China Cabinet

We've been married almost two years, and until tonight, our china has resided in the department store boxes it was shipped in. We did pull out a few plates and the serving pieces for Easter this past year, but then back to the boxes they went.

Did you know china cabinets are expensive? Like, seriously expensive. We've done a LOT of furniture shopping in the past year, and even more furniture browsing, and every time, we look at china cabinets, hutches and sideboards. It seems like the ones we both like, that seem to match our dining room table, average about $1500 for new. We also have looked at antique and second-hand stores (where you can find ones in good condition for around $500), but never saw any that we liked too much.

I had occasionally checked Craigslist, but only once had a cabinet piqued our interest. It was an antique wardrobe with crosses carved on the front. The poster said it was made by monks. We were about to inquire about it, but it was fairly expensive, looked a little too large, and would require alteration in the interior to add shelves for dish storage.

Then, the other night, thanks to the Craigstlist app on my iPhone, I found one that I liked priced at $150. Yesterday, after emailing the seller and getting more info (like the fact she lived two blocks from us!), my brother-in-law (henceforth known as Uncle Oh) went with me to check it out. I still liked it, so we negotiated the price to $125, and Mr Oh and Uncle Oh went to pick it up today. The top hutch section wouldn't fit in our SVU, but the woman let them drive it over in her van.

They got it over, cleaned up a bit, and we put our china in it.

I really like the style. I'd call it...mid-century modern meets country? The hardware on the cabinets and drawers is my favorite.

Here's a shot of our china. It's Mikasa's Parchment.

We were going to register for the Parchment Blue, but it wasn't carried locally. It probably is better to have a very neutral palette, but I sure liked that blue.