Instructions
1. Decide what type of style and mood your room is to help you select what will go on the hutch. If it is a stately, formal room, displaying your fine china and crystal will fit better than than bright dishes. If the room is casual country, expensive crystal and polished silver may look out of place, but mismatched china from thrift shops will look at home.
2. Select pieces with a color pallet so that they are complimentary to each other. Try to avoid too much of a mixture of different bright colors, or it will appear busy and distracting. Add neutral elements, such as white porcelain, glassware or silver for contrast rather than mixing many different colors of plates and cups together.
3. Select pieces of varying sizes and shapes. For clean lines and a minimalist look, line up pieces of similar size and shapes. For most other looks, vary the sizes and shapes of pieces for interest. Start with a larger piece in the back, then place medium-sized pieces next to it or smaller pieces in front of it.
4. Consider stacking flatware rather than lining it along the back of the hutch. Line the back with your decorative trays and serving pieces, then place shorter stacks of plates in front of it so they are ready to be used.
5. Don't clutter your hutch as though it were a store display. Use spacing wisely so that it draws the eye through all the pieces and doesn't look like an overcrowded storage area.
6. Group similar pieces in clusters, such as a set of Asian tea cups, or a few mismatched vases to make them look like a deliberate collection rather than a hodgepodge of unrelated items placed haphazardly.
7. Add some odd items for visual interest, such as a piece of folk art, an antique blender, decorative candlesticks or vase of dried herbs.
8. Replace some accent items seasonally to keep the decor in line with the mood of the season. For example, using a bowl of apples in the fall, red candles for the winter, a fresh bouquet of herbs in the spring and tea roses for the summer.
Tags: dining room, rather than, look like, room hutch, room will, Select pieces, sizes shapes