How should I decorate my new china cabinet? - Furniture

If done correctly, your china cabinet can be a work of art. When designing your cabinet divide it into three sections - left, middle and right side. Most china cabinets come with three shelves and it is a good idea to coordinate each shelf with similar groupings. If your cabinet has a light on the inside at the top, I recommend displaying your crystal items on the top shelf. The middle of the second shelf is your focal point. I recommend displaying a complete place setting of your china. On either side display other items that match your place setting. On the bottom shelf, place a few key pieces from your china set - such as a gravy boat or a set of salt and pepper shakers.

Here is an image of a well-designed china cabinet -

There are many reasons I would recommend owning a china cabinet. They are a great decorating tool, presenting your expensive china as ornamentation. They also provide your fine china with a protective home. You can buy cabinets with doors that lock for better protection. Lastly, if you don't have any china to display, they can be a great display case for another type of collection you may have.

China cabinets are more often used to store fine china dish sets. Most often, people choose to display china that is not used very often, usually around Thanksgiving/Christmas. They are considered a more formal piece of furniture. Curio cabinets, on the other hand, are used to display various items of importance.

China cabinets come in all types of styles and woods. Cherry wood is one of my favorites but you need to know how to take care of it so that it lasts and looks good. Here's a good article with tips and info http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/china/cherry-wood-china-cabinet/1953

It's a good question - it's not as easy as it looks to make your stuff look good on a china cabinet. You need to plan what kind of look you are going for and what your main pieces are that you want to focus on. Here's a good article that helped me when I was putting my display together http://www.essortment.com/organize-china-cabinet-display-china-dishes-11723.html

most china cabinets are built with drawers underneath the shelving unit, so that you can keep some stuff without having to display it all (and dust it!). Here's a link to a website that shows their range of cabinets with drawers.
http://www.thefind.com/furniture/info-3-drawer-china-cabinet-hutch

I've seen modern versions of the old style curio china cabinet that are made just from glass. Check out this link to the amazon site for an example http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Contemporary-Cabinet-Cappuccino-Bottom/dp/B000IN9BRC/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1344833064&sr=1-4&keywords=curio+china+cabinet

China cabinets come in all shapes and s although the traditional larger unit is still the most popular. I came across this website that specializes in china cabinets and had some really nice unusual shapes for sale http://chinacabinetfurniture.net/

China cabinets are made from wood. But you can choose whether you want unfinished (which is usually cheaper), stained, painted or antique woods. Antique wood china cabinets can cost a fortune depending on their history. So figure out your budget and go from there.

I recommend buy a key for the lock of your china cabinet becausethere is a standard china lock and they only cost about $5. The reason I recommend this instead ofpicking the lock is because it is very easy for you to damage the apparatuswhen trying to open it. Your time andmoney would be better spent to just buy a new key.