Do you have a China cabinet full of treasures?

[YadaYadaYada]

My apologies if these come out huge! Got to thinking that maybe there are some china cabinets on PS that have some awesome things lurking in them.

This is mine, it actually lights up but is not plugged in and it's huge and heavy to move. First shelf is obviously toys, things I had as a kid, my Mom gave me a Cabbage Patch kid for Christmas (the one with the Pom Pom on the hat in the center) before she passed away so I have a thing for them.

Next shelf has two all porcelain dolls that I bought when I used to go to doll shows, the pictures don't do them justice, they are beautifully made, DH's monopoly board, a ribbon our older son won for science fair and some other hodge podge stuff.

Next shelf is wedding and fine glass, basically pretty and breakable stuff, oh and my hair comb I wore on our wedding day with dried flowers is in there too. I had the bouquet for years but the cats got a hold of it and tore it apart. Rascals!
Final shelf, more toys and my mom's doll she had as a little girl, I have a thing for Sylvester, some Snoopy in there, the dog with the pink hat my dad bought for me when I was little.

Anyone else with a cabinet of loot? Post some pictures!

 

[stracci2000]

Ok, @StephanieLynn , here's my curio cabinet.
Everything in here is from thrift shops, estate sales or yard sales.

Top shelf, two cabinet plates, assorted art glass paper weights, including a Tiffany apple.
A few nice Japanese Satsuma pieces, and a Meissen cup and saucer. A carved jadeite elephant, and ivory cat netsuke.

Second shelf is assorted flow blue china, and a 1930s diamond shaped Wedgwood pin dish.
Third shelf is assorted Wedgwood Jasperware.

Next shelf is all assorted sterling.
Bottom shelf is a flow blue place setting and some portrait plates

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@stracci2000, pretty cabinet and such refined taste. Do you have a favorite item in all of this? Like if the house was on fire you would grab.......

 

[stracci2000]

@stracci2000, pretty cabinet and such refined taste. Do you have a favorite item in all of this? Like if the house was on fire you would grab.......

Gosh, I never thought of that! You're scaring me!
The largest sterling bowl might be worth $400 or more, so probably that one. But it would be so tough to choose.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

of course I hope your house never catches on fire!

 

[stracci2000]

of course I hope your house never catches on fire!

The curio cabinet is from an estate sale, too! The only thing I buy 'new' is underwear

 

[YadaYadaYada]

The curio cabinet is from an estate sale, too! The only thing I buy 'new' is underwear

What used underwear is not good enough?! I kid of course. I have a list of items I won't buy used and upholstered furniture is one because of bed bugs, so many times I have to pass up a pretty antique chair because of the bug phobia.

 

[Bron357]

Prepare to be shocked....
And this is not half of it.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@Bron357 of course you would have fabulous collections and not just one cabinet! That said I adore the colorful pottery on top of your cabinet especially the ones with the sailboats.

 

[Tonks]

Yes. Mine’s full of china and crystal. We have three sets of china. All entertaining for work purposes tends to be done out at restaurants and breweries these days. We don’t use any of the china and crystal because we lead a very casual lifestyle. I’m considering selling all of it and repurposing our dining room. It’s such a waste of living space. I would be curious if anyone else has done this and whether they regretted it.

 

[stracci2000]

Prepare to be shocked....
And this is not half of it.

MMMM!!! Yummy stuff! I could spend all day ogling your trinkets!
I see lots of art deco................I know you mentioned your collections in the past, tell us more!

 

[natasha-cupcake]

Yes. Mine’s full of china and crystal. We have three sets of china. All entertaining for work purposes tends to be done out at restaurants and breweries these days. We don’t use any of the china and crystal because we lead a very casual lifestyle. I’m considering selling all of it and repurposing our dining room. It’s such a waste of living space. I would be curious if anyone else has done this and whether they regretted it.

I'm actually thinking of going in the opposite direction. I have a dining room that is not used much because we have a decent sized kitchen island with room for five to sit. We eat most of our meals there. My dining room is fairly open to the kitchen. Right now, the dog has a corner of the dining room for his food. We use the table occasionally for work at home stuff and on holidays, too. I have unused china packed in boxes in the basement. I want to take it out and start using it. What am I saving it for?! I need a china cabinet, though to put treasures in and to store the china. I'd like to start using the dining room routinely for Sunday dinners, at a minimum. I love having my family and guests around and formal-ish meals are a such pleasure in their own right. There really isn't much difference between a formal and an informal meal, other than how you plate it and where you eat it. My mom passed away almost two years ago and since her passing, I've come to appreciate treating myself and those I love with some of the good things life has to offer. She was so instrumental in keeping the family connected. My mom wasn't the best cook in the world but when we had family gatherings, we all sat at the dining room table and she used her "fancy" plates. They weren't fine china, but they were pretty and the table always looked festive. I love going out to nice restaurants just as much as the next person, but why not have a beautiful meal right here at home? I love to cook and bake and it gives me pleasure to do so for people I love. I want to preserve that tradition with my loved ones, so I promised myself that I would work on using the dining room more. We'll see how it goes!

 

[stracci2000]

I'm actually thinking of going in the opposite direction. I have a dining room that is not used much because we have a decent sized kitchen island with room for five to sit. We eat most of our meals there. My dining room is fairly open to the kitchen. Right now, the dog has a corner of the dining room for his food. We use the table occasionally for work at home stuff and on holidays, too. I have unused china packed in boxes in the basement. I want to take it out and start using it. What am I saving it for?! I need a china cabinet, though to put treasures in and to store the china. I'd like to start using the dining room routinely for Sunday dinners, at a minimum. I love having my family and guests around and formal-ish meals are a such pleasure in their own right. There really isn't much difference between a formal and an informal meal, other than how you plate it and where you eat it. My mom passed away almost two years ago and since her passing, I've come to appreciate treating myself and those I love with some of the good things life has to offer. She was so instrumental in keeping the family connected. My mom wasn't the best cook in the world but when we had family gatherings, we all sat at the dining room table and she used her "fancy" plates. They weren't fine china, but they were pretty and the table always looked festive. I love going out to nice restaurants just as much as the next person, but why not have a beautiful meal right here at home? I love to cook and bake and it gives me pleasure to do so for people I love. I want to preserve that tradition with my loved ones, so I promised myself that I would work on using the dining room more. We'll see how it goes!

Why not bring out some of the china, and put it in with your everyday dishes. This way you can easily grab it for daily dinners. This makes weekday meals much more special.
We use assorted antique dishes everyday. I have collected several stacks of miscellaneous dessert dishes, too. A brownie or cookie served on a 100 year old dish is fun!

 

[YadaYadaYada]

I can so relate to the plight of the unused dining room. Our kitchen is really small and originally we had our table in there so I moved the table into the front room and now we use that room everyday. Of course it might be a little strange to walk right into the main eating room from outside but it works for us.

I love the idea of antique dishes for desserts, I use some German porcelain bowls for fruit and it's kind of nice even when the bananas have all been eaten to see a pretty design in the bottom of the bowl.

 

[Bron357]

MMMM!!! Yummy stuff! I could spend all day ogling your trinkets!
I see lots of art deco................I know you mentioned your collections in the past, tell us more!

Yes, I have many many pretties. I’ve been collecting objects of beauty since my teens.
I have a particular love of the Art Deco period and to a lesser extent Art Nouveau. I have zero interest in Victorian or earlier ha ha.
The China, a lot of Clarice Cliff, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Carlton Ware, Crown Devon etc. To me it’s appreciating and being a caretaker of items that were hand crafted and hand painted decades ago.
Some pieces are very valuable, others are broken “rescues” from a Council clean up pile etc and I display them side by side. As a keen bargain hunter my “best” pieces have a story of discovery. Many of my favourite pieces are essentially worthless due to their damage.
I get my collecting gene from my Grandma and Mum. I was going to auctions and house clearances from age 8.
Maybe I should start a thread in Hangout with some pieces and their story.

 

[lydial]

My apologies if these come out huge! Got to thinking that maybe there are some china cabinets on PS that have some awesome things lurking in them.

This is mine, it actually lights up but is not plugged in and it's huge and heavy to move. First shelf is obviously toys, things I had as a kid, my Mom gave me a Cabbage Patch kid for Christmas (the one with the Pom Pom on the hat in the center) before she passed away so I have a thing for them.

Next shelf has two all porcelain dolls that I bought when I used to go to doll shows, the pictures don't do them justice, they are beautifully made, DH's monopoly board, a ribbon our older son won for science fair and some other hodge podge stuff.

Next shelf is wedding and fine glass, basically pretty and breakable stuff, oh and my hair comb I wore on our wedding day with dried flowers is in there too. I had the bouquet for years but the cats got a hold of it and tore it apart. Rascals!
Final shelf, more toys and my mom's doll she had as a little girl, I have a thing for Sylvester, some Snoopy in there, the dog with the pink hat my dad bought for me when I was little.

Anyone else with a cabinet of loot? Post some pictures!

Such a fun and emotionally authentic array of things. Your Barbie on the 2nd shelf from the bottom reminds me of a popular craft from the ‘70’s where the big poofy dress (usually crocheted) was made to fit over a spare toilet paper roll and the doll went down the cardboard tube... did anyone else covet one of these? My mom and dad denied my craft-show desire!

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@lydial, I know exactly what you're talking about. Along the same lines, my mom every year for my birthday would have a friend make a barbie birthday cake and it would be the actual doll with a frosting dress! As a little girl that was the best

 

[Rubymal]

My mother has this extremely uncanny ability to break things. Over the year, I've had porcelain horse sculptures, rare resin figurines all broken somehow even when placed in an area that is typically out of reach. I took over one of our china cabinets as a temporary place to house items that I was afraid would get broken!

The first level is my favorite character from a video game. It started off with just the sculpture. The third level is another favorite of mine from the SanX collection. It's supposed to be a little lizard guy with his loch nest mom.

The second level has a variety of treasures, my vintage dog perfume bottle collection, the three little Murano glass dogs are from my trip to italy last year. A vintage tea cup with a fairy house in it, some more glass figurines in the back and a small mosaic thimble my brother brought back for me from his trip to the UK a few years ago.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@Rubymal kind of excited to see a cabinet with toys! Can I just say that I love that character on the bottom, so stinkin' cute.

 

[PreRaphaelite]

I don’t have many treasures but this is my Ironstone collection in an Eastlake cabinet.... Maybe I should branch out to collecting other things?

 

[lyra]

We sold our china cabinet years ago when we thought we might move across the country. I got rid of so many things, and packed other things away. Right now I'm feeling I actually need to have "things" again. I started collecting old pyrex. It's just in my kitchen cabinets, and I use everything I buy. I like having things from the past.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@PreRaphaelite I like the all white, classic and elegant and clean looking. I also adore that wooden cabinet of yours.

@lyra, sounds smart to collect and use things on a regular basis, that's the way to do it. They don't make stuff like they used to, the old stuff just seems to wear so much better and last so much longer.

 

[lyra]

My eldest daughter shares my love of practical vintage. She has her own collection, that tbh is much nicer than mine! We love to go to antique malls together to hunt items down. Unfortunately, we have found that thrifting is untenable for us. It's just not the same as the US. We only have Value Village and SA, and they're either completely picked over, or the employees save things or get people to buy stuff for them. Shipping to/from Canada is sooo expensive too. We also rely on FB marketplace and groups. Prices can be tolerable, but too much competition means no huge bargains.

 

[lambskin]

OMG! Is this a great thread. I love looking at everyone's treasures! StephanieLynn,I have the same piece of Wedgewood Jasperware that is in the front of your cabinet-it is the small covered oval-esque shape box but mine is in black and white- I bought it at Harrods in 1986!

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@lyra, I love the term practical vintage! Definitely using that from now on, I'm sorry that there aren't many great places to pick where you are, hopefully you can find some good local deals online.

@lambskin, I think you are talking about @Stracci's jasperwear, if I have a piece I don't know it lol!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

this sounds dumb but i keep forgetting to buy the right light bulb for the ceiling light in the guest room
i only remember when i see this thread and its night ....and dark
i keep a china cabinet in my guest room purly for my own indulgence
i read this article about guest rooms - in NZ the average spair bedroom is used 11 days a year - well the other 354 days a year its just empty real estate not being used
so i went out and brought a china cabinet especially to house my Royal family commerative china collection
i have a few pieces going back to Victoria
anyway i just feel a collection like that would look a bit obsessive in the lounge !
tomorrow I'll get a picture

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Yes. Mine’s full of china and crystal. We have three sets of china. All entertaining for work purposes tends to be done out at restaurants and breweries these days. We don’t use any of the china and crystal because we lead a very casual lifestyle. I’m considering selling all of it and repurposing our dining room. It’s such a waste of living space. I would be curious if anyone else has done this and whether they regretted it.

when we moved we had a change of mind set
we happily and long over due throw out anything that was broken, chipped,.ugly or we just wern't in love with
now we use the good stuff every day
good cutlery and glasses and especially nice china are alot nicer on your mouth to eat and drink off

there is no more keeping stuff for good
today is the rainy day

i remember when my dad died at 53 my mum had stuff in her glory box she had got for their wedding

i use everything now.
if something breaks... well i enjoyed using it

The cat eats off nice plates too
if its something senimental but i dont completly love it, i just use it up !
the cat drinks out of a small crystal bowl one of mum's sister in laws gave her
she never liked it
there was a chip in the matching milk jug so i threw it out and Borris drinks out of the sugar bowl
my sister kept her really nice china for good
an earthquake destroyed their house and broke everything
now she uses everything
if the kids chip it thats annoying, but at least it was being used

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

I'm actually thinking of going in the opposite direction. I have a dining room that is not used much because we have a decent sized kitchen island with room for five to sit. We eat most of our meals there. My dining room is fairly open to the kitchen. Right now, the dog has a corner of the dining room for his food. We use the table occasionally for work at home stuff and on holidays, too. I have unused china packed in boxes in the basement. I want to take it out and start using it. What am I saving it for?! I need a china cabinet, though to put treasures in and to store the china. I'd like to start using the dining room routinely for Sunday dinners, at a minimum. I love having my family and guests around and formal-ish meals are a such pleasure in their own right. There really isn't much difference between a formal and an informal meal, other than how you plate it and where you eat it. My mom passed away almost two years ago and since her passing, I've come to appreciate treating myself and those I love with some of the good things life has to offer. She was so instrumental in keeping the family connected. My mom wasn't the best cook in the world but when we had family gatherings, we all sat at the dining room table and she used her "fancy" plates. They weren't fine china, but they were pretty and the table always looked festive. I love going out to nice restaurants just as much as the next person, but why not have a beautiful meal right here at home? I love to cook and bake and it gives me pleasure to do so for people I love. I want to preserve that tradition with my loved ones, so I promised myself that I would work on using the dining room more. We'll see how it goes!

this is wounderful
you know there are lots of lovelly china cabinets out there because for the first time in history 2 generations are downsizing at once
im on the lookout for a really nice hutch dresser for my midnight rose royal Albert tea set ive been collecting since i was 15
how i wish i had invited my dear late MIL over for afternoon tea and used some of it

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Prepare to be shocked....
And this is not half of it.

lovelly and beaitifuly arranged
i havn't hung anything up yet but i love what's on your wall too

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

this is in our entrance way
at night it sparkles in the light
the other half found this cabinet in one of the few local places that stocks this kind of thing
people always think it was mum's but my dad managed a furniture factory and my mum always had new furniture - my dad would have been paranoid about boerer beatle eatting the whole house !
and very few things in there are mum's because she lived through the Christchurch earthquakes

the bottom one is in our spair bedroom as
its a bit excessive and i dont want to frighten the neighbourhod