Why do you need to display the china at all times? My GM china is in china bags and displayed on the table every chance I get... Know need for an overbearing china cabinet:)

What a gorgeous cabinet! Maybe you can display things in it that have a modern twist? That's the only thing I can think of as you don't want to paint it or alter it in any way. Another thought, if you have storage space maybe put different chairs with the set, or slipcover these ones.

My wife and I had the same dilema. We put china with a contemporary design in our china cabinet and reupholstered the chairs with something more contemporary.

Well placed, the modern furniture should complement the cabinet and show it off, like a fine antique in a well built modern museum would.

I think the cabinet actually looks better than the table. Or maybe it is just the chairs that are too much since they have lots of lacy details. Could you break the pieces up and put everything in different rooms (or separate parts of rooms? I think that would really help with the overbearing presence. They are all beautiful pieces though and I wouldn't change them. Does the china cabinet break up into 2 pieces? Then you could use the base in a bedroom and the top as a lower profile display cabinet.

That's an awesome china cabinet. If it were mine I would try to visually lighten it by covering foam board with a modern printed fabric with colors that tied to the rest of the room and then put those boards flush against the back walls of the exposed shelves. Then I would put my white china in there. White china alone might make the cabinet look better - now it looks so empty and unwanted/unneeded. I would probably also recover the chair seats, but if that fabric is original/sentimental maybe not. To me, the vertical blinds are a bit of an eyesore, more so than the china cabinet. To integrate the old with the modern, some light curtains might be nice.

It would be helpful to see the furnishings in the adjacent area. Most examples of traditional/modern interiors mix the two up. What you have going on right now is a cluster of traditional pieces in a bare room presumably flanked by modern furnishings. A few suggestions would be to bring in a rug something to break up what right now is a huge disparity between carpet and table colors.

Also a statement light fixture. My vote would be for a modern take on a traditional chandelier.

You could take some design cues from this dining room.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.homeworkshop.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/dining-room-lounge-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.homeworkshop.com/2009/05/22/formal-dining-room-meets-swanky-lounge/&usg=__fL9Wv14nbiD-xVQDIvnkegAHgBU=&h=678&w=800&sz=113&hl=en&start=0&sig2=IKpuhDNeV6ZzADazCWEPXA&zoom=1&tbnid=r9moklXi9WKmyM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=180&ei=9_NyTKSJBo2osQPxn_3_DA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmixing%2Btraditional%2Bmodern%2Bdining%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26hs%3DYOL%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26channel%3Ds%26biw%3D1092%26bih%3D798%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=428&oei=9_NyTKSJBo2osQPxn_3_DA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&tx=85&ty=56

Add a traditional painting to the room, AXE those window coverings and replace them with Roman shades. I would reupholster the chairs with a lighter more contemporary fabric. I agree that you could move the china cabinet to another room. I inherited a huge version of this from my grandmother and I put it in our guestroom. A small cozy room with a fireplace and the thing is so big it looks like a built-in. Perhaps you could put it in your bedroom, and start to mix modern and traditional furnishings throughout your home.

Well the point is that it's an inheritance...

It's a beautiful set! I would start by reupholstering the chairs in something light/bright. If you're not afraid to paint over that lovely wood, you could do some cool stuff with high gloss white.

Absolutely gorgeous china cabinet! You can always give it to me! ^.^

But I had the same problem with my mom's china cabinet, and I use it for displaying anything BUT china. I rotate my collection of Stuff and display things appropriate to the season, holiday, or event. Mine also has a light, which makes it less overpowering.

Displaying quirky modern things also change the feeling of a cabinet like that.

I second the suggestion of using the top and bottom in different rooms if they come apart. I've done that now and then too, and it totally changes the feel

my first thought was to paint that cabinet in a high gloss white too! It's got beautiful bones, so make look a bit younger. Perk up the chairs in with a splash of color, and yes new window treatments, and you're off

Beautiful pieces of antiques. My suggestion is that the chairs and china cabinet may be too much in the same place. I had the same situation. My tastes were modern, but I inherited antiques from my parents home. I took the top (or the hutch part) of the china cabinet and placed it on top of a sleek white parsons table, to add contrast. Rather than putting china inside, I kept the doors open and added books, vases and photos inside. There was too much "wood" with the table and chairs. I ended up slipcovering all the chairs in white linen to contrast the wood table. I topped off the base of the china cabinet with modern objects to give a balanced look between the other rooms. It is my new buffet table. I added a large piece of glass on top of the table to give it more of a modern look. I got my inspiration from:

http://www.muchtodowithnothing.com/2010/02/7500-thrift-store-china-cabinet-before.html

Otherwise, best of luck, enjoy and be creative. Your set is BEAUTIFUL! I´d love to see what happens...

I wouldn't paint it. I would try it in another room, for another purpose perhaps, like as a bookshelf/office storage, bedroom or kitchen. All together the furniture is overwhelming but if you separated it it would be OK>

Paint it or wallpaper the back with something that reflects your style, and perhaps changing the fabric on the dining chairs would help, too.

While painting it white may look nice, it makes me cringe because it would destroy the original finish. I could generally careless about keeping the original finish in place if the piece is a craigslist/thrift store find, but true antique pieces it will diminish the value.

Do not paint it white or orange or gray if this is a truly valuable piece. Seperate the hutch from the table and chairs. Personally, I kind of hate the chairs and think that the hutch and the table could work with more modern chairs. Or you can seperate the top and the bottom of the hutch. You can try putting the hutch in a library, office, or family room. Finally, please recover the chairs. The red velvet just makes them seem older and stuffier than they need to be.

I have a very similar (and inherited) cabinet and dining set. We moved the cabinet into our mostly white kitchen and filled it with wine glasses and cookbooks. It doesn't seem as heavy and overwhelming in there. Separating it from the rest of the set seemed to loosen it up a bit. Good luck!

Whether it's valuable or not - I wouldn't paint it as your tastes will change as you get older and that funky orange or trendy teal won't look so cool in 10 years or so...

I'd split up the set: Use the dining furniture (with new upholstery on the seats) in the dining area and use the cabinet elsewhere such as in a den or study - place books and travel memorabilia above with your not-so attractive things behind the solid doors such as the WiFi rounter, printer, cable modem, etc.

ditto the reccs to put modern china in the china cabinet and to "wallpaper" the back of the china cabinet to lighten it up.
Also I agree with the posters who say to ditch the chairs if at all possible. The chairs are much more fussy looking than the cabinet.

Split up the set, and maybe reupholster the chairs in something bright and fun.

It looks like mass produced furniture from the 1920s - 1940s. Well made when compared with the furniture of today, but not valuable antiques. The set (cabinet, table, chairs) would sell for about $800 on craigslist. Look for a manufacturer's label or mark on the underside of the chairs, under the table, and the back of the cabinet to determine its origin. If my guess is correct, painting the furniture will not lessen its value.

I agree with the folks suggesting separating the cabinet from the rest of the set. You could re-purpose the cabinet to hold linens in a bedroom.

The chairs are particularly great, in my opinion, and they will be easy to recover. Turn the chair over, and you'll see the upholstered portion is held in place with screws. Unscrew, cover with new fabric, secure fabric with staples, and screw back on. Done!

I've been dealing with furniture from great grandparents, grandparents, and parents. I've cleaned up and sold two households of furniture in the last two years.

Very nice pieces and since they are Art Nouveau it seems fitting that these would be part of your modern collection. Modern china or collections would look great in the cabinet and I think if you re-upholstered the chairs in a modern fabric, the set would compliment your modern pieces beautifully.

I personally think the pieces look nice, but if they bother you, by all means put the pieces in separate rooms to lessen their matchiness. Before you paint or sell though, is there someone else in the family who wants this furniture as it is? If you value family relations, it may be a bad move to paint or sell without giving another family member first dibs.

Move it close to a bedroom or bathroom and fill with all white linens and towels

Beautiful pieces! For a modern, glam twist I would lacquer it (and maybe the chairs, too) in a glossy white or if you're feeling adventurous, a lime green or maybe even robin's egg blue. Any color will do that will go with your decor! Then you could add some pretty wallpaper or contact paper to the back walls of your cabinet and change the chair fabric to something modern and punchy. Buyfabrics.com has awesome high-end looking designer fabrics for cheap. Enjoy your good fortune at acquiring such wonderful pieces!

www.downtimeweblog.com

By the way, see roomservicestore.com for some inspiration. Enjoy!

www.downtimeweblog.com

you can install some light inside it. for example green light and a touch of the same color to the chairs would be great.
you can make the cabinet your home bar, that would look modern and classy at the same time.
good luck!!!

More musings: I would think about painting just the chairs, or just the table, if you want a less "matchy" look.

I was trying to express in my other comment why your chairs are special, even though they are probably late 20s mass produced, and designersdesigner said it for me: the art nouveau influence. Most dining room furniture suites from this period were of the bland duncan phyfe variety. Yours is not.

The chairs would look stunning re-upholstered with bright stripes.

Please please please please PLEASE don't paint it! It's so pretty - and there's loads of great suggestions on the board on how to really show it off in a flattering, more-modern way!

Please don't paint it!

I agree with all of the posters who recommend putting the china cabinet in a separate room from the table and chairs. I am, of course, speculating on what the rest of your furniture looks like, but you can use them as accent pieces. I also think you should reupholster the chairs and put a piece of poster-board with a light wallpaper, wrapping paper, or fabric adhered to the poster-board at the back of the cabinet to lighten it up without making any permanent changes to the finish. Also, I think you could separate the table and chairs, using the chairs individually or paired in other rooms as accent pieces.

I would go gloss white on all the wood. And re-upholster in a nice peacock, or another bold color. The lines are nice and you can make it work.

that is such a beautiful art nouveau cabinet! please don't paint it. very good advice to place the dining set & cabinet in separate rooms. in europe, people often have to mix contemporary and antiques. they look great together when done properly!

It would involve construction, but if you built a fat, rectangular niche into the wall for the cabinet to sit in, it would frame it and make it look like art, and it could become suddenly very modern.

It's difficult to make suggests on how to make these pieces work with your "modern" pieces without knowing what they look like. My best advise is that you shouldn't let this gift dictate your style. Sell them (giving family members first refusal), and get something that is right for you.

I have a similar piece and used it in the living room as a bar. It looks great.

Put it in your home office and use it for books!

Two thoughts: Do you have a guest room? Place it in there - put some baskets and nice pieces on display on the open shelves and your guests can use the bottom part as a place to put their belongings when they come to visit and use the baskets to put their jewellery and small stuff. OR: Do you have a large bathroom? This would make a great (but large) linen/display area in the room.

I'd slap a coat of paint on those babies in a heartbeat!

There are two potentially different, and wholly separate, problems here. One is merging the old with modern (doable, surely, if you really want to); the other is that the piece may be just too big (visually) for the space it is in.

Moving it is an option; if not feasible, or if you want some storage where it is, take the doors off the top and store them. Use the shelves for books - open bookcases disappear totally when lined with books. Or, line the back as suggested (I find nice wrapping paper - the kind printed and sold by the sheet - works well, and can be easily changed) and disply china, or boxes and baskets with things you want to store, or a combination of both.

You won't likely need to remove the doors from the bottom - removing from the top will reduce visual bulk nicely - but you can if you want open storage there as well.

Try it without thedoors - see what it looks like. I think you will find that works. While you might be able to use the bottom part as a TV stand or buffet if they come apart, I don't think the top, which is designed to go on a base, would look good on the floor. And it won't look as good on any other base as it will on the one it was made with. You could just store the top for now.

Don't paint!! - not because one should never paint nice wood (though I wouldn't) - but because if your problem is that you want modern, or a smaller-scaed piece, painting it won't help - at all. And remember, moving to your next home (as you will someday) may solve the problem entirely (so save those doors from being scratched while storing them.)

Speaking of reducing visual bulk, unless you have more than 4 for dinner every night, consider stashing two of those chairs somewhere else, to be pulled out when needed. And I agree they'd look better recovered - in a pattern, suble or bolder, art nouveau-ish, not a solid.

And do replace the vertical blinds - with almost anything else. That will help more than you realize. Only not with horizontal blinds, unless they are those expensive fabric ones that open and close like wide wood blinds while looking like sheers. If you do roman, do the perfectly flat one (may be called flat and not roman at all) - the kind that don't get puffy, but just fold as they roll up - they'll tie into your modern look better than anything puffy. Though be careful choosing styles with cords (even the ones behind the roman ones, not the ones used by you to pull the blinds up and down, can hang kids) if you have, or plan to have, children. A fabric pull-down simple shade, or honeycomb blind, would also work. Curtains or drapes are nice, but unless you live in the country and have no need for privacy or light control, they are a second layer over a blind or shade that can cover the whole window.

I like the idea of putting fabric on some foam board in the back of the cabinet - that'd be a great way to brighten it up!

My family used to have a hutch like that, and our newer cookie-cutter-suburban house didn't have the perfect wall for it in the dining room. We used it as a landing pad by the front door, and had china storage in the bottom, and knick-knack storage in the top. It worked great for that purpose.

can you use it it another room? I have a similar cabinet and I use it in the guest room to store extra linens and pillows.

I second the idea of adding a more contemporary color to the back of the shelving. This is best done with foam core board, cut to size and painted or covered in wallpaper or fabric to suit your modern tastes. You could also spruce up the chairs with easy reupholstry to match the new shelving backdrop. Then you can put in white china and it will really pop against the splashy modern color!

"Art Nouveau"?!

Huh?

It's a North American imitation of popular traditional French form derived from Louis XVIth style; nothing even remotely "Art Nouveau" about it...

Here is an Art Nouveau china cabinet, with the characteristic elements of the style:

http://lartnouveau.com/oeuvres/mobilier/meubgal.htm

In France and Belgium, similar pieces to this are still churned out -- a stylized, modernized version of a traditional piece of casework.

http://www.mrbeasleys.com/store/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=442

Here is another one from Belgium, solid oak, hand carved and only $750 (F-52):

http://www.antiquewarehouse.net/store/search_result.php?search=20th+century

As for the original dilemma, I think that the pieces could look fabulous in a very modern interior -- the higher the contrast, the better.

Although the wood of the china cabinet is very nice, the machined quality of the piece makes it less interesting and appealing; a very high quality, high gloss, lacquer treatment in a bright colour, such as these examples, could make it stunning.

http://www.conranusa.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=11967&cid=Storage&language=en-US

http://www.conranusa.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=21034&cid=Storage&language=en-US

http://www.conranusa.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=16178&cid=MirrorsUpholstery&language=en-US

Have fun with it!

Agree it isn't art nouveau, but copy of traditional French. Thought that was obvious.

But art nouveau fabrics DO make great dining chair covers - there are gorgeous fabrics available, they bring interesting colors and patterns to chairs, and they mix with various styles nicely (could make these chairs play well with modern furniture.) I found one of the the ones with large flowers that can be seen in this link in a fabric store and put it on my basic, 100 year old, oak t-back chairs - and it made them beautiful.
http://www.decodame.com/fabrics/art_nouveau_fabrics.htm
There are more styles available if one looks.

While the conran pieces look nice, I'd be concerned about getting the finish done properly when applying it to an old piece - it is easier to apply under factory conditions. (And I personally think these traditional styles look better in wood tones than painted.)

actually those pieces shown above are american art nouveau pieces. art nouveau was an international movement (started in Britain w/ arts & crafts movement) but spread throughout europe & other parts of the world. it looked different depending on where you were. In germany it was called jugendstil, in austria successionist art, etc. & it stressed different things & looked different depending on geography. in the u.s., it's mostly associated with tiffany and mission & craftsman furniture (esp. stickley & wright). mission furniture looks nothing like other art nouveau from other countries but there you have it. because the u.s. is especially known for its mass production, art nouveau was often mixed w/ other styles but the cabinet above was definitely influenced & followed in the art nouveau style w/ its curves, etc.

Exactly, Timmy Jr. The china cabinet is a more restrained, middle of the road version of Art Nouveau, which influenced everything from picture frames to doorknobs of that era. High end Art Nouveau of the period was much more elaborate. A strong trend is inevitably watered down by manufacturers, and it continues to happen today. Heck, even Target is selling Hollywood Regency now.

But back to Art Nouveau. I think the set is a really lovely example of it, and while it's not "safe" like the ten million Duncan Phyfe style sets of the period, it has much more appeal. Art Nouveau made a comeback in the 1960s. It's due for another one.

I wouldn't paint it just yet, if that is the only way to incorporate it into your decor then do it, but wait for a bit and see if you can do it without painting. I would start by putting the china cabinet in some other or as far away from the dining area in the living room and display some books and other items, and leave the table and chairs in the dining area. Once you recover the chairs it will update it much more, and if you take away the head and foot chairs and replace with something a little more modern, it will update it quite a bit

Please don't paint it! It's gorgeous! I agree with the above posters to either use it as a bar, put a false backing with a print inside of it, or move it to another room. I also agree with caeebo about the chairs. Maybe you can cover the tops of the chairs with some sort of pad. Or reupholster them with a funky or more contemporary fabric.

Just stumbled upon this while looking into restaining my antique china hutch and table set from my grandmother. I have checked with the family and no one else wants these pieces so after much time and consideration I have decided that I want to keep these pieces because they were my grandmothers not because they are worth anything as an antique. That being said because their purpose is sentimental and not monetary I plan to refinish the pieces in an ebony stain. The table came with captains chairs that I have replaced with parsons chairs and intend to reupholster them with the same material I used to cover some ottomans I have in the living room that blends into my kitchen.

Just thought I'd share my decision that gave me some piece of mind about altering the pieces permanently. Also, would LOVE to see what you ended up doing!