This Week's Questions
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Between my husband's aunts and my mother's family, we have four different sets of china, including most of the serving pieces. Now we're moving into a condo where my huge old china closet won't work. Before I resort to e-bay, maybe you have some suggestions about storing a lot of stuff in a small space?-Vara
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Too elegant to stay out in the kitchen, white-painted cabinets are invited to dinner in a sophisticated urban dining room. |
| PHOTO Courtesy Wood-Mode Cabinetry |
Answer 1:
I'll pass along conventional wisdom from the moving and storage industry: "The money's in the ceiling," they say, meaning, use every inch, from the floor all the way up.
As you have to replace your old china closet anyway, look for new storage pieces that are as tall as your ceiling and relatively shallow - you want to be able to see what you're after without shuffling through precious, fragile heirloom dishes.
Also, try to think different (bad grammar but good advice). Think of different types of storage furniture and think of new places to put them - in a foyer, hallway, or even the guest room, for example.
The cabinets you are looking at in this photo have come out of the kitchen and taken their places elegantly in the dining room of this newly built home. Designer Tricia Bayer had the tall cabinets custom-built (by Wood-Mode Cabinetry, www.wood-mode.com) so they reach almost to the ceiling, making the utmost of their generous storage space. The cabinets' soft internal lights also add romance to the dramatic dining scene the designer has worked out in white-on-white, handsomely grounded by that dark-stained hardwood floor.
Question 2:
I have a dilemma since down-sizing into a bachelor suite downtown. I invested in a new futon set so my sitting area is modern/funky. The problem is, I also have an antique maple coffee table that was a present and the very first thing bought for my first apartment. I love that table and don't want to get rid of it. I just have no idea how to fit it into the current design. It's too high for a coffee table and doesn't fit the futon décor at all...I also need space for a guinea pig cage and a computer desk!-Sarah
Hmmm. I'm assuming that the table is too small to hold the guinea pig cage and too low to work as the computer desk you need.
Perhaps it could become a sofa table? Stand it behind your futon and put a table lamp on each end. Or maybe you could set a bookcase on top, turning it into a library table. Even store an ottoman underneath it for extra seating.
The main consideration here is that you "love that table." So don't even think of getting rid of it just because you're afraid that it doesn't fit your "modern/funky" idiom. What could be funkier than a room full of personal-favorite pieces in many different styles and woods?
PS. Professional designers have another word for "funky:" they call it "eclectic" and charge good money to achieve the look!
