets:

Busy is bad. A lot of “stuff” with a mixture of colors is too much for the eyes. Pick one or two items you like and work around those. Don’t overfill. Don’t think that you must display everything you own. Use at least one large item on a shelf alone with no other fillers. Keep your glass clean.

The best part was that I didn’t spend any money restyling all three cabinets. Everything used was already in my home or basement. I spray painted the basket in the Lunchroom and put together a floral arrangement in the Living Room but all other decor was just arranging and rearranging the items.

Do you have places in your home that need a refresh and restyle? I still do. For today, I am just going to enjoy my three cabinets and worry with the others later.

Thank you so much for stopping by Mulch and Paint today!

Until next time,

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