Searching for a china cabinet for our dining room was probably the quickest furniture search I’ve ever taken part in. I found several actual china cabinets that I loved immediately at Nadeau in Marietta GA, but none of them would fit in the small space I was dealing with. As soon as I laid my eyes on this piece at Queen of Hearts Antiques & Interiors however, I was sold. End of story. If you look closely you’ll see that the cabinet is actually made with an old screen door, minus the screen – you can see the details of the original screen door in the handle, scroll work and trim. Could there be anything more unique? The shabby chic finish didn’t hurt either. I knew it would be the perfect addition to our dining room.
The search for a china cabinet began when I realized I would need a place to display the antique china I inherited when my dad passed away. Yes, that’s right, I did not own china before that point so I had never run into this issue. Although I don’t know exactly how old the china is, I do remember my grandmother using it pretty regularly and I even remember admiring it when I was a little girl and wanting to play “house” with it but not being allowed to for some odd reason. Although I’ve never considered my husband or myself to be of the very fancy variety who prefers to eat off china for every meal, I did know that I wanted to display some of the beautiful pieces rather than have them all boxed up in the basement.
But I digress because you’ll notice from the pictures that the cabinet is not holding any china. By the time I got around to filling the shelves we had a little one on our hands and I felt that china sitting on open shelving was not the best idea. So I decided to display some china on the very top shelf only and then fill the other shelves with various knick-knacks; however I had so many various knick-knacks that before I knew it the entire cabinet was filled. One day I will find a place for that china though, and I will be sure to share what I find 🙂
I have to admit it was pretty fun filling the cabinet shelves with other goodies. I had a bunch of antique decanters and bottles from my mom’s side of the family, so I decided some of those should definitely make the cut. I never had a good place for my creamer, sugar & butter dishes other than the dining room table which felt cluttered, so those found a nice home on the top shelf. Antique colored mason jars (also from my mom’s side of the family) added another pop of color to the top shelf. There’s not much to say about the owl pitcher other than it was just too cute not to be displayed. Both pieces of wood-art were gifts, and I thought in between a framed picture of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and the antique bottles, they were a perfect addition.
The second shelf was an issue due to its height until I came across this basket at A Classy Flea (also in Marietta), although lately I’ve been kind of wondering if a dough bowl from Painted Fox Treasures might fit in this space. They’re on sale right now too with the code SPINDLEANDRYE, so I may have to give it a shot …
The bottom two shelves might still be a work in progress. My newly purchased vintage milk bottle tray from Painted Fox Treasures (currently holding dried sunflowers) looks perfect next to my bird decor, but I’m not sure I’m loving the dried sunflowers. I do love the pop of color they add though …
I found a super cool painting (also at A Classy Flea), and although I planned to hang it in our hallway it found its way to the bottom shelf and hasn’t moved. My husband’s beer steins also found their way. Since my husband pretty much gives me free reign over all the decorating in the house (isn’t he great?), I do make sure to incorporate the few things he wants displayed – the beer steins are some of those few things.
As much as I love how the cabinet looks in our dining room and as much as I love how everything looks on the shelves, I do still want to display the china. I imagine I’ll just have to buy a whole new piece for that though and unfortunately there’s really no more room in our dining room, so unless I want to display it in the den I’m going to have to wait. But the china will come out of the basement one day – probably the day that we have a larger dining room will be the someday 🙂
If you happen to be in or near the metro Atlanta area, be sure to check out the stores I mentioned – Nadeau, Queen of Hearts Antiques & Interiors, and A Classy Flea. You’ll be sure to find awesome stuff at each one!
And if you’re near internet access at all, check out Painted Fox treasures at the following link – you will find the most unique variety of vintage farmhouse home decor! Keep in mind the sale going on with the code SPINDLEANDRYE!
https://paintedfoxtreasures.refersion.com/c/a3599
Happy Sunday to you!
L Claire Designs 