I’m on the hunt for a nice cabinet for my new updated kitchen, so when I go to auctions these days, I earnestly check out the furniture. It’s different from how I have looked at furniture at auction in the past.
I was drawn to the stuff that was interesting and bold or just plain unusual.
Recently, though, I was purposefully walking through the furniture at an auction house after I saw a cabinet on its website that I thought I could use. I searched for it among the thick rows of brown furniture (that’s what antiquers call the old heavy stuff that no one buys anymore) and a large array of unused bathroom cabinets but never found it.
Instead, I came face to face with something I thought was even nicer: a modern colorful cabinet that was too big for the space in my kitchen but was lovely. The auction house described it as a “Country Style French Storage Cupboard.” I’m not sure what that means, but I did read a hilarious blog post about French country style and what it is and is not.
The cabinet was about six feet tall, made of metal, wood and glass, and inscribed: “Chateau d’ Abbeville, 1537, Picardie.” It had open shelving, metal and wood drawers and two compartments that looked like a locker.
As I continued my rounds at the auction house, I found a matching cabinet, much smaller and sitting atop another piece of furniture. Neither of the cabinets worked for me because I needed one to hide appliances, not show them off through glass doors.
In another row of furniture, I found a cabinet that was effusive with inspiring phrases: Dream Big, Create Something Every Day, Be Kind, Say I Love You. It was obviously for the bedroom to remind you every morning that life is good.
Maybe I should just forget the cabinet and consider an artsy bar in the shape of a metal scooter with shelving in the back. That one was backed up against a wall away from the furniture.
