Curio cabinets have become a pleasure in and of themselves because they are a great way to show off your favourite things and memories to friends and family, keep all your treasures in one place so you can look at them every day, or keep your 5-year-old from breaking your growing collection of porcelain dolls.
Curio cabinets started out as places to keep curios, which are objects of art, knickknacks, and other things that are strange or unusual and might be worth collecting because of that. This definition could, of course, include silver spoons from Alaska, all kinds of wedding and christening favours, crystals, face masks from Africa, and maybe even shrunken heads from the Amazons of Ecuador and Peru.
But these days, curio cabinets can be used for anything:
Display your family's love of sports by putting up your son's bowling trophies next to your husband's signed baseballs.
- Store your valuable family heirlooms, like your great-turquoise grandmother's and silver comb, your grandfather's golden pen, your mother's old sapphire brooch that you wore on your wedding day, and your son's first baby picture.
- You could also keep dust and dirt off the brass alto saxophone that you plan to learn to play when you retire.
But how do you pick the perfect curio cabinet for you? Find out how by asking yourself the questions below.
How to pick the right curio cabinet
When you buy a curio cabinet, the first thing you should think about is what you will put in it. If it's a tall brass alto saxophone, you should get a tall, traditional curio cabinet with fitted glass doors to keep dust out and removable glass shelves to make room for your favourite musical instrument.
- How much light is there where you want to put your curio cabinet? Is it in the sunroom, where there's a lot of natural light, or in a dark part of the house? If it's the latter, you need an illuminated cabinet to light up the corner and make your displays stand out.
- How much room do you have for your display case?
- Is the space tall and wide enough? Then you might want to get a traditional curio cabinet in dark cherry that is 44 inches wide, 17 inches deep, and 79 inches tall.
If the space isn't as big, a modern curio cabinet with dimensions of 24W x 12D x 76H inches may be a better choice.
- If you want something low and wide, like in a family room or den, a golden oak console curio cabinet measuring 56W x 13D x 30H inches is probably what you need.
And if it's at an angle in a corner, you might want a curio cabinet that fits snugly in a corner and is about 28 inches wide, 16 inches deep, and 72 inches tall.
- Another thing to think about is whether you want your curio cabinet to look like the rest of the furniture in the room.
If you want to keep a traditional look, you might choose from grand old-fashioned designs with beveling, hand-carved details, and dark wood finishes.
- If the room is modern, you might want a curio cabinet with lots of mirrors and glass and clean lines and lighter wood finishes.
- What kind of wood or other material do you like?
If price is an issue and you don't mind how MDF or engineered wood looks, you could choose a curio cabinet made of strengthened pressed particle board with a laminate or wood veneer on top.
- If you think a solid wood curio cabinet sounds like a good investment, you should get one made from oak or maple, which are popular hardwoods that only get better with age.
- Last but not least, how much money do you have?
- Are you willing to spend $2,000 on a Pulaski curio cabinet with a Louis XV design, which is a beautiful accent piece that can change the whole feel of your living room?
- Or do you just want a simple wall curio cabinet, like one you can get on eBay for $20, to put your collection of dog figurines?
