My free china cabinet!

It's official!  I'm beginning to fine tune my creative energy by focusing on painting with acrylics on canvas....flowers, pretty things in nature...more fine art instead of signs and textiles.  I have always had a desire to do so, but I couldn't seem to sit still long enough.  I know it will be good for me.  It is already so rewarding to finish a piece.  Within the past month, I painted a cow, a bouquet of flowers, lemon slices and more.  (I will share soon).  I feel like I need to work on my inventory before I start listing my art in my shop! So much to do.  I decided that I needed an accessible location to paint.  The best place with the most ideal lighting turned out to be my piano room.  However, I knew that I wanted it keep the paints and mess to a minimum, so I was on the hunt to find some sort of free standing cabinet to house my supplies.

I signed up for freecycle.org in our community quite some time ago.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Mostly I saw listings for things I wasn't interested in until someone listed this china cabinet!  We went and picked it up as soon as we could.  It was quite dirty, and I had to wipe (scrub) down the glass with vinegar multiple times before it looked clean.  I had planned to paint it, but for now, I kind of like the beautiful wood finish...so I will definitely leave it that way for a while, if not permanently.  There still needs to be a bit of repair work, but it will be easy work.

I found this wreath while visiting family over Christmas.  I knew it would look great on my cabinet, so I hung it with some green grosgrain ribbon that I had.

Even after cleaning, the interior still smelled some, so I opened a couple bars of Irish spring bar soap to sit out on the shelves.  It has helped a great deal.  Then I loaded it with my brushes, paints, and other art supplies.

There is a handy little drawer at the bottom (sorry bad photo) to keep my pallets, tabletop easels, art cloths etc.

I stumbled upon this great lamp at Walmart!  It has helped when the sun goes down, and I have touch up work to do on my paintings.

My friend in Boston gave my some great painting tips.  We took a trip up there before Christmas.  She wore an apron while she painted.  I thought this was such a great idea. :)

So, for now, this is my set up! I can easily pull of the tablecloth when company comes, and stash my supplies in the cabinet.  I have even been using my piano for a place to hold my paintings when they are dry.  It is fun to look at them when I walk past, study them from a distance, and to pick out the ones that need a little bit more tweaking.

The sun came out and the temperature rose just enough today to start melting all this snow that was dumped upon us!  I'm starting to dream a little bit of spring...