Thursday, March 29, 2012

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! 

11 comments:

  1. LOL! I love the part about not being ax murderers... because I've done the same thing myself! :) And I can't wait to see the finished product, I know it will be amazing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Janet! I love the cabinet! It's going to be a very nice peice. I just wanted to tell you that they sell bead board wallpaper. I have used both and the wallpaper looks really good. Hope you have fun!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. wendy1walden@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. wendy1walden@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. wendy1walden@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Next time you need to sell furniture, call me!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous - THANK YOU!!! I just looked up pre-pasted beadboard wallpaper and it is for me!! Thank you so very much! xo

    ReplyDelete
  8. You know me so well! Between the thrift stores, antique stores, and Craig's List, I am always on the lookout! You found yourself a gem at a great price. So awesome! It will be perfect in that space. And thank you for all the kind words. You added to the specialness of my day!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh I'm going to look forward to the progress of this project as much as I did your new carrara! Have fun with it, it is going to look fabulous in that corner.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I can't wait to see the finished product! I think I just got inspired to paint something! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love your Easter goodies! Whicj reminds me, I should go to World Market to see what they have this year.

    Ahhhh..... there's a pic of that awesome milk bottle!

    Have a good weekend with your new beauty!

    ReplyDelete

Readers who comment ROCK!

xo