Modern China Closet

Obsessed. That’s how I feel about this sideboard. Simply obsessed. It is distressed, black iron, incredibly sturdy, and just plain beautiful!

I loved my traditional china closet. Mainly because I wanted to display our fine china that my husband and I received for our wedding. I know – You don’t need to tell me. Many people don’t use (or have for that matter) fine china anymore. Well, I do, and I still love the beauty of it. Have I ever used it? No. But I like how it looks when displayed, and I keep saying that someday it’ll grace my holiday table!

I originally used my china closet only for its traditional and intended purpose: To display my nicer dishes. Of course my fine china was displayed, but also my nicer bowls, glasses, and our wedding cutting knives.

I still wanted that traditional purpose, but I decided I was ready for a more modern change. After some thought, I realized that I had three options. This was my thought process and the steps I took to achieve the look I wanted:

1. Decorate my china closet

Maybe adding some small pieces of decor would give me the change I desired? Some ideas that I had to add: greenery (small fake plants), colorful flowers in a vase, stacked books, picture frames, a fake fruit basket, wine bottles, and other small seasonal trinkets.

**I tried this option and added some small pieces of decor to “decorate” my china closet. It didn’t give me the change I was looking for. I realized that I was ready for a different look entirely.

2. Paint my china closet

I love painting (obviously), so I flirted with the idea of painting my china closet. I didn’t really want to stain it a different color. I would sand it, paint, and lightly distress the corners. I had some friends do this, and I loved the look. I also felt that the glass in the back of the china closet was dating it, so I thought about covering it with either some paneling or some peel and stick wallpaper I found that looked like wood paneling. Last, I would replace the glass shelves with new wooden shelves. I would make the shelves pop somehow, perhaps by painting them a different color.

**I totally would have done this, but my idea got squashed before I even tried it. I had a baby and a toddler at this time, and I was not ready to take on this project without knowing if I would love it when it was finished. I decided to give the china closet away so another person could enjoy it as I once did!

3. Change it up and try something completely new

No explanation is really needed here. I still had to find something for storage, but I could replace my china closet with a different piece of furniture to house all of my nicer items.

This was the option I decided to go with (combined with my decor idea from option 1). After countless hours of searching, I found my perfect sideboard. (Message me for details.)

I never realized how small my tall china closet made my kitchen feel. To say that this sideboard totally transformed my room would be an understatement! My kitchen felt larger, fresh, modern, yet still had the rustic feel I was going for. I hung the three family pictures above, which provided the perfect touch! They filled the blank space on the wall without making the room feel crowded.

I added a mix of my fine china, party platters, a section for my glasses, and a spot on the bottom to hold my wine bottles (obviously). I then added splashes of decor (which change with the season) to create a homey feeling. Read my “Don’t Ditch Your China Closet” post for more details!