Get This Look: Classic Kitchen Curio
A curio display cabinet is a classic piece of furniture and really adds a lot to the design and feel of a room. Showcasing heirloom china and other pretty dishes is a classic kitchen decorating idea. And if you combine the two, you get our featured look today: a classic kitchen curio. Read on for 7 tips to make the display a statement rather than a collection of clutter. (image via Better Homes and Gardens)
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7 Tips for Designing A Classic Kitchen Curio Display
1. Start Basic and Add Height
This cabinet is simple in style — all straight, clean lines — and the simple added height and molding on top help give the simplicity enough presence to draw your eye, but not so much to distract from their beauties displayed inside the glass-front cabinet. Learn how to add height and molding to you cabinets in our tutorial.
2. Balance Light and Dark
Both inside and outside the cabinet, the light and dark elements are balanced. The dark bamboo shade helps the window stand out and echoes the natural colors and textures of some of the smaller items in the cabinet, as well as the contents of the canisters below the cabinet.
3. Be Selective
If you have a few heirloom pieces that bring you joy every time you see them, curate your collection around those to make it cohesive. This arrangement is a fairly neutral monochrome with whites and chrome, but yours should reflect you and the colors and pieces that you love. Arrange by color and aim for a variety of pieces to keep the display interesting. Stack and group items to help add visual interest.
4. Add Clean Texture
The textures around the cabinet help add interest to this vignette without overpowering the centerpiece: the collection of dishes. The planked ceiling is a start, but the beadboard backsplash and the faux supportive corbels help give the cabinet some architectural presence. We used a similar style when we updated this kitchen island — it’s a great update!
5. Include Functional Decor
The canisters beneath the curio mirror the colors and textures of the cabinet contents and the rest of the kitchen, while still being functional. There are so many things that you can put in those awesome glass jars, and those scoops are perfect! Wayfair has a similar set of classic clear glass canisters (and free shipping!).
6. Embrace Contrast
Many people love the all-white kitchens, but the addition of the dark countertop can make the space feel even more modern. Contrast can be a beautiful thing! The dark horizontal countertop also helps balance out the vertical height created by the cabinet and its contents, so the whole setting is beautifully balanced.
7. Shine It Up
The polished chrome drawer pulls are a beautiful accent on the white cabinets. They help the whole room to feel cohesive by mirroring the shine from the platters inside the cabinet, plus they — similar to the dark countertop — add a horizontal emphasis to balance out the vertical height of the stacks of dishes. Find similar drawer pulls here on Amazon.
More beautifully styled kitchen curio cabinets:
Cookbook and Spices Curio Cabinet | Our Home
Chicken Wire and Colorful Glass Curio | Better Homes and Gardens
Open Bookshelf Curio | via Remodelista
Browse for more styles to inspire you in our Get This Look library, such as
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Color Me Casual Living Room | My Park House Kitchen | Sunny Corner Banquette
Lorene has been behind the scenes here at Remodelaholic for more than a decade! She believes that planning projects and actually completing them are two different hobbies, but that doesn't stop her from planning at least a dozen projects at any given time. She spends her free time creating memories with her husband and 5 kids, traveling as far as she can afford, and partaking of books in any form available.
Love the chicken wire cabinet! I’ve always wanted a dining room with the little built in corner cabinets.
A girl can dream. 😉 I’m a big fan of glass fronted cabinets but i’m so OCD that i’d freak every time something was out of order. ha.
JaG
Loving the cabinets!!
Love everything!!!