Kitchen Display Cabinet... When Spring Cleaning leads to Redecorating!

Following my Spring Cleaning seizure episode and, all the furniture was

back into the kitchen after the walls were painted, I took a long, hard look

at my dining set. The dining set I fell in love with because it was white on

white and so what I envisioned for our new home after we lost our minds

sold our California house and moved to North Carolina. It was the second

piece of furniture I bought after the bean chest for the kitchen. But guess

what? We have never used this dining room set. Never. Not even once!

So while the table is a great spot for my kitchen Christmas tree and

where I displayed my Easter tree each year, the truth is the set is much

too big for this corner and wholly unnecessary. Besides, what I really need

in my kitchen is more storage. So I began thinking about how to better use

this space, and the first thing that popped into my mind was some sort of

display cabinet for my collection of cake stands and other kitchen goodies!

I've been dreaming about what my new storage cabinet might look like for

the past week - Pinning these top four options to my kitchen wish-list!

I like the option above a lot and was pleased to find it offered by the same

great on-line company that sold me my Lane living room cocktail table...

However, it is a bit fussier than I envisioned my new cabinet might be, not

to mention that it costs a little more than I want to spend. Besides, I have

something more rustic in mind, which is a big box this beauty offered at

Pottery Barn ticks right off. But since I own over 40 cake stands I'm afraid

I won't be able to display very many of them in this cabinet. And again, $$!

My original hope was to find something like this at one of our estate auction

adventures and to try my hand at refinishing it like my blog-friend, Amy!

Seriously, visit Amy's blog! I guarantee you'll be inspired to drop whatever

it is you're doing and rush out to your nearest antique store or next tag sale to

find something to re-purpose/refinish. Amy is always up to something great!

Then there was this little number... When I first saw it, I stared at it for an

embarrassingly l-o-n-g time! Again, from Home Gallery, and again with

the price! But look at the beadboard on the back. And the glass and the...

Again, price! Then I asked myself... What would Amy do? Then I re-asked

myself, What would Amy do if it was 6 o'clock at night on a Wednesday and

all the cool thrift and antique shops were closed? Craigslist! Of course! So

I searched Craigslist for Kitchen Hutch/China Cabinet/bookcase, and...

Wa-La! I couldn't believe my eyes! Listed as, Restoration Hardware

(practically my middle name) Style Cabinet, Greensboro, $350.00

I knew this is exactly what Amy would do! So I e-mailed the seller every

thirty minutes until she finally called me to say it was still available! And,

despite the hour and after we agreed neither of us was an ax-murderer, I

took down directions and flew out the door. Turns out that the cabinet was

living at the home of a friend of the seller who seriously couldn't have been

nicer or more fun. After I paid for the cabinet, (only $300) we stood outside

in the dark chatting like old friends! Don't you just love it when the Craig's

List seller isn't an ax-murderer and, ends up being someone you'd like to

immediately adopt as your newest best friend? I sure do! So stay tuned...

Because this will be my first attempt at furniture alteration and I'm going

to think like Amy on this... I think I already see white beadboard, don't you?

PS - In case you're wondering... I listed my kitchen table and chairs on Craigslist and sold them to the nicest, (non ax-murderer) lady on the first day of my listing! She's also taking

the plate rack, which means my corner in the kitchen is ready to go! Oh, and since I didn't

splurge on any of those inspiration cabinets, I have enough left over for the new bike I want!