How to decorate a glass display cabinet
A common piece of furniture in any traditionally styled living room, a glass display cabinet gives you the opportunity to arrange your favourite items, ornaments or anything that reflects your personality to guests within your home. But if you currently have an empty display cabinet and don’t know what to put in it or feel that the cabinet simply isn’t standing out as you’d hoped, you may feel lost for ideas.
In this blog, we offer tips on what you could do to decorate your glass cabinet, including items that could work in it and installing lighting.
How to decorate a display cabinet
Whether you want to accentuate the features of a new display cabinet or simply want to add a new lease of life to a cabinet that’s old and in need of a revamp, there are a few finishing touches you can add to help it fit into your home.
What to put in a glass display cabinet
When you bring a display cabinet into your home, you may have made the decision to buy it based on the visual appearance and the impact it could have on making the room feel more homely. However, something you need to bear in mind is what you’ll display in it, especially as it could contribute to how your glass cabinet looks.
If you have a collection of cards, trinkets or figures, a glass cabinet with internal shelving could be the perfect place for displaying these items safely, while also visually telling visitors what you’re interested in. Alternatively, you could use it as a place to store champagne and other alcoholic beverages for special occasions.
Other items you could put in your display cabinet:
- Artwork
- Awards
- Books
- Candles
- Glassware
- Jewellery
- Ornaments
- Photo frames
- Plates
- Potted plants
- Reed diffusers
- Statues
- Valuables
- Vinyl records
How to display plates in a cabinet
Plates are often displayed in a glass cabinet, but if you’re unaware of how to do this, you may need some guidance to make everything look just right.
Steps for displaying plates in a glass cabinet:
- Identify the shelf or shelves you want to utilise. If you only want to use one shelf, it would be advisable to use the middle shelf out of three or the higher shelf if the cabinet only has two. If, however, you want to display plates throughout the entire cabinet, you can evenly spread them across every shelf.
- Start by displaying the larger plates along the back of the cabinet, almost making it look like they’re leaning against the back. You can then display smaller plates in front and so on and so forth, prioritising any that match if possible.
- Some display cabinets that are designed for plates have indentations for the plates to fit. However, if this isn’t the case, you should use plate holders to prevent the plates from falling.
- As a finishing touch, if there are any gaps left, you could use any cups and other matching crockery to keep within the theme while using up the remaining space.
How to light a display cabinet
Another way to bring some life to your display cabinet is by lighting up the cabinet and its contents. You can do this by installing lighting within it, and while this may sound like a difficult task, it’s actually relatively easy and there are several ways of doing it.
How to install LED lights in a display cabinet
Methods of using LED lights in your display cabinet include:
Install LED strips -
For a solution that is effective and reliable, consider fitting LED lighting around the inside edges of the cabinet. You can then drill a small hole in a hidden section for connecting the wire from mains power to the lighting. If you want even more control, you could even consider using an LED strip set that allows you to manage the lighting remotely or change the colour or brightness.
Attach LED puck lights - If you want an easy alternative that avoids the need to make permanent changes to your display cabinet, you could consider attaching battery powered LED lights. Simply attach them to the underside of each shelf using stickers or double sided cellotape, and when the lights die, remove them to replace the batteries.
Fern xx
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