Tips for Styling a China Cabinet

Tip No. 1 Store the Valuable, Fragile, and Treasured

Your china cabinet is the perfect place to store these types of collections and tableware because they will be safer in an enclosed space. Your silver will stay bright and shiny when shut away from the sulfurs in the air.

Your cabinet shelves are ideal for displaying your china plates and delicate teacups.

Tip No. 2 Place Larger Items at bottom

Think about balance and proportion as you style your china cabinet. Placing larger items in the bottom shelves will help keep the shelves feeling balanced and not look top heavy.

You can also evenly weight the top and bottom shelves with large curios like I did here with the two silver serving pieces at the bottom and the pair of reproduction Staffordshire spaniels at the top.

Tip No. 3 Show Off Your China Pattern

Stand up your china plates to best show the lovely pattern. Most cabinet shelves will have a groove in the surface toward the back to fit your plate into so that it stands up. Use this to prop your plates against the back of the cabinet. To make them more secure add a ball of sticky putty or museum wax to the edge of your plate then place it in the groove.

Try tucking the edge of outer plates underneath the central plate for a charming affect.

Tip No. 4 Create a Pyramid or Diamond Shape with Plate Arrangement

When displaying multiple rows of plates upright on your china cabinet shelves consider the shape they make overall. Here I used a diamond shape with one plate at the top then three plates close together and below that three farther apart and finally one at the bottom.

This shape helps draw they eye up and out while still feeling balanced.

Tip No. 5 Use the Center of Your Cabinet

Even if your china cabinet has doors that close in the middle with a support bar like mine use that central space. For one, you want to make the most of the storage space your cabinet offers. Secondly, your shelves will most likely be viewed at an angle instead of straight on. So you want this central area to be visually interesting and not dead space.

Choose flat items that have simple geometric shapes that look similar on both sides.

Tip No. 6 Use Books

I love using books when styling a china cabinet. They add color and interest, but they are also great for layering and using as stands to add height.

Here I filled in blank space at the top sides with some treasured books from my childhood. Then I used books as stands to bring up the Wedgwood teapot, peony bowl, and silver pieces at the bottom.

Tip No. 7 Play with Symmetrical or Zig Zag Arrangements

Think about positioning overall and how your eye moves from one piece to the next in your china cabinet shelves.

A symmetrical arrangement is a classic design choice that feels balanced and pleasing. It works best if you have several pairs of items, but these don’t have to be an exact match instead try for similar heights, shapes, and/or weight.

A zig zag pattern is another pleasing design that uses the same element or color on each shelf but alternating sides, so that you achieve a back and forth visual up and down the display.