New Life for an Old Hutch

(For those of you who aren't fans of painted wood, this is your warning to look away now. Then again, if you're not a fan of painted wood, I highly doubt you're interested in this blog anyway!)

I love wood. I get that wood purists cringe when something could be salvaged and stained back to a beautiful wood finish. I. get. it. Anyway, this is a painted wood project. If you're a purist, take a deep breath but take a look and see what you think. And then I'm posting something for you later this week where somebody DID bring a wood piece back to life by restoring the wood and it's beautiful, too! There's room for everybody!

So, I've had the same Ikea shelf for the past six years as my bookshelf. It's served it's purposes nicely, but I've dreamed of having a nice hutch or something that made more of an impact in the room for a while.

Enter Craigslist. I scored this piece for $30 from somebody who just wanted it gone. It looks a lot better in the pictures than it did in reality. It was well-used but not anything that I couldn't get past!

I loved the glass cabinet.
And had some nice drawers and covered storage, which is a must in a house
with two toddlers.

It had nice curves.
And the drawers had nice dovetail construction. I know that's a sign of good construction from watching Antiques Roadshow all of my expertise.

I used this tutorial from the Nester. (I am sure you have, but just in case there are a few of you who haven't, please go check out The Nesting Place. It was the very first home design blog I came across in blogland, and her motto of "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" is just the best.) Anyway, I just LOVED her armoire - the color, the tutorial, everything. And I waited. And waited. And finally the time came for me to paint something that beautiful color (it's Sherwin Williams Halcyon Green).

Since the Nester started out with untreated pine, she just dove right in and DIDN'T sand or prime (since she used paint with primer in one). This wood had definitely been treated before, but I'm sort of a lazy perfectionist, and a detailed sanding just wasn't sounding fun. So, I did a quick sand to rough the surfaces and get out a lot of the nicks and scrapes.


See? Nothing major.

Here's the stuff. Isn't that color awesome? I thought about being original and finding my own color, but why would I when this one is just so perfect???


The color actually looked great with just one coat. I didn't notice a HUGE difference with between lots of prep (sanding, primer) and what I did, which was minimal at best. If this were a piece that would be used and abused more often than this, I probably would've done more.


These slats were soooo difficult to get without drips or goops. Oh well - nothing's perfect in this house (oh, that is such a freeing feeling)!

I added some new hardware, but kept the original hinges.
And here it is in its new home! I only kept the best books that we use and packed the rest in the basement. Inside those drawers are our keys, sunglasses, and odds and ends. Inside the cabinet are all of my kid books and accessories - covered and out of sight! I love it!

Great quick tip: A tip I read somewhere (if you know of who to credit for this, please let me know!) is to take the shiny paper dust jackets off your nice hardback books. I did and it looks so much more cohesive and subdued. And they are the exact same books we had before!

Come back later this week for a before and after where somebody kept the wood - it turned out just as beautiful!

I'm linking this to Kimba's DIY Party at a Soft Place to Land.....go check out some fun projects!

So, are you a painted wood fan or a purist? Does it depend on the piece or the room its for?