One problem with some heirlooms is they don't "hit" at the right time. So those things get "let go" and then some years later folks are trolling the antique mall for just the same thing, either because it's in style now, or maybe specifically reminds someone of a treasured memory or relative. I don't have any kind of rant about that; it's just a fact of life. A grandparent may move to assisted living, or die, and the grown children have fully-furnished homes, and the grandkid is still in the college dorm and has no use for furniture or dishes, then, whammo, 4 or 5 yrs later, the kid needs all kinds of "stuff", and maybe 10 or more years later, would finally appreciate "antique" or vintage somethings. In some cases, it would be of no use for the g-kid to have had access to the grandparent's items, because they had no "connection;" other times, there IS a connection, but the kid just has no way of keeping and moving such items at that stage of their lives. This isn't an advertisement for a family member to become the storage unit, but just to recognize that a handy attic, "spare" room or other place with unused, but usable, things in some kind of hibernation isn't completely useless, at least not in the scheme of conservation of money, effort, and memories. It IS a problem if it discomfits the storing-person, or is actually costing major $$ to store (rented storage or staying in a big house just to house the "stuff"), or if the stuff is prone to deteriorating. And of course, you will never know just which item(s) will be of use or interest down the road. So I keep that in mind at say, estate sales; sometimes you can tell the actual home must have been totally cluttered and cramped (still a personal judgement, though something I hope to avoid) vs. a person or family having saved usable furniture, extra set of dishes, tools, whatever, but not crumbling trash-- in the attic or some closets and feeling, hey, it's not bothering me, and I have a reason to keep it for "heir-looms". It is a good philosophy to look at "things" as though they should be in use, and not just storage, and so we may have an obligation of sorts to benefit someone else rather than hoarding, but it only takes a tweak of that philosophy to get to, I've got these perfectly good whatevers that we ought to use within the family, maybe in the younger generations, rather than spending more money to get something new. So, yeah, storing for 50 years may sound excessive, but likely it didn't start out with that intent. It's also a commentary on how soon a lot of people these days accumulate all that they may need or want and how we do insist on everything being just our way or our style. That's not wrong at all, but it may be a departure from the goal of conserving family wealth and possesions.

imstillchloecat "I'd paint the entire inside of that cabinet black, then use the white pieces. I'm probably in the minority, but that wallpaper looks incredibly dated..." I would politely suggest you read several of my posts above about the fact that the wallpaper is staying. I love the wallpaper and I love that it looks dated. The vast majority of my favorite dishes are all from the 60's and 70's. I have many pieces of vintage clothing that I love. I may have been a baby in the late 70's but the colors I love. They remind me of my favorite time of year which is fall. I'm not one to do something just because other people think I should. While I do appreciate the feedback I've been given it also does get a little tiring to repeat oneself. Before the wallpaper went in the stained back was a dark chocolate and it didn't look good that way either. It was terribly drab. If anyone else wants to mention taking the wallpaper down that is ok, but I'm going to stop repeating my self about it. LOL So rather than responding I'm just going say "see above". On a side note, I haven't had a chance to try some other pieces yet, we were taking out our old pool liner this afternoon so that will have to wait a little bit longer.

Anthony Johnson So we ended up passing on the china cabinet we found the other day, mainly because as a result of this process we have now selected the type of table and rug we want, and that cabinet wouldn’t quite go with it. We’ll probably start with buying the table, then the rug, then a china cabinet. But whereas we were unconvinced about whether to get a china cabinet at all before posting this question, the discussion here has helped us decide that we’ll definitely get one. The OP wrote this on Dec 19th. This thread has kinda morphed into a life of it's own for everyone's opinion. Dhygarden, pretty china. The Noritake Rhythem is similar to the Noritake Princeton that we got from my MIL. I also have Theodore Haviland NY Pink Spray from my grandmother, and a no-name Christmas china set purchased by my husband for me one Christmas. He has no idea about china, but he picked one that would go with my Christmas tablecloth. Your son and dil, might keep an eye on Ebay for extra pieces. Just read carefully and look at the rating of the seller. They will be much more reasonable than Replacement's.

Katmu, I would fill it with books and a few meaningful accessories. We have a large breakfront in the upper foyer. Previously it held more books, but I wanted more of a cabinet of curiosities. It is not something I would have purchased, and I still may sell or brighten the interior back without destroying the piece (not paint directly). When it was moved to an adjoining room during painting, I had planned to not put the pediment back on and may still remove/store just to change it up if I keep. DH said "just paint it," but I cannot do that!