Every­one needs a lit­tle cab­i­net of curiosi­ties, right? If you haven’t owned one at some point I am will­ing to bet you know some­one who does! I remem­ber the old fash­ioned curios that we’re real­ly pop­u­lar in the late 80s ear­ly 90s. My mom had one filled with angels she used to col­lect. Glass cab­i­net styling back then meant you placed your most prized pos­ses­sions behind the glass doors and then tru­ly they became dust col­lec­tors that no one was allowed to touch. 

I was recent­ly gift­ed an old-fash­ioned oak curio from my aunt and I was excit­ed to get my hands on it! First of all, I found soooo many tuto­ri­als on paint­ing and refin­ish­ing these glass cab­i­nets but there was so much to sift through. I was not real­ly look­ing to refin­ished the one I was gift­ed right away, just sim­ply want­ed to put my eyes on a few inspi­ra­toinal ideas for styling those glass shelves. 

This is a col­lec­tion of my very favorite pieces, whether repaint­ed or kept in their orig­i­nal glo­ry, I think you will find each of these glass dis­plays inspir­ing when it comes to your own cabinets. 

Let’s take a look.

This antique beau­ty is full of some of my very favorite styling pieces. Old books add inter­est and added height to the beau­ti­ful pot­tery and artwork.

I am lov­ing the min­i­mal­ist look here in this green cab­i­net. Greens are com­ing more and more pop­u­lar in mod­ern decor. It would be a great col­or choice if you are look­ing to mod­ern­ize the one you have had for so many years.

A clas­sic chip­py white cab­i­net is always a good idea. Short­er, more broad cab­i­nets tuck welk into the awk­ward space under­neath stair­cas­es, like this one. Lay­er your heavier/bulkier pieces at the bot­tom for good bal­ance. Fold­ed blan­kets can also bring tex­ture to the shelves, which is espe­cial­ly help­ful when styled next to a cozy chair.

This round­ed style is very sim­i­lar to the one I was gift­ed, and it may be more com­mon in house­holds from the 80s. I adore the crisp grey col­or paired with a fresh white back­ground. White on white gives an instant­ly classy farm­house vibe.

This is my cab­i­net I men­tioned before. A clas­sic, com­mon curio from the late 80s, ear­ly 90s. I left it the orig­i­nal wood col­or for now but I plan to use one of my favorite wood bleach­ing tech­niques once this room gets a fresh coat of alabaster paint. I enjoy the nat­ur­al wood tones paired with whites and creams. That is the look I hope to achieve with this cab­i­net. You can see the full reveal of my old fash­ioned curio here.

It’s not secret that a glass cab­i­net can add a wow fac­tor to a room but did you think about adding one to the bath­room? I sure did­n’t. After see­ing the state­ment this black beau­ty makes styled with bath­room neces­si­ties, I may just have to go on the search for anoth­er cab­i­net! Sim­ply stun­ning and very func­tion­al too!

Again, lean­ing into the black as a col­or choice. This glass beau­ty has all the Euro­pean farm­house vibes. Dark, moody and paired with art­work and brass accents. A short­er cab­i­net like this one can also dou­ble as a stand for plants or a dis­play for old­er pottery.

This crisp clean white cab­i­net is show­stop­per. Pot­tery, books, scales, greenery…it lit­er­al­ly has all my favorite things when it comes to shelf styling. Note the wall­pa­per in the back­ground. This would be a great way to update old pan­el backing!

Again, anoth­er short­er style but that does­n’t mean it can be any less of a state­ment piece. Use it to store your kitchen chi­na, a prized col­lec­tion and even dis­play our larg­er prints on top!

Are you look­ing for some accent pieces or green­ery to fill your own glass cab­i­net? I would love to help you find the per­fect pieces from my home decor boutique!