Do you have a china cabinet?

[DawnM]

Extra points for pictures!   (HINT HINT!)

I am strongly considering getting a China cabinet.   I don't know how I will make it fit in our dining room, but I will figure it out.

My dad moved here and brought both sets of my mom's dishes with him.   I also have a lot of curio/keepsakes I have always wanted to display but didn't know how.   I would like something that would work as a curio cabinet and China cabinet.

What do you have?

 

[freesia]

I love my china cabinet! I could manage with a smaller one, but I was given this one when someone’s mother was downsizing. 

[Soror]

None here, too practical for China, I just have plates for every day. I have an old pie safe that is used for baking supplies in the kitchen.

[PeterPan]

I have both. Tips next.

[PeterPan]

Do you like antiques or you're wanting new? Around here, the easiest place to get *new* china and curio cabinets like that is the amish furniture stores. It's a whole industry, lol. I really like curved glass cabinets, because my grandmother had several. The one in this pic was a hand me down but *not* antique. It's still pretty and fine, but antique or well made new are striking. They come in more widths, multiple doors, types of wood, etc.

The new cabinet in the first pic is from one of those amish furniture places. It's cherry, it's fine. I personally don't like a really blended cabinet. So I do mostly china and crystal with just pops of color (antique pottery, roses, etc.) in places. My MIL used her cabinet as STORAGE. Like to the gills, stuffed. It was eclectic, and sometimes that's really good and sometimes you're wanting something a little more pruned. To get to the most pruned, styled, tidy look, people will place only a single place setting of their china in the cab and store the rest underneath. I don't do that, which you'll see in the pic. So underneath, I store seasonal candles, table decor, less used serving pieces, the silver, etc. 

I agree that styles and tastes have changed. I think you can do what you like and be bold about it and it's fine, lol. I keep my curved front cabinet more eclectic, even though there I still try to color group, and my china cabinet is more formal. That's just me. I guess the skeleton belies that, haha. I need to take him down. I don't have a formal dining room so this cabinet is where we eat, filling a wall. I usually change out the top with the seasons. (4th of July, fall, Christmas, etc.) It's kind of fun if you have the time. I'm not terribly GOOD at it, haha, so sometimes I just put this huge planter of fake flowers up there, which is fine too.

[Bambam]

I do not. I do have some china I'd like to off load, but my dh is against it. It is in boxes in a closet and has been in boxes since we got it (given to us by my mom years and years ago).  

[PrincessMommy]

I have a corner cabinet that I puffy heart love.  I've always wanted one and found it well priced on Craigslist about 10yrs ago. 

Sadly, it doesn't work in my main house, so I have it out in our sunroom with the large dining table.   When our youngest moves out I may put it in his computer area. 

I bought a large box of nice plates for $25 at an auction about 15-20yrs ago.  I store them in there for now.  I use them for special occasions and just pop them in the dishwasher.  I am thinking of changing them out though - but finding nice dishes for $25 dollars is not so easy 😁

Also, I have my pretty plates displayed in the house ( 2nd photo).  At my prervious house they were mostly on display in my china cabinet in our dining room and the special occasion dishes were in multiple boxes in storage. 

 

[PeterPan]

A link to get you started. This is not the company I used, just a random one that popped up. However I will tell you, all the "amish" furniture is made in the SAME FACTORIES. So it really doesn't matter a fig who you buy it from and you can choose by price or service. 

https://www.countrysideamishfurniture.com/products/china-hutches-pantry/all

If you want something more modern, maybe try Crate and Barrel? Ooo, I'm flipping through those pages and they have some cute modern stuff too. I guess just see what you like. 

I'm seeing some pretty curved glass cabs here. https://www.countrysideamishfurniture.com/product/noble-display-cabinet

Edited November 7, 2020 by PeterPan

[PeterPan]

4 minutes ago, Bambam said:

I do not. I do have some china I'd like to off load, but my dh is against it. It is in boxes in a closet and has been in boxes since we got it (given to us by my mom years and years ago).  

I think this is becoming really common. Who knows though, you might have a dc who wants it. I have my mother's set from my childhood because my parents divorced. Then when my MIL passed I got hers, which is almost identical and blends on a table. Go figure. 

[Pawz4me]

Nope. Even the idea of one gives my naturally minimalist self the shivers.

[Selkie]

16 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

Nope. Even the idea of one gives my naturally minimalist self the shivers.

Same here!

[Ellie]

1 hour ago, DawnM said:

Extra points for pictures!   (HINT HINT!)

I am strongly considering getting a China cabinet.   I don't know how I will make it fit in our dining room, but I will figure it out.

My dad moved here and brought both sets of my mom's dishes with him.   I also have a lot of curio/keepsakes I have always wanted to display but didn't know how.   I would like something that would work as a curio cabinet and China cabinet.

What do you have?

I have a china cabinet. There isn't much room in it to be both china cabinet and curio cabinet, although at Christmas, I remove the usual china and add one shelf of Christmas dishes, one shelf of Dept. 56 Christmas Village buildings and characters, and the bottom shelf for nativities. I can do a nice display of my china, but it doesn't hold *all* of my china; I also have a buffet where everything else is stored.

[saraha]

I have a china cabinet, but it mostly holds other things. The cabinets underneath hold all our big things- cake savers, vegetable platters, water bottles etc.

 

[Ali in OR]

I have one only because I inherited it from my aunt. I think her sister, my other aunt, decided it should go to me. It was my grandmother's. I obviously do not have a formal decorating style and we only have one open eating area--no dining room (and yes, it's the dog's room too.) It needs refinishing and has cracked glass on one side, probably from a kid sitting in the chair shown and backing into it.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Ali in OR

[KungFuPanda]

I have one and use it, but it’s not beautifully arranged. It holds my extra dessert dishes, tea service supplies, teapots, egg holders, and oddly, my 2D glasses. (If I move them I won’t remember where I keep them.)  The shelves on the bottom hold candles and sewing supplies and the drawers hold office stuff.  I use the stuff in that cabinet almost daily, so I haven’t kept it neatly arranged. It came with hour dining room set which was the first room of grown up furniture we ever purchased. 

[Bootsie]

I have DH's grandmother's china cabinet and her hand-painted china.  As far as a china cabinet, it is on the small size.  It would be nice to have something larger, but I like the style of the one we have and it has sentimental value to DH.  After years of trying to figure out how to get all (or even half) of the china she had painted to fit, DH said, "Oh, she had a big basement most of it was stored in"--I have never had the luxury of living in a house with a basement.  

[stephanier.1765]

I do but it's full of craft supplies. I love the way quilts and fabric look through the glass.

[mom2scouts]

Yes, we inherited it when my in-laws passed away and it looks exactly like the one Ali in OR posted. We kept some of their extensive tea cup collection for display (and occasional use) in the cabinet, only picking about a dozen that we liked or that reminded dh of his grandmother. We also kept some of their china and we use it at Thanksgiving and Easter. My mom was terribly concerned that we might break or damage the heirlooms from the other side of the family, but I told her I would just get rid of most of it if we *never* used it and dh is OK with an occasional piece being broken. 

[Amethyst]

We were given china as a wedding present 30 years ago. We rarely used it, but when we did, I had to get it from the basement. Two years ago my husband built us this...

[Carol in Cal.]

I don’t have either, but I have a tall secretary that has a top section that I use kind of like a curio cabinet for small items.  

Where our china is is, DH built some shelves into a wall closet, the double wide kind with the two doors that slide across it.  The shelves are down at the bottom of the closet and stick out just about to the doors so they are fairly deep.  I bought those quilted containers for the china, and push them in and out of the shelves (there are two levels), and that makes them ground floor items instead of basement (which increases how much I actually use them) and also keeps them dust free (again increasing how much I actually use them.)

At some point I plan to redo the dining room, but I don’t like stacks of plates visible.  So either I’ll put a few things out (like the soup tureen and/or a coffee or tea service) on a sideboard and put the rest into opaque cabinetry, or leave them where they are now.  One of the things that is hard to know how to store is a bunch of those two handled soup bowls.  They don’t stack and they are on the large side to store individually.  They are wrapped and stashed in a big carton in the basement, which means that we just don’t use them, and I need to figure out something else because I LOVE them, and I love making soups. 

[iamonlyone]

I have two! 🥴 I purchased the small upright one, used, for $125. About eight years later, when my mom died, I inherited the antique table and chairs and buffet that belonged to my grandparents and that my grandpa refinished. We also have a grandfather clock in the same room, that we inherited at the same time, that my grandpa built from a kit. I am not a curio person, but we do have some very nice inherited dishes from my husband's grandma and some pieces from my mom. I also don't have great kitchen storage, so I store some pretty storage bowls in them also. I hope that a lot of the dishes, plus one of the cabinets, go to our daughters when they are established. I know they at least want to split the pink depression glass sets. (Oh, and the third picture is a bonus, because who isn't cheered by a platter of chocolate mocha birthday cupcakes? Dd20 turns 21 tomorrow!)

[Wheres Toto]

I think mine is actually a secretary.  It was my grandparent's and has glass doors on top, a fold down part, and drawers underneath.   We used to have knickknacks in it, now it holds our china (that we literally have NEVER used).   I have the original receipt for when it was made in 1952 for $96.   We don't really have the space for it, but it's sentimental to me. 

[mellifera33]

I have my grandparents’ midcentury modern china hutch. I don’t have china, but it’s full of knickknacks, doodads, fossils, rocks that the kids collected, etc. I’m just about ready to switch out the random stuff for Christmas decorations. 🙂

Edited November 7, 2020 by mellifera33

[kristin0713]

You could most likely find one for free if you look around. People have a hard time giving them away these days. I think buffet tables have mostly replaced china cabinets. 

[PeterPan]

10 minutes ago, iamonlyone said:

because who isn't cheered by a platter of chocolate mocha birthday cupcakes?

They look delish!! Recipe? 

[Frosch]

I have three china cabinets throughout the house.  The youngest is from 1947 and stores my yarn in my craft room.  The other two are smaller antique pieces to store my pretty glass.  (I collect Early American Pattern Glass)  I also have an antique buffet and two chapel hutches from our time in Europe.  (china, serving dishes, vases, and silver)  But that's for stored items and not arranged for display.  

Estate sales are great places to get some lovely china cabinets.  

We have no minimalism in our house. 🤣  However we do host all of the family get-togethers and dinners plus five to six other parties each year so I have and use a lot of stuff. (That's my excuse for the amount of stuff stored here.)

[mellifera33]

6 minutes ago, kristin0713 said:

You could most likely find one for free if you look around. People have a hard time giving them away these days. I think buffet tables have mostly replaced china cabinets. 

This is true. My parents have two giant oak china cabinets that nobody wants, and a friend of mind recently hauled one to the dump because even the thrift stores don’t want them. 

[prairiewindmomma]

No, I don’t. We have been in a moving around a lot phase and our current house doesn’t have a good set up. I also don’t need one more piece of furniture to clean. (Beautiful antique china cabinets are so inexpensive right now because everyone is emptying out households.)
 

I have the China I inherited in the kitchen.

[PeterPan]

3 minutes ago, Frosch said:

stores my yarn in my craft room.

That's a fun idea! Want to share pictures? We have a gun cabinet my dh made in high school. It has a glass front and no shelves. I keep thinking I need a way to create purpose for it, as obviously we don't store guns in it. He might be able to make some shelves to go in it. I just didn't have a vision or what to store there.

 

5 minutes ago, mellifera33 said:

oak

I think that's the key word. Tastes have gone so modern. I think some cabinets like that could be cute painted. We have shops around here that sell furniture they redo and update like that. 

[Frosch]

17 minutes ago, iamonlyone said:

I have two! 🥴 I purchased the small upright one, used, for $125. About eight years later, when my mom died, I inherited the antique table and chairs and buffet that belonged to my grandparents and that my grandpa refinished. 

 

 

That buffet/sideboard is gorgeous!  I would love to have a piece like that.  Sadly, we are at the "piece-in, piece out" stage of our antique collecting.

[Frosch]

5 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

That's a fun idea! Want to share pictures? We have a gun cabinet my dh made in high school. It has a glass front and no shelves. I keep thinking I need a way to create purpose for it, as obviously we don't store guns in it. He might be able to make some shelves to go in it. I just didn't have a vision or what to store there.

I can later today.  I'm actually shuffling the yarn right now.  I mistreated the stash during the COVID time and am now paying the price for my negligence.  (I am winding yarn and tidying up all the yarn.)  

Old glass-front gun cabinets make wonderful yarn cabinets.  I know I have seen them on Pinterest. 

 

[Innisfree]

7 minutes ago, Frosch said:

We have no minimalism in our house. 🤣

This is us! I'm so glad to hear we aren't alone. 😁

We have a 1930s-1950sish china cabinet which family gave us when they got a new one, and an antique corner cupboard which my mother bought many years ago. Both are very full. Dh is a collector by nature, and I am both sentimental about family things and fond of nice old china, so we aid and abet each other. Dh manages the china cabinet, where everything is orderly and symmetrical. I manage the corner cupboard, which is higgledy-piggledy and looks like it should be in a Beatrix Potter book. I love them both.

[Junie]

5 hours ago, PeterPan said:

 

My cousin has my grandma's china cabinet that is almost identical to this, only in cherry.

The cabinet belonged to my grandma's mother who passed away when my grandma was a little girl.  I'm not sure what happened to the cabinet at that time (grandma was sent to an orphanage), but at some point when she was an adult she found out that her mother's china cabinet was being sold at auction.  Grandma, of course, started bidding on her mother's china cabinet.  Word got around the room that this had been her mother's and everyone else stopped bidding. :)

[Carol in Cal.]

For yarn, lawyer bookshelves are really nice.  Each one has its own glass door that flips up, and so the yarn is protected but visible.  Plus you can stack them pretty high if you happen to have tall ceilings.  And sometimes you run across a desk unit, which is handy if you need one. 

[Scarlett]

I do. I love it.  

[iamonlyone]

2 hours ago, PeterPan said:

They look delish!! Recipe? 

Here you go! 🙂

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/230879918384376605/

We haven't tried them yet, but the batter and the crumb I stole, as well as the spoon of frosting sampled, were tantalizing!

Edited November 7, 2020 by iamonlyone

[Ellie]

I managed to figure out how to get my own pictures here:

china cabinet, where I display my china (and yes, I actually use it), plus some extras on the bottom shelf; cloth napkins are in the drawers, and there are a couple of random things in the spaces on the sides. I wish I knew what the manufacturer had intended, lol.

 

buffet, where I store all the extra china pieces, plus some other random serving pieces

Edited November 7, 2020 by Ellie

[KungFuPanda]

I took a photo. It seems I need to clean under, over, and inside my china hutch. 🤣

[Shoeless]

Mine is a near-antique, probably made in the 1940s.  The light at the top shelf was a later addition.

[gardenmom5]

I have a china cabinet, which holds a surprising amount of stuff, and a built-in with drawers and glass cabinets.  I replaced a family heirloom buffet (my dd has it) with the built-in, and my big regret is all the dead space between the cabinets and the drawers.   There is cabinet style without those dead spaces which would have held more.  (the picture is before knobs, and I had to replace the shelves with glass shelves.)

I do have room for crystal in the glass sections.  china is behind the doors.  I have two sets.  I have another set  (dh's grandmother's china, 100+ years old) is in a kitchen corner cupboard on the top two shelves.)

My china cabinet is similar to this one:  (it's not mine, I'm not at home to be able to take a picture.)  I'd planned to get rid of it after the built-in was finished, but there's stuff in it . . . . . 

hey - I did get all my goblets out of boxes that were stored under my bed . . . . 

[gardenmom5]

22 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

Mine is a near-antique, probably made in the 1940s.  The light at the top shelf was a later addition.

looks more 20s/30s

 

[DawnM]

Thanks guys.    I love looking at your cabinets!

I have been offered a small one that I thought might be too small, but when I went to look at it this afternoon, I loved it, it looks much better than the pictures make it look.  

I can use it elsewhere if I don't end up using it for a China cabinet.   But I think it will work.   If not, it will definitely look good as a curio type cabinet.

Best of all......it is FREE!

[Shoeless]

38 minutes ago, gardenmom5 said:

looks more 20s/30s

 

It was made in the 40's in an older style. It's definitely 1940s, based on the paper tag and age of the wood.

[DawnM]

 

This is the cabinet.   I may paint it a diff. color, but all the open spaces and glass spaces light up.    It is more of a curio cabinet, but I think it will work, at least for now.

 

[Momto6inIN]

16 minutes ago, DawnM said:

 

This is the cabinet.   I may paint it a diff. color, but all the open spaces and glass spaces light up.    It is more of a curio cabinet, but I think it will work, at least for now.

 

Super cute! Also I love the natural light and beams in whatever room that is behind your stairway 😊

[alisoncooks]

26 minutes ago, DawnM said:

 

This is the cabinet.   I may paint it a diff. color, but all the open spaces and glass spaces light up.    It is more of a curio cabinet, but I think it will work, at least for now.

 

I love it. And I love the color!

[school17777]

29 minutes ago, DawnM said:

 

This is the cabinet.   I may paint it a diff. color, but all the open spaces and glass spaces light up.    It is more of a curio cabinet, but I think it will work, at least for now.

 

I love the color!

[DawnM]

8 minutes ago, Momto6inIN said:

Super cute! Also I love the natural light and beams in whatever room that is behind your stairway 😊

Well, that isn't my house, that is the house where it is right now.  I pick it up tomorrow.

Below is our house, but I have a diff. table in there (this was the listing picture) and my table is wider, so I am hoping it will fit ok.

[DawnM]

I will post pics after I get it home 

 

[theelfqueen]

I used to but I got rid of it in favor of a big cabinet to hold scrapbooks lol but now I never use my China because it is stored away.