May I assume that when you write "linens" you mean "textiles"? Here's a photo of some of mine as mounted on wall. (You can click on it to see a larger image.) The oldest, the small rondelles, are Coptics that date back to the 3rd or 4th century C.E. as well as some from South America and the Middle East that are as recent as the 18th, but that's beside the point. These have all been framed under glass. Each is mounted on Linen which in turn is stretched over acid-free foam core board and taped onto the back side of the board. The glass is separated from the surface of the fabric by a 1/4 inch plastic spacer around the edges of the frame, practically invisible beneath even these very narrow metal frames. You may or may not need or even consider going to these extremes, but I am surprised that no one has thought to warn you against three things: first, allowing the textile to touch wood or cardboard or any backing that is not acid-free. The presence of any acidic backing is, over time, going to discolor and/or ultimately destroy your textile. Second, if you choose to cover your textile with a sheet of glass or plastic to protect it from dust or smoke or other airborne particles, the glass must not touch the textile because moisture may condense on the inside surface of the glass as a result of temperature and humidity conditions. And, third, although it doesn't apply to what I have shown but does apply to what you have described, is folding. Folding any fabric, over time is going to weaken the threads at the fold line and, again over time, the part of the fabric that is exposed to light will fade in relation to that part of the fabric that is not. Granted, these are museum-level concerns, but each is worthy of your consideration depending primarily on the value (not in terms of dollars) to you of the pieces that you have collected. I have admired pieces of fabric that have been attached to a sunlit wall with thumbtacks, leaving a rusty little circle on each corner, but I'd much prefer to find one that's be languishing in an attic trunk for the last hundred years, perhaps brought out only to show the children what their great-grandmother sewed or what faraway country she had visited, or perhaps even had come from.

If you are saying you will tile the back of your cabinet, please do not. Also, if you are planning on changing the display to white dish ware, the cabinet does not need to be light inside. You want contrast so you can see what’s in there. Bright or dark things need a light background, light things show better on a dark background.

Thanks for the advice so far. Jan - as indicated in the original post we are going to be running the blue tile under the upper cabinets and around the corner to meet the window frame. The tile is currently sitting in my basement - we got sidetracked with outdoor work during the summer (landscaping, building a deck, etc), but are back to indoor work now that winter has arrived. To clarify - we don’t plan on running the blue to the ceiling. So the corner will have blue tile at the bottom and then a painted area above that. The original plan was to make some open shelves for that area with oak that we had milled from a tree that fell in my in-laws property ... but we are reconsidering that plan.

I’d put the lamp on a small stack of books, as well as bring it out from the corner just a bit. For inside, I’d have a couple of baskets on bottom with maybe small books for your kids. When mine was little, I kept a basket of little books we’d read to her, in the living room. For the inside top shelves, what do you like? Choices are unlimited. Collect things you enjoy looking at. A piece of coral, a pretty piece of pottery, interesting candleholders (without the candles), animal statue ... the list goes on and on. I don’t know how old your kids are, but my DD was obsessed with rocks as a toddler/kid. I found this heavy stone, antique lidded container to display some in. These rocks inside it are from a visit to Cape Cod, over 20 yrs ago. To the right, old cowbells I find. (Gray, dark day, bad pic ... this is an old china cabinet in our office) — Just to show lamp on books example: My goal would be to make it look like a loved piece that belongs there, rather than a piece of furniture stuck there because there’s nowhere else to put it. And decorating it with personal, eclectic, collected items will accomplish that. I think you’ve made a good start with the lamp, it’s very cozy looking.