Blending Family Heirlooms Into Your Space

I love the pieces that my Grandparents and Great Aunts have handed down to me. That special chair or maybe the bowl that always had the best homemade potato salad at the family gatherings. Those things bring back memories every time I see them.

This past weekend when I was in Huntsville visiting, I helped Casey blend an antique corner china cabinet and several pieces of glassware that her Grandparents had given her into her dining room. Casey's dining room walls are a deep red color and the china cabinet is a dark wood color. The challenge was to create a display that was not too old fashioned. Casey likes mixing old pieces and new pieces together and that is exactly what we did!

First, we pulled out the pieces from her Grandmother that she loved, then we looked over things that she had in her cabinets and picked the things that would mix well.



We decided on martini glasses, two antique platters, several vases, a cake stand, ice cream cups, a soup tureen and a hand embroidered hand towel. We purchased three cupcake candle holders to add some interest to the cake plate and crystal knobs from Anthropologie. Those crystal knobs really did the trick to help the cabinet come alive.



Since this corner of the room lends itself to be on the dark side. We decided to leave the doors open on the cabinet. What a difference leaving the doors open made. When the doors are closed the reflection from the glass made it very hard to see what was in the cabinet. With the doors open you can see everything clearly. We have already had a little resistance to the idea. Maddie (the eight year old) and Owen (my son) were trying to be helpful and closed the doors. We've now enlightened them when it comes to open China cabinets.

As we studied our creation, we decided the addition of a few funky plates would add even more charm. Here is one of the plates Casey ordered.


When you receive a family heirloom, many times with very little effort you can create a very unique look. Try covering an old chair with a really cool fabric and you'll fall in love with the chair all over again. I'm sure Casey's grandmother will be love seeing her China cabinet being enjoyed by her granddaughter and great granddaughters!