Living Room China Cabinet

Lexington China Cabinet

Readers familiar with my blog may have seen some of my excessive plate collection displayed in my Welsh Dresser (see links below).  Today I thought I would share my living room china cabinet, which is an entirely different style.  (There is no consistent decorating theme flowing throughout my house...)

Image 2: Lexington China Cabinet Top

In 2010, I was lucky enough to get a magnificent Lexington China Cabinet from a moving sale.  I practically had to pass an interview before the wonderful couple moving sold me this piece, along with a dining room table and six chairs.  (It's a good thing my house has an April Aire humidifier, for example.)  They would not sell the dining room table and chairs without the hutch.  Fortunately, my husband had previously agreed I could purchase a dining room table and chairs.  This china cabinet would be forever out of my budget (with four children and limited income) if I hadn't found it at this sale.  (The total for the hutch, table and chairs was under $1000, hardly inexpensive, but definitely a great deal) 

 

The two piece china cabinet has beautiful wood, a mirrored back, individually paned beveled glass doors on the front, and a curving arched center, with inset lighting.  The side windows are not beveled glass.  This is undoubtedly the best piece of furniture I own. (Unless the 'antique' furniture I've collected here and there are of an Antique Roadshow caliber, which I daydream about, but realize is highly unlikely)

Does your heart ever beat faster when you get find an incredible find?  I can still look at this furniture months later and smile. Often, at night, it is the only light on in the living room as we watch TV.

I think my Welsh Dresser is great at displaying an assorted collection of plates and objects that don't match, because the Welsh Dresser has no glass doors or lights to compete with the collection.  The living room china cabinet is a different story.

 

 

My living room china cabinet is better suited for the German Rosenthal china set my parents got when they married, which I was given in 2002. Because the china cabinet doors are beveled, I think it works well if the china pieces displayed inside match.  The beveled windows, the smaller panes, each work to render the display inside in a more impressionistic or surrealistic manner.  Sometimes you can't quickly make out what you are looking at with all the glass, and I think with the matching china you get a pleasant  impression of glowing color and shapes with a pattern to it.

Image 4: Pink Depression Glassware

I have several different sets of stemware on the various levels.  It's hard for me to have a large piece of furniture and not use it for storage, filling it only sparingly.  If I had a larger house, I would probably change the way I have the bottom level and the glassware arranged.

Below I opened the door and took a shot inside to show you the Rosenthal china without looking through the beveled windows.

Image 5: Rosenthal Pompadour china

Click on the images to see them enlarged!

I blog for fun and my blog is ad free.  Comments encourage me, and I sometimes need encouragement. Please leave a comment if you have time!  Anonymous comments and comments months/years later are welcome!

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If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

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Valentine 2

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Spring Hutch 1

Easter Hutch

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July Hutch 1

July Hutch 2

Flow Blue China

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My Collection of all China Posts!

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Linking up to these memes:

Roses for Show off your Cottage Mon (I was entry 47 of 55.) 
Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Mon 8 (Entry 66 of 80.)
Apron Girl for Thrift Share Monday (I was entry 58 of 59.)
Dittle Dattle for Amaze Me Mon (I was entry 178 of 207.)  
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tues 51 (I was entry 25 of 206.)

Primative and Proper for Piece of work Wed 22 (Entry 49 of 53.) 

A Beach Cottage for Good Life Wed (I was entry 78 of 83.)
Diane for 2nd Time Around, (I was entry 1 of 17.)
Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday 103, (Entry 21 of 120.)
Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingies Thur (Entry 12 of 44.)  
Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thur 33 (Entry 5 of 40.)
Romantic Home for Show and Tell (Entry 109 of 314.) 
Hodgepodge for Hodgepodge Friday (Entry 64 of 205.)
Common Ground for Vint Inspiration 26 (Entry 98 of 116.)
Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home 3 (Entry 21 of 42.)
Cottage Charm for Trinkets and Treasures (Entry 6 of 12.)
French Country for Feathered Nest Fri  (Entry 20 of 128.)

A La Carte for Finds Friday 17 (Entry 30 of 64.)
Chic Shoestring for Flaunt it Friday (Entry 73 of 285.) 
Frou Frou Decor for Fabulous Finds Fri (Entry 98) 
Naps on the Porch for Metamorphis Mon 110 (Entry 144 of 379.) 

How Sweet for Pink Saturday (Entry 119 of 186.)

Funky Junk for Saturday Night Special 70 (Entry 77 of 211.)

French Cupboard for French Inspiration (Entry 18)

Christmas Hutch Version 1

Welsh dresser with Christmas arrangement

I arranged my first Christmas china display in my hutch!  (I got the hutch in July 2010.)

A mug I got for the colors, not the shape

Have you ever suffered what something called "paralysis by analysis"?  I had so many options and little free time.  I have a collection of "solo" Christmas plates, (Snowman, angels, or Christmas colors) that I could have used.  I could have added garlands,  lights, stemware, ornaments, ornaments in glass jars, candlesticks.  I could have icicles dripping from behind the top rim.  You get the idea. 

Royal Albert Teacup and Saucer

What happened after Thanksgiving?  As a start I put out the bright Christmas plates (Mitford by Hallmark) that I got for a song.  After two weeks or so, I added the milk glass and miscellaneous cups and saucers and mugs.  A day or two before Christmas, we decorated the Christmas tree.  And now?  Christmas has come and gone, and New Years Day is just around the corner.  Well, next year...

Christmas Hallmark Mitford China displayed in Hutch

 

Click on the images to see them enlarged.


If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

My Collection of all Hutch Posts!

I am linking to these parties:

Roses for Show off your Cottage Mon (I was entry 35)
A Picture is Worth for 2nd Time Around (Entry 3).
Shabby Chic for Transformation Thur (Entry 32 of 62+)
Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingies Thur (Entry 14 of 44). 
Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thur (Entry 11 of 27).
Between Naps for Tablescape Thursday (Entry 70 of 120).

Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday 95, (Entry 17 of 76)
French Country for Feathered Nest Friday (Entry 3 of 68)

Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration (Entry 15 of 59).  

Jessica for Favorite Things Friday (Entry 32 of 203).  

Laurie for Bargain Hunting and Chatting (Entry 8 of 24)

Romantic Home for Show and Tell #30  (Entry 60 of 188).
Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wed 146  (Entry 55).

Thanksgiving Hutch

Welsh Dresser Thanksgiving china display

Here is my Thanksgiving display of china on my hutch.  What's funny to me is that I got 14 of the fruit/harvest plates, and 5 pieces of the brown transfer ware china within the last 2 months.  :)   Getting the hutch has given me an excuse to expand  my china collection.  Purchasing one thing can lead to more... 

Golden Crown Bavarian Orchard china plate

The small (7.5 inch) gold rimmed china plates I got over the weekend at an estate sale.  (9 plates for $24 - I didn't want to risk waiting for the 1/2 price sale the next day.)  The plates are not my usual style, but now I like them so much I might hang them in the kitchen when I decorate the hutch for Christmas. 

Brown transfer ware

Some of this china was also displayed in my October/Halloween hutch display.

Click on the images to see them enlarged.

The Blog 'Nancy's Daily Dish' has a good informative post on Transfer ware, and a great post on How Transfer ware is made.  I consider these to be two excellent resources on transfer ware. 

If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

My Collection of all Hutch Posts!

 

 

 

See more great finds and treasure! Visit
Shabby Chic Cottage for Transformation Thur (I was entry 56 of 332).
Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingies Thur (Entry 15 of 47).
A Picture is Worth for 2nd Time Around (Entry 14 of 16+). 
Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thur (Entry 6 of 31).
Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thur 91, (Entry 16 of 94.)
Apron Girl for Thrift Share Monday (Entry 39 of 39).
House of Grace for Twice Owned Tuesday (Entry 52 of 54). 
My Cottage Charm for Trinkets and Treasures (Entry 2 of 7).
Romantic Home for Show and Tell  (Entry 95 of 251).
Jessica for Favorite Things Friday (Entry 4 of 110). 
Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration (Entry 30 of 57). 
Linda for A La Carte Finds (Entry 7 of 33).

French Country for Feathered Nest Friday No 9 (Entry 39 of 84).
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tues 39 (Entry 46 of 114).

Halloween Hutch Display

Halloween china vignette

I love my hutch.  I love my hutch because I can easily display different plates throughout the seasons.  Ta da!  This is the first time I have seasonally arranged it.  This is my October/Halloween hutch arrangement.  

Halloween china vignette

Basically, the only thing that makes it "Halloween" are 3 plates with pumpkins on them that I got for about $1.50 total at a rummage sale.  The plates are either (a) fun, or (b) scary.  I have four children I figured would probably like the pumpkin plates (more then I do).  I am hoping that they may someday come to appreciate the other china pieces too, if I mix in fun plates and ask them to pick a favorite. 

To add to the Halloween look I brought out various black and white plates I had as well.  (My collection lacks orange plates.)  The overall effect falls far short of the look I hoped to achieve, but I figure my arranging skills can only improve over time. (No place to go but up?)  Note: I know I did have the mini pumpkins in different spots, and I know the children moved them around.

Brown transfer ware

I found both the antique brown and cream dishes (brown transfer ware) and the harvest fruit plates at different rummage sales within the last two months.  The brown transfer ware china has really grown on me.  The line art is so beautiful. 

Pomona Portmeirion plates and beer stein

The fruit plates are labeled on the back 'Pomona Portmeirion', made in England, and have a designed by date of 1982. The various steins and pewter pieces have been accumulated over the years by my husband, some of them from his grandparents.

Click on the images to see them enlarged.


If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

My Collection of all Hutch Posts!

The Blog 'Nancy's Daily Dish' has a good informative post on Transfer Ware, and a great post on How Transfer Ware is made.  I consider these to be two great resources on transfer ware.






















I am linking to these parties:

Shabby Chic for Transformation Thur (I was entry 50 of 288). site gone.
Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingies Thurs (I was entry 6 of 43). links gone.
A Picture is Worth for 2nd Time Around (I was entry 12 of 13.). 
Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday, (I was entry 80). links gone.
Apron Girl for Thrift Share Monday (I was entry 22).
House of Grace for Twice Owned Tues (I was entry 53). 
Romantic Home for Show and Tell  (I was entry 210).
Jessica for Favorite Things Fri (I was entry 143). 
My Cottage Charm for Trinkets and Treasures (I was entry 3).
Linda for A La Carte Finds (I was entry 34).

French Country for Feathered Nest Fri No 6 (I was entry 45).
Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thur (I was entry 25).
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tues (I was entry 100).
Savvy Southern Style for Before and After (I was entry 79).

Furniture Treasure, 2010, Welsh Potboard Dresser

Image 1: Welsh Potboard Dresser

Here is one of my best finds for 2010.  I think of it as my Tudor monstrosity.  Knowledgeable individuals might say OMG, there is nothing Tudor about that piece!  [Do knowledgeable people say OMG?]  But to me, well, it isn't colonial, country, primitive, French, Russian, Rocco, Baroque, or any of numerous other styles.  (It isn't modern...) 

I don't know what it is, but I was happy to find it at an estate sale in July.  In the poor lighting at the estate sale, this hulking hutch(?), shelving unit(?) looked much darker then it really is, and it sat forlornly until the 4th day (last day) of the sale, it's 1/2 off tag tempting only me as it stood with other more impressive furniture.  (Another piece of which I bought, but that is different story...)

I saw it and wanted to take this orphan home.  It is 68 inches wide.  (Did you ever notice that most furniture today stops at about 60 inches wide max?)  Numerous calls home rousted my teenager from his XBOX - the annoyed child found a tape measure and measured the only place in the house where I could place it.  (Several measuring attempts were made.  I knew some of the measurements he was giving me were wrong.  Always get a child to give you inches on the tape measure.  Reading feet and inches is too confusing for a teen whose game time is being interrupted.)  The destination location was 82 inches wide.  

Sounding like his father, he asked what are you going to do with the furniture that is already occupying the spot?  Go back and blast pixels on the TV screen I wanted to tell him.  Leave adult issues to mom.

Transporting the item home, what the spouse said, cleaning it up, moving the furniture around in the house, all those adventures remain mine for now.  But I wanted to share with my on-line crowd.  I love this furniture.  I makes me smile.  Perhaps the biggest reason for my love of the piece is that I can display an ever changing array of collected china from numerous sales. I wanted to share this today before I arrange a fall display on it, or the Christmas display, or the spring one.... 

Image 2: Welsh Potboard Dresser

For my treasure hunting blog world friends: the price was around $250, with maybe $40 worth of delivery charges spontaneously arranged on the spot with a stranger who had a pickup truck. Perhaps the piece is a Victorian version of colonial?  It can't be too old, it has antique looking tiny casters on the bottoms that were glued shut with cob webs and floor yuck.  If any of the blog world people want to give an opinion on what they think the style, value, etc. are, please comment away.  I don't think the Antique Roadshow people would be impressed, (my spouse wasn't), but I do value your opinion. Weigh in please!

[2011 Update: I now consider this to be a Welsh dresser with a potboard, possibly Jacobean.  Welsh dressers are open on top (no glass doors).  The top 'rack' (shelving unit) also has 3 working drawers (tooled to look like 6).  I haven't seen another example like this when searching via google images.  The potboard dresser is the base consisting of the open bottom with a shelf near the ground.  There are 7 working drawers on the base.]

Click on the images to see them enlarged!

I blog for fun and my blog is ad free.  Comments encourage me, and I sometimes need encouragement. Please leave a comment if you have time!  Anonymous comment are welcome even months/years later!

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See other FANTASTIC travel posts here...

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If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy...

If you enjoyed this post you might also like:

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Christmas Hutch 2

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Valentine Hutch 1

Valentine Hutch 2

St Pats Hutch

Spring Hutch 1

Easter Hutch

Easter Hutch 2

July Hutch 1

July Hutch 2

China Cabinet

Austrian plate

Vintage China

Bavarian China

China Finds

Rosenthal

Flow Blue China

Harvest Plates

Kent china

 





















I am linking to these parties:

Colorado Lady for Vintage Thingies Thur (I was entry 13 of 51.) 
Diane for 2nd Time Around, (I was entry 19 of 21.)
Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday, (I was entry 14 of 81.)
Selena for Thrift Share Monday (I was entry 27 of 27.)
Bonnie at Twice Owned Tuesday (I was entry 57 of 64.)
Romantic Home for Show and Tell (I was entry 91 of 217.)
Claudia for Fridays Finding Beauty (I was entry 18 of 18.)
Jessica for Favorite Things Friday (I was entry 116 of 168.)
Cottage Charm for Trinkets and Treasures (I was entry 1 of 3).
Debbie for Garage Salen Party (I was entry 7 of 22.)

French Country for Feathered Nest Fri #5  (I was entry 33 of 44).
Brambleberry Cottage for Time Travel Thur  (I was entry 21 of 21).
Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays (I was entry 16 of 91.)
House of Grace for Best of Twice Owned Tue (I was entry 31 of 51.) 
Primative and Proper for Piece of work Wed 18 (Entry 37 of 42.)  

I have to admire this lady...