Saturday, August 20, 2011

Updating the China Cabinet

I've been making plans in the dining room lately.  I chose a new paint color and new curtains.  You can get the whole story here.  And there is one area of the room that I've been thinking about a lot.  The china cabinet -



This piece of furniture was handed down to me right after I got married.  I remember seeing it in my grandmother's house when I was a little girl.  And I have always loved it.  It is my favorite furniture piece - for sentimental reasons.  And I think it's beautiful.  I filled it with my great grandmother's hand painted china -



But now I want to make my whole dining room a little more modern.  And I want to change this whole corner-



I don't have the heart to paint the cabinet (I know I seem to be willing to paint any piece of furniture - just check the tab up top) but this cabinet is too special to me.  I know it would look awesome in white.  Maybe a blue on the inside.  Beautiful.  But I just can't do it.  So I came up with another plan.  I'm going to change out the contents.  It's time to put away my great grandmother's china for a while.  And introduce some modern accessories.  I have a few pieces that will look great but I don't have enough to fill it.  So on a recent trip to Salvation Army, I picked up a vase that would be perfect -



I bought it a few weeks ago - it came home with these great finds -


I have already explained what I did with the two copper pots here and here.  The green vase got a trip outside with one of my favorite spray paints -


Gloss White.  I knew it would look great in white.  I gave it a few light coats and turned it into this -


I love the relief.  It really gives this vase some texture and interest.  And it looks much more modern in the new color.  I am hoping to find many different vases, bowls, and objects to add to this vase.  By the way, the vase was $2.99.  A little more than I would have liked to pay but I already had the paint so the whole project was inexpensive.  Now I just have to get those walls painted...