Rustic China Hutch

Emily Hilton Interior Design Expert

Emily is a young, talented designer, whose professional interests gravitate towards kitchen and dining spaces. She prides herself on her attention to detail, obsession with functionality, and appreciation for craftsmanship.

Updated 02/05/2021

For displaying your collectables or just a lovely place to put special dishes, a China hutch is a wonderful piece of furniture to have. but if the traditional China hutch that is usually very ornate is a little too much for your rustic home, then might we suggest a more rustic China hutch. These are still very lovely but not as decorative. See collection for more.

Buying Guide

How should I organize a china hutch?

Organize your china hutch, so you conserve space, ensuring that it is aesthetically pleasing to look at. While not everyone displays their china in these hutches, most do, and there are certain techniques to use when doing so.

Remove everything from your china hutch and spread the contents out on a table or floor nearby. Start organizing your china pieces here. Match up pieces, dispose of chipped or broken items, and box up anything you don’t want to display or store in your china hutch.

Beginning with the top shelf of the hutch, organize your best glassware, grouping together crystal wine glasses or delicate vases.

Move to the second shelf and lean your larger decorative plates evenly along the back. Many china hutches come with ridges along the shelf for this reason. If your china hutch does not have this feature, consider adding plate holders to keep them in place. In front of the plates, stack smaller plates, saucers, and teacups. The combination of stacked and leaning items creates a dynamic display.

Store larger vases, artistic bowls, or figurines on the third or bottom shelf. If your hutch has more than three shelves, continue to add decorative items, or if doors cover the bottom half, store items you use less frequently.

How big are china hutches?

A rustic china hutch is typically 36”- 48” wide and around 72” high, but some cabinets are much wider and even taller. Their height almost always exceeds the width, but some extremely broad hutches break this rule. They are typically at least 15” deep to accommodate larger plates, and the lower part of the hutch may be up to 20” deep to allow for larger drawers.

The interior shelf dimensions for cabinets are usually a few inches smaller than their external dimensions. Most manufacturers list these dimensions separately, so look for these in the product description if you need a hutch with a specific amount of storage space.

What color to paint a rustic china hutch?

Your rustic china hutch will look great in a farmhouse-chic or vintage environment, which means that it’s probably a good idea to paint your china hutch in a pastel or neutral color.

Popular shades in farmhouse decor right now include light blue, sage green, and butter yellow. However, you can paint your rustic china hutch in any color you choose—for example, a dark grey or forest green china hutch would make a beautiful style statement.