Accessorizing a China Cabinet

Themes

• Stick with a theme when accessorizing a china cabinet. For a more formal dining room, stick with dishes that all come from the same set or contain a similar design. If your dining room is more casual, stick with a particular color, such as dishes made from different shades of blue or a black and white color scheme. Change the display in your china cabinet to represent holidays, mixing Christmas dishes with other holiday decorations around Christmas or spring-themed or floral dishes with Easter eggs and decorative bunnies around Easter.

Finding Accessories

• Browse antique stores, flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales to find dishes and other decorations to display in your china cabinet. Choose your theme before you visit any of these locations and look for items to specifically fit that theme, otherwise the choices may be overwhelming. Purchase accessories in different sizes to provide some variation in your display. Measure the height and width of the shelves in your china cabinet before you begin your search to ensure that larger items will fit in the cabinet.

Displaying Items

• Most craft stores and home stores sell stands to help display items in your china cabinet. Use plate stands and bowl stands to keep dishes from falling while on display. Adjustable stands will work better if you plan on regularly changing the display, because they fit a wider variety of dishes. In a more formal dining room, keep the display symmetrical. Do not load the china cabinet with items; rather, include a few items on each shelf to allow them to stand out. Place larger plates at the back of the cabinet and add smaller cups, dishes or other decorations in front of them.

Lighting

• Especially in a dark dining room, lighting will help highlight the items on display in your china cabinet. Install an under cabinet lighting kit at the top inside of a china cabinet and cut a small hole in the cabinet to allow the cord to hide behind the cabinet or use battery-powered lights that stick to the inside of the china cabinet that you push on and off. For a more eclectic look, string Christmas lights around the inside edge of the cabinet or place them on the shelves around the dishes and other decorations.