I have had a curio cabinet for many, many years; and it has been in a couple of different rooms in my home, always holding pretty objects that I have collected. Sometimes it held delicate china and porcelain figurines, while at other times I used it to hold attractive serving pieces in the dining room, and sometimes a combination of both.
With limited space, I had planned to sell it, but it must have been too dated in its traditional pecan finish to be very appealing to buyers. I decided to give it a bit of a facelift with some cottage looking paint; even the paint had a few iterations before I settled on a lime washed finish. Right up to the time I was putting the final finish on the cabinet, I planned to sell it; but then I began falling in love with it again.
I took measurements around the house, trying to find a place where I could squeeze it in. The bedroom seemed like a good place, but no. The bathroom would have been my first choice for anyone buying it, but our bathroom would not accommodate its dimensions. Then I thought of our laundry area. We do not have an actual laundry room; the washer and dryer have space at the back entrance, but not room for much more. I had a multi-tiered wire rack on rollers that fit behind the back door—it was pure utility. Because the rack was all open, I did my best to disguise the huge jug of laundry detergent that stood out like it was on the grocery store shelf—ugly!
I did find a solution for covering the bright green jug, because I just could not stand looking at it. I bought an attractive, firm storage basket, and turned it upside down and covered the jug completely; it was quite the curiosity object. A recent party guest just had to lift it up to see what it was—boy was he surprised!
The space that the wire rack occupied was perfect for the cottage style, transformed curio cabinet. Now I have space for bottles of water to grab when I leave, a place for towels that are always needed when an accidental spill occurs, and a space for the laundry products. It is a perfect combination of using what I had to fill a need, and it is pretty too! I guess it is a good thing no one wanted my old curio cabinet.