Let's take the china out of china cabinet...

A subject near and dear to my heart....  For the last 8 years my china cabinet and hutch dutifully sat across from each other in my "dining room". 

Why? I don't know. 'Cause they were supposed to?

 I had junk jammed in them that I never used. I hated dusting everything because it never got used (Okay, I admit, I never dusted .), and it looked, well, stuffy. 

When I was moving my furniture around, it occurred to me that my house is small enough that I need every piece to really work for me. There was no room for things to just take up space.

With my china cabinet, I realized I didn't need to display  40 china place settings that just sat and dusty wine glasses from Sweden that no one else really noticed any way.  I packed them up and put in the things  I really put the miles on, cook books, decorating books, serving platters I used a lot, and even candles I rotate...  and placed it in our new sitting area.

The  antique buffet that belonged to my Gram became our new TV stand. Some day that flat screen is going to look good there...

Then I started brain-storming.. how can we get all of that stuffy furniture out of a stuffy room and really USE it?....

How great would this piece be in a baby's room after a coat or two of paint or even cleaned up really well in it's natural state? The changing station could go right on top and the baby could look at their reflection as they had their diaper changed.

MBW furniture

Wouldn't this be sweet in a little girl's room?

 Through a garden gate

What about these flanking a fireplace holding books or even DVD's almost like a built in?

Heritage furniture restoration

What about this one in a huge hallway or ginormous bath full of crisp linens? 

Magnussen

How pretty would it be to put all of your sweaters in here instead of using  a dresser? 

As extra storage in a kitchen, even a box of cereal or a can of ravioli would look good in here.

This is from Cottage Living.. Love this idea.... How great would this be for craft supplies..? I can only dream :)

Don't you think this would be great in a contemporary boy's room? Model trains galore could run around some tracks on top of here..it has just as many drawers as a dresser and baskets could fit underneath.

 Select furniture outlet

And when I see this one, I think forget the plates and junk; just fill it with books, books, books.

Eco-furniture

Do you have a china cabinet or buffet/server you've used differently than what it's intended for? Put the link to your post on your comments so we can all stop over and take a look! I'd love to see what you've done!