The China Cabinet Saga

On Monday Sage and I confessed the messy parts of our homes, and I think my confession made a pretty strong case for why we need to add more storage in the dining room:

I can’t believe I lived with that for so many years.

Sage made me look pretty bad by fixing her mess in the same post that she confessed it.  However, to impress you all even further with my rapid decorating skills, I already have an update on this!

I’ve been searching for at least a year now for the “perfect” china cabinet to put in this corner, scouring craigslist on a weekly basis for just the right piece.  It was hard to find because I had pretty stringent requirements:

• Right size for the space – I didn’t want to miss out on storage by picking a skimpy piece, so I was going for something tall that would be less than 5″ thinner than the space I had for it.
• Wood tone – There are a couple painted pieces in there already, and I figured adding another would look weird.
• Closed storage – While I could have open shelves or a glass case on the top, I wanted a good amount of storage for ugly things (like bulk food and kitchen appliances)
• Not MCM – What?  Surely I mean the opposite?  No, I wanted a non mid-century style piece for this space.  I knew that I would end up with MCM chairs and there are a good number of pieces in the room and broader area that are this style.  I am not trying to make a “period” room, so I knew I wanted to mix it up with something different: ornate or modern.

I was looking to spend about $300-500 on the piece.  I figured this would go pretty far on craigslist, and with some patience I’d be able to get a solid piece at that price.

However, the search dragged on and on (probably because this was before I committed on the blog to finishing the room, so I had no real purpose or accountability to motivate me to make a decision).

There were just loads of options in that conventional “china cabinet” style.  They were pretty and functional, and technically met all of my requirements.  But even when I found really great specimens of the type, I just wasn’t getting excited about it.

I was much more attracted to the impractical styles, without closed storage or that didn’t use the space well.  Even though I loved them and they would look awesome in the room, I knew I would regret it.

Overall, Brad got really sick of me saying, “hey, come check out this china cabinet!” … especially when all of this looking and advising didn’t ever actually yield him a china cabinet.

Craigslist is fickle, and I did miss out on one cabinet that could have been perfect:

I really liked the ornate style.  It definitely wouldn’t have matched the other stuff in the room!  It was also the right dimensions: short, but it made up for that with extra closed storage.  Unfortunately, by the time I saw it and emailed for it, it was already spoken for. Bummer!

Here is the point in the story where I admit that this china cabinet saga doesn’t even end with me buying a china cabinet…  However, it does end up with me buying something, so don’t stop reading in disgust!

I credit my public commitment to finish up this room with me finally being motivated to get this done.  I expanded my search to include “hutches” and “bars” and “wardrobes” and looked at an expanded batch of options for the last month.  I finally came across the fated posting:

A used version of the Crate and Barrel Clive Bar!   $650 is a little more than I was planning to spend, but given how long it had taken to find the right piece, and that this piece retails new for $2,500, and that delivery was included… it seemed worth it.  It met all the requirements.  I was able to show Brad nice pictures from their site, and we agreed together that it would be perfect.

Less than 48 hours later, it was in our house!

I am really into it.  The modern/rustic style is definitely different from the other pieces in the room, so it helps keep things eclectic rather than a MCM-museum.

One thing is strange, though.  Since it is reclaimed wood, each piece is slightly different.  Does it look to you like I got the exact piece in the craigslist ad?

I am pretty sure it is different.  Maybe they had two?  I am not complaining (I love the one I have, and I think I like the wood pattern better than the one in the photos) but it is strange, no?

But back to pretty pictures showing how happy I am with my purchase:

The storage is awesome.  I’ll get to move serving dishes, some appliances, wine glasses, and wine/alcohol into this space, freeing up a lot of capacity in other areas.

I also am loving having a bar in the spot.  I wasn’t looking for this function, but I think it will be really helpful for entertaining.  We actually just had folks over for dinner this weekend and used it to serve actual mixed drinks. Kind of like a real blogger!

I also love that the bar is mirrored, it adds some shine and also means that I don’t damage the wood by spilling liquid all over it.

So there is my exciting dining room update!  (I also did already choose and purchase a new table based on your advice, but it hasn’t arrived yet so I’m going to be withholding and wait to reveal which one I bought until I can show it in place.  Sorry.)  Now, I get to re-organize everything!