Our China Cabinet
13 Nov 2012
I have been meaning to post about this little project for ages, but now our little china cabinet is finally complete. The back wall is a mirror, so it’s impossible to shoot it without revealing myself and my camera. Hi!
This china cabinet was actually left on our balcony by a previous tenant. When we arrived from Berkeley, we found the apartment in kind of awful condition, and it made moving in so much more of a headache than it needed to be. We kept finding little things left here and there, and some of them were awesome: A whole box of laundry detergent! Enough packing tape for our next three moves! But I was not too happy about this china cabinet on the balcony. It was filthy and not in great condition, and now we were going to have to move it out. Sigh. But then a funny thing happened. When we got all the boxes unpacked, I found that we really didn’t have as much cabinet space in the kitchen as we needed. I started thinking…”A china cabinet…might actually be really useful.”
So I spent an afternoon scrubbing and Windexing and scrubbing some more, and then we brought it inside. It is, wonderfully, not as heavy as it looks. There is a piece of wood missing from the bottom, so I painted the edge to match the color of the rest of the cabinet. Eric’s sweet dad has offered to make us a replacement for that piece of wood if we ever decide we want one. While I initially considered this cabinet the scourge of our balcony, now I kind of like its retro style and that open part at the top (which is caused by that missing piece of wood at the bottom). Every now and again, I look at it and want to paint the whole thing red (a la British phone booth), but since I know nothing about sanding and priming and all the responsible things you have to do to successfully paint furniture, I think I will save that for another day.
The reason I think the china cabinet is complete now is because of this little tea set we bought at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Eric picked out the pattern, and we didn’t realize until we got back that it’s kind of a perfect match for our china. I love these little cups, and I love that they speak of far-off adventures as much as our china speaks of home.
Nov 13, 2012 @ 12:07:11
Free furniture! Plus, you didn’t even have to scour Craigslist to get it. WIN!
Nov 14, 2012 @ 22:18:00
Yeah, it was like magic! After the drama I’ve been through with Craigslist furniture…I say never again!
Nov 13, 2012 @ 16:14:18
I’ve always thought that cabinet provided a great showcase for your pretties and I enjoyed finding a reflection of your red painted toes in flip flops among the pretties. Maybe you already saw that; if not where’s Waldo?
Nov 14, 2012 @ 22:18:29
I’m glad you caught that little reflection! I liked it too:)
Nov 13, 2012 @ 17:47:37
That’s a beautiful tea set (Eric has good taste, but we already knew that, didn’t we?) and I love the china cabinet itself. I can’t wait to have more time to devote to home projects! 🙂
Nov 14, 2012 @ 22:19:02
Very soon, my dear! And thank you! It’s fun to have a place to put the china, and even better that it didn’t cost us a penny!
Nov 14, 2012 @ 05:06:04
I already know the story but I enjoyed hearing it again! I’m happy that an unwanted, neglected piece of furniture has a new life in your home. Love the pictures!
Nov 14, 2012 @ 22:19:26
Thank you! We are pretty stoked about it too:)
Nov 14, 2012 @ 06:18:08
And I found your toes! I love all the shiny reflections of the glass, your dishes, and crystal!
Nov 14, 2012 @ 22:19:49
Good eye! Eric’s dad usually spots those hidden images too 😉
Nov 15, 2012 @ 05:56:03
I did see that right away. I couldn’t come up with a way to say “I see your toes” without it seeming awkward, so I opted to let it slide. Thanks for giving me a second chance.
Nov 15, 2012 @ 21:44:45
Of course! I figured you must have:) Every china cabinet needs a little splash of red 🙂