A Girl and her Hutch

The hutch in my dining room is one of my biggest display areas. And since I own 933 white plates and pitchers and things, it's always something I'm tweaking. Much to my husband's amazement and disbelief. "You just tweaked it the other night!" Yes, but I bought one new white plate and it threw the whole thing off. You know what I mean.

It started like this:

which felt way too cluttered.

Problem is, even though I dream of taking a crowbar to that middle strip of wood to free up the display space, I fear the whole thing would come crashing down. So I don't. I work around it. And the top shelf is so short almost nothing fits up there, which limits the options quite a bit. Come to think of it, at least 3 of my really cool large white platters don't fit in here on any shelf.

Anyways, it led to this


and this

{which is shocking now that I see it in print. It's literally a dumping ground for all things dish.}

and finally this




I used the Nester's idea of mounting scrapbook paper to the back of it, but I didn't have enough of 1 kind for all the shelves and I didn't like the stuff I had on hand for the other shelves. So I just did the middle shelf. And I think I kind of like it.

What do you think? Too much going on still? Is it weird with only one shelf backed with paper? Should I pack away more of my junk into those overstuffed drawers and cabinets, start over, or leave as is? I pray you suggest the latter. There's nothin' like a maniac in capri pants rearranging her hutch for the fourth time this week, husband and children starving in the background, house all torn asunder, for the love of the tweak.

{Real Tweakers beware, I am totally not talking about that kind of tweaking. This is for home decor tweakers and Martha wannabees only, please.}