Elegant Antique Curio Cabinets!

Antique curio cabinets are great additions for almost any home, but you have to use them to their advantage. The way you display your dishes within will greatly impact the look of the unit as a whole. Below are some tips you can follow when it comes time to dress up the empty shelves in your cabinet.

Arranging Your Plates

You can start the arrangement process with your plates. Most curio cabinets will come with plate racks built in. Use them. If your cabinet does not have plate racks, you can easily buy some at a local furniture or hobby store. Just make sure they do not turn into eyesores in your cabinet. Put the largest plates you have on display in the back and then add small rows of the others in the front of the same shelf. If you have cups or bowls to put in the middle of the stacks of plates, do so. This will create several dimensions in the space.

Arranging Your Bowls

If you have bowls left over from the ones you displayed with the plates, make a middle shelf that is entirely devoted to them. Make sure to put large bowls in the back and small ones in the front so everything can be seen. You can put smaller bowls inside the larger ones, but note that the outsides of them will not be viewed that way. This still may be a good idea if the bowls can be seen from the top so people know how they fit in together.

Arranging Your Glasses

If you have glasses to add in with your china, you may consider putting them in rows that separate your other dish displays. If that is not an option, you may add racks underneath one of the shelves and have them hanging from that, assuming the glasses have a long handle and a base. Glassware can change the look of your lighting if you have any, so be careful about putting colored glass near lights if you do not want the cabinet to turn that color.

Adding Personality

When you have all of your dishes setup in your antique curio cabinets, you may think about adding some fun knickknacks throughout the shelves just to make things more personal. You may have a small shelf devoted to a collection you have had for awhile, or you may sprinkle bits and pieces of that throughout the cabinet. Add dried flowers, pictures, postcards, or whatever else you can to enhance the dishes on display.

If you want a modern look instead of an ancient one, you should consider purchasing a black curio cabinet.