My brand-new-to-me china cabinet is arriving today! My excitement over this is actually hard to contain. When it gets here I plan on filling it with a lot of dishes and then plotting it’s needed makeover.
Forgive my crooked Iphone photo from the thrift store. It was taken in haste so I could get it to Tom before he started playing golf and would be incommunicado for 4 hours. You get the idea though. It is a behemoth and is very brown. I don’t mind brown or wood as a general rule but this just isn’t the look I want. Since it isn’t stamped with a fancy designer name and I got it for an extremely reasonable price I am going to say it isn’t a collector’s piece which is why I intend to paint it. That leads to the questions of how to paint it, what color to paint it…so many ideas. Let’s start with what is going in it.
For newlyweds, how long do you get to be newlyweds, we have a lot of dishes. Our everyday dishes are a collection of Fiestaware which is fine to stay in the cabinets. What needs a home is the china we registered for, Kate Spade Bonnable pattern, a white bone china with a paisley pattern. We have eaten off these maybe twice in a year. Someday I will have a dinner party or host a holiday dinner that will demand this fancy dinnerware.
The largest of our collections is the Villeroy and Boch Design Naif, that belonged to Tom’s mom. The Villeroy and Boch collection includes candlesticks, serving pieces and even a clock. A clock that ticks so loud I have a hard time putting it in any room where I might want it quiet. I love these dishes because all the plates have different designs. Plus they are just cute and make me smile. I am very excited about having them on display and within arms reach so we can use them more often.
Now we have covered what is going in the china cabinet we can move on to how to make it over into a piece worth of thousands of pins. That is the measure of a successful makeover right? Where else do you go when you want inspiration these days? I have found some ideas on Pinterest that have really got my creative juices flowing.
My parents have two plates, a trivet and a few mugs from the Villeroy and Boch Design Naif collection. They have that Noah’s Ark plate and a wintery scene plate they put up for Christmas. They use them just as decoration pieces. And the mugs exclusively for special espresso days. I was so surprised to see them on your blog! Makes me think of my childhood. They are such cute designs, I love them.
We have the wintery plate too. My favorite is the wedding one that we have though.
Oh, I’d like to see the wedding one.
Are you planning on laying your dishes flat and stacked or is there a plate groove in the back that you plan to display them upright? I like the bright colored ones but I think the neutral options would be more versatile esp if you plan to display your dishes upright. Your Kate Spade collection can got with anything so any of those options would look great with them. But since the Villeroy and Boch collection is bright and busy, I think neutral would be best with them. Or you could paint it all grey like the last example and the back like a robins egg blue or minty green (colors I’m obsessed with right now). I think grey and blue go fantastically together and a light back board color would do well with your colorful dishware I think.
there are plate groves so I am displaying them upright. I put a picture up on the blog Facebook page. Tom really liked your minty green and grey idea! We will work on colors for a while and see what we come up with. Really glad we bought a sander.
Yeah, I saw the pic with it all loaded up! There is a lot of white, even on the Villeroy plates. So I think whatever you decide will look fantastic! I was gonna ask you if you planned on sanding it. Or if you were gonna try one of those no sand techniques going around Pinterest. I have a wood table I want to paint and its got a lot of grooves and curves and I kinda really don’t want to sand it…. But, that might be the best way. I don’t wanna ruin it with a crazy thing that doesn’t work from Pinterest.
Love those last two inspiration images! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Thanks I am very excited about it! I love putting a new spin on old furniture.
Exciting!
We inherited a whole dining room set with the house (table, chairs, hutch & buffet) and I’m dying to update the hutch. It’s almost identical to yours - except it has mirrors on the back. Can’t wait to see what you do!
I REALLY like the dark grey in the last photo. I feel like that’s the most timeless look.
Your china pattern is beautiful! Love paisley - it’s so sophisticated without being stuffy.
And the plates with the pictures? Adorable!
Thanks Ash. If you wanted you could pair the mirror so you don’t get 7 years of bad luck! Sounds like you could have all kinds of fun repainting the furniture! I am really leaning towards the grey. I thing the inside will need to be something other than white so the china doesn’t blend in completely.
I love the bright china cabinet examples, but I would go with something like the first image — white or neutral with a bright/patterned backdrop that you can hopefully figure out how to switch. You’ll have less to get bored with and, if you do, you could just switch out the back panels [not that I really know how you would do that, but it's a great idea].
Pretty!!! At first I was going to say white and print, but that second to last pic of the white with wood is awesome. I think I’d do that first, and then if you didn’t like it go all white.
yay! I can’t wait to see what happens. Isn’t it exciting that you have something to put your china in? I could not wait to put ours on display!
Anne not sure if you got my message on Google so just wanted to mention “Annie Sloane Chalk paint” all kinds of colors and finishes. I have a few pieces in Chalk paint and the colors are fabulous. You could also upholster the back of it. if I get a chance I will send pictures of the furniture and some of my upholstered walls. Good luck on your project