Glass Curio cabinets Designs

Glass curio cabinets are a nice way to display those little odds and ends that every good collector picks up. While there are dedicated collectors out there that specialize in one or maybe two types of collections, the vast majority of people tend to collect odds and ends from their daily lives. Dedicated collectors often have specialized methods of preserving and displaying their collections, but for those of us who almost randomly and haphazardly pick up anything for display and collection, glass curio cabinets are one of the most attractive ways to organize our assorted memorabilia.

The Four Types Of Glass Curio Designs

There are a lot of different designs for curio cabinets, and you should pick ones that will best display your little toys. One of the first considerations you should choose is the general type of Cabinets you want. There are four major types of glass curio cabinets, namely: wall mount type Cabinets, shelf type Cabinets, corner display Cabinets, and centerpiece Cabinets.

Wall Mount

Wall mount Cabinets are handy and usually don't take up too much space, and can be used for displaying almost anything. Favorite uses for wall mounted glass curio cabinets are as racks for long items like fishing rods and rifles, or for displaying rows of a certain item like vases, books, rocks, and other similar-sized items.

Shelf Design

Shelf type glass curio cabinets are usually not made entirely of glass, with heavy frames made from a sturdier material and only the actual shelf space made from glass. They are similar in use to wall mount glass Cabinets, but are larger and thus able to take heavier items but consequently being bulkier. One thing about shelf type glass curio cabinets that sets them apart from wall mounted ones is that they often come with a pair of sliding glass panels on the front that can be locked to keep your little toys secure. Realistically speaking, this won't deter a determined burglar, who can simply smash in the glass, but these sliding panels go a long way towards keeping your kids and snoopy relatives from casually pawing your collection.

Corner Curio

Corner type glass panels are one of my favorites: these are designed to fit securely in a corner, making them unobtrusive and taking up relatively little space in a room. Their biggest drawback is that they don't have much room for bulky items, but they are perfect for displaying small curiosities. Their shapes are rarely just a square. More often, they will have two sides made to fit snugly into a room corner, and the exposed side can be anything from another flat angle (making the Cabinets a triangle) or rounded off to maximize room for your displays.

Centerpiece

Lastly, there are centerpiece glass curio cabinets. These are one of the most beautiful applications of glass for Cabinets. More often than not these are made entirely of glass, or at the very least will be composed of a central wood or metal shaft around which the glass Cabinets layers are mounted. As the name implies, these are designed to be placed standing alone in the center of a room, displaying your collection from every angle. The shape of the glass panels determines the shape of the Cabinets, and these are rarely just simple squares. The designs often come in perfect circles or hexagon panels.

Using Your Imagination

Given the four major types of glass curio cabinets, it just takes a bit of imagination to show your collection off to best advantage. Using different shaped panels for each layer of your Cabinets is one option that appeals to some people. While this may just wind up making it looking cluttered and disorganized, if you do it right it can come across beautifully. For example, a glass shelf-type Cabinets can have its lowest layer be a solid rectangular piece, then the upper layers are roughly U-shaped and progressively have larger cut-outs, so that the Cabinets ends up looking like an amphitheater.

Changing sizes between panels to alter the overall shape of the Cabinets is another idea. For example, with a centerpiece glass curio cabinets you can use progressively smaller sizes of circular panels the higher up you go to make it look like an archetypical christmas tree, for example, or progressively smaller perfect square layers to make it look like a pyramid.

Lastly using stained, etched, or frosted glass panels are just some of the other ideas you can apply. Why limit yourself to regular glass, after all? You can increase the artistic visual appeal of your curio cabinets by using different types of glass. All you need to do is find a local glass worker who you can hire to make specialized panels for your Cabinets, and you're good to go.