The China Found A Home

The china and crystal has finally found a home.  The boxes had been driving me crazy and now they are finally unpacked.  However, I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let me back up a bit.

Last September I had the good fortune to inherit my Mom's china and crystal when she found a buyer for her home who also wanted the china cabinet that had long held her treasures.  Mom had told me years ago that I didn't need my own china because she planned to pass hers to me one day.  Well, that "one day" had arrived much earlier than expected.  I carefully packed everything away, placed it in the back of the car and trekked 10+ hours home with my new treasures.  Upon arriving I carefully carried each box into the house and turned in circles wondering where to store them.  The garage?  Too great a chance for breakage.  The barn?  Too dusty and it seemed wrong.  Hmmm.  The answer turned out to be under the stairs.  Which is where the boxes stayed for 7 looonnnggg months.  (I had this entire house unpacked and decorated in less than 3 weeks!)

I found a few hutches that I liked, but I never liked the price tag that came with them.  Then I happened across a few pictures of pieces that I really loved.  The problem was that none of them were for sale.  They were the proud before and after pictures of DIYer's.  So, I kept searching and coming up dry.  I thought I had found the answer on craigslist, but the piece just wasn't quite right. Frustrated and really wanting to get those boxes unpacked I scoured the local resale shops for weeks.  Then it happened.  A 50% off sale at a local Christian resale shop.  I love supporting them and getting a deal at the same time.

I found the above featured piece for an agreeable price, and now I have a project for this summer.  We will keep this picture for the "before", and once I get the boys shipped off to Grandma and Grandaddy's house this summer I will work on the "after" picture (maybe).  Although I am quite content for the moment to have the china and crystal freshly washed and properly displayed.

As a side note ... I think Mom was planning on a much larger family.  That is a setting for 8 with spare pieces below in case something breaks.  The boys can't wait for our next Adoption Anniversary and fancy candle lit meal now that we have "fancy plates" too.  Honestly, I'm not entirely certain the china will come out for that just yet, but it will in due time.  Now that I think about it, I'm going to need to find 2 matching settings for when the boys are all married ... and a much larger table.