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Dining Room Organization {China Cabinets}

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The organization bug has hit me….bad!  I confess…it is greatly needed.  It is a personal goal of mine over the next few months.  If I don't do it, my husband will!  I can't have that!  What would he throw away???
 
 
My parents gave me 2 box sets of French looking Better Homes and Gardens china for Christmas and my birthday.  The funniest thing was that my step-dad was blown away that I wanted something from Wal-mart for a gift!!!  He has no clue…lol!
 
 
I had absolutely no place to put this new china…all 8 place settings!  In reality, we have tons of storage in our home.  It is just not utilized appropriately.  I started with my dining room china storage.  I have 2 identical built in storage cabinets on either side of the door way going into the kitchen.
 
 

 
 I love, love this new china!  It will enable me to add lots of different linens and other china with it.  I really enjoy the mixed look of linens and china!
 
 
 
I have a lovely mahogany display china cabinet, so I really didn't want to have to bother with these looking as put together for display.  Last year, (pre-blog) I sewed panels for the glass doors.  This is very simple.  You could even do a no sew version with iron on tape if you are not a sewer.  If your can sew a straight line, then it is an easy fix!
 
Now, I could hide my disorganized mess!  Not much other than the formal china had a place.  Things just got stashed where they would fit.  As a result, things that I loved were just not getting the use that they deserved.
 
 I hope you won't be disappointed!  This is not a post of beautiful labels and fancy boxes.  I wanted to complete this without a lot of unnecessary purchases.  January is always a funds tight month for us after Christmas!
 
 
 
I failed to take some really good before pictures.  Here is the only one that I took.  You can see especially on the shelf with the margarita glasses that things are just shoved in with no rhyme or reason.
 
I removed everything and started fresh.  I washed items and wiped down the shelves.  This project took about 4 days.  I know…I'm slow when I do things like this for myself.  It was trial and error project to find just the right fit for it all.  I also made sure to place items used more often within easy reach!
  
 
All that mess is hiding and waiting behind closed doors!
  
 
 
In both cabinets, I stored my seasonal fall and and holiday pieces up high.  I don't mind getting on a step stool for these.  The items that I use most often are at eye level or lower.
 
 
I bought every wire rack that Lowe's had in stock.  I need a couple more for the other cabinet. 
 
Now everything has its own place!  I can't get over how these wire racks increased my storage space.  I plan to use them throughout our house!
  
 
 
2 sets of formal china
 
  
lower cabinets of bar ware and serving pieces 
 
 
Here is the finished 2nd cabinet.  I do want to purchase 2 more wire racks from Lowe's when they replenish their stock for my candle holders.
 
 
Now my vases and pitchers have their own spot as well as glassware, serving pieces and 2 sets of more casual china. 
 
 
 
 
Easy access to my new Wal-mart and older blue and white china.  I rarely used the blue and white china because I had to get a ladder out to get to it in my kitchen!
  
 
I have candles that I'd forgotten that I had.  No longer are candlesticks all over the house in different stashed places (that I forget).
  
 
 
 
Here are a couple of Goodwill containers that work perfectly to hold votives and tea lights in a pretty way.
 
  
My newly organized candle storage made restyling our mantle a breeze! (pics soon) This is where I want to add the Lowe's wire shelving.
  
 
I already had these 2 baskets upstairs.  They work perfectly to contain the pillars and tapers.  They don't match, but that's OK with me.  The biggie is that they are functioning!
 
Now that all is organized, I'm having so much fun using our great stuff!!!!!  Now that it is all organized I can also focus on picking out the new paint color for the dining room.  YAY!!!  I can't wait to share my choices with you.
 
I'm having a bit of trouble with Blogger.  It won't let me upload photos with the uploader so I am having to do it with HTML.  HTML only allowed me to make the 1st photo larger.  That's why the others are a bit smaller.  UGH!!!  Anyone else with the same problem?  Frustrating!
 
I have a few things that I'm looking forward to sharing with you as soon as our weather cooperates.  It seems like we have had non-stop rain and cloudiness in my little part of SC since Christmas.
 
Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you plan to follow my blog if you aren't already doing so!
 
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55 Comments

  1. I’m on an organizational kick also so I love your ideas. Isn’t it a wonderful feeling when everything is neat and you have a place for each piece? Great job!

  2. I bought some of those wire racks & other organization items for my pantry, then later discovered that Walmart has them a little cheaper and Big Lots often has them way cheaper. So if you need any more, you may want to try those places first. Also, when trying to organize on a budget, I sometimes get plastic containers, bins, baskets, totes, etc from the Dollar Tree. Another way I sometimes organize on a budget is to cover shoe boxes or other “free” boxes in adhesive shelf liner or good gift wrapping paper. Cheers!

  3. Christy – I found your post on Grace At Home. How nice to have two cabinets in which to store all your pretty things. I REALLY like your new WalMart dishes and you’ve have done a wonderful job organizing everything. Thank you for sharing. Many blessings to you, Patti@OldThingsNew

    1. Dawna, thanks so much for the advice! I used Google Chrome for the first time toady and it was perfect!!! I haven’t heard of Windows Live Writer, but plan to look into that as well. Love the idea of font options!

      So glad you stopped by! Christy

  4. I just love this post! What a lucky girl you are to have all that storage space–and you’ve made the most of it! Good for you!!

    Thank you so much for linking this to Grace at Home. I’m featuring you today!

  5. This looks great. Everything has a perfect spot.
    Your trouble with blogger may be because the picture storage they allow you is full. I googled and found some code that will make all your pictures the same size.
    Ruth

  6. Non stop rains and grey skies in South La since Christmas too but it all changed yesterday and it is now beautiful! I am sure it is making its way to you now! I do love an organizational project and your dining room looks amazing! You’ve inspired me (reminded me) to go to Goodwill for containers to hold little things like candles!

  7. Yes iam having the same problem. My pictures will even disappear. Or they move around on the page. I really enjoyed your posts, you are fortunate to have those two cabinets. I also have started organizing, slowed down a bit. Thank you for sharing. Betty

    1. Thanks, Betty! Sometimes you have to take a step back from organizing. It can overwhelm you or at least me! Someone told me that they heard a fix was to use Google Chrome instead of internet explorer. I’l still having problems. It lets me make the first couple of pics large then not the rest. On today’s post I couldn’t even add all the pics I wanted to! Let me know if you hear anything!

  8. Christy, your organization looks great! Those wire racks are amazing for creating additional space. LOVE your new dishes…I’ve had my eye on those! As for your problems uploading, I’ve been reading about it a lot lately, on other blogs. Are you using Internet Explorer? The solution seems to be changing your browser to Google Chrome. Hope that helps!

    1. Thanks Shenita! I really want to get one more box set of the dishes to give me 12 place settings. Beautiful look at a Wal-mart price. 🙂 I am going to look into the Google Chrome thing. I am on IE. It has been quite frustrating! Have a great weekend, sweet friend!

    2. Shenita, bless your heart! I used Google Chrome for the first time today for a new post and it works perfectly!Not a single problem or issue! You don’t know how many times I’ve wanted to throw the computer out the door! Thanks so much, sweet friend!!!!!!

  9. Looking good! I purchased some racks very similiar to yours from the Dollar General early last year and it doubled my cabinet space! Blessings, Tammy

  10. This looks so nice and organized! I’m on “Project Organization” myself around my house, so I can definitely appreciate this post! I also love the new plates you got! They look so pretty and versatile! Hope you have a great rest of the week! =)

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