- 1). Examine the glass on the hutch's doors and keep in mind the width in which the china will be seen. Often the center doors come together with a wide expanse of wood in the middle. The wood obscures the center of the hutch shelves, which you should keep in mind during placement.
- 2). Dust the plate grooves at the back of the hutch shelves. These are created to allow a plate to stand upright securely for display purposes. The number of plates you can display depends on the width of your china hutch.
- 3). Place four or more dinner plates upright in the hutch's plate grooves on the top shelf.
- 4). Place a small dab or ball of clear museum gel or wax beside each plate to keep it from rolling from side to side in the groove.
- 5). Place a dessert or salad plate in front of each dinner plate. Make sure the dessert or salad plates are lying flat on the shelf.
- 6). Place a saucer on top of each dessert or salad plate.
- 7). Place a coffee or tea cup on top of each saucer.
- 8). Use a little dab or ball of clear museum gel or wax under the back edge of each plate/saucer/cup to keep each item from rattling.
- 9). Place the serving pieces on the second shelf, choosing the most attractive pieces to be closer to the front of the hutch glass.
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Place smaller china pieces or other heirlooms behind the larger pieces, alternating in a sort of zigzag pattern to position a smaller item in the left back corner, a larger serving piece in the front near the glass, a smaller item in the center back and a larger serving piece in the front right near the glass. Do this until you run out of room or items. - 11
Place miscellaneous or unmatched heirloom china pieces on a third shelf if you have one, or more place settings if you don't. Often only four place settings are displayed in a hutch, while the rest of the china sits protected in zippered storage cases in a hutch drawer or lower cupboard. The idea is to give the viewer a sampling of your china collection and serving pieces.
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