March 19, 2014 China Hutch Makeover Part 1

At the end of January I wrote about finding a china hutch.  I love it so much that if I wasn't already married I'd be marrying it.  I'm nearing the completion and thought I would share how far it's come.

How many times did mother tell you to keep your shoes off the furniture!

I found the hutch on Craigslist.  A local consignment shop posts pictures of things they have on sale.  The owner of the shop told me the history of it belonging to a little old lady and was a much loved piece in her family.  The hutch is made of maple.  I was not fond of the color and Jace said it looked like 70's wood paneling.  It was still hard to sand because I was afraid I was going to make a mistake and ruin it.  In a fit of what I felt was complete lunacy I sanded most of it but left some unsanded.

 

I had been reading about a lot of projects done with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and it sounded marvelous!  I looked up a local distributor and Jace and I took a trip to the next town.  We were quite blown away by the cost.  In fact we left the store laughing.  $38.95 for a quart of paint and $28.95 for the wax.  $67.90.  Holy Moly!  I don't even remember the cost of the brush.  This was just too expensive even if it was a miracle in a can.  (I still shake my head when I think back and know how relatively cheap it is to make your own chalk paint.)

I came home dejected and settled on going with Plan B, regular paint.  Then I saw a recipe for making your own chalk paint.  This sounded more reasonable, but I didn't have plaster of Paris.  Jace said we did, or something that was comparable.  It was pottery plaster.  We had gotten it at Hobby Lobby for a project for homeschool.

 

I also had a brand new gallon of Olympic interior paint in Antique white.  I always have this paint since it is the color on my living room, kitchen, and hallway walls, although, I'm giving serious thought to going greige.  I mixed the pottery plaster and paint in a 1 to 3 ratio.  I did not have furniture wax but I wanted a more durable tough coating.  I have an 8 year old with a skateboard.  I did have a can of polyerethane on hand.  So far this makeover is costing me nothing!

 Painting went very quickly.  I noticed this stuff dries fast!  I finished all the painting in one day.

 

I asked my very strong and manly husband to help me lift the hutch back up.  I paid him with a kiss.  I'm getting excited at this point because I can really see the hutch turning out the way I imagined.

Just a little more paint and it's done!  At this point I had started giving it a light sanding with 220 grit paper.  Only a couple of swipes and it had a smooth velvet finish.  I did not do a lot of distressing because I'm not experienced with it yet.  I didn't want to overdo it.  I began painting on one coat of the polyurethane.  From the things I read about the wax I don't think what I did took any more time than if I had used a wax finish.

I stored the left over paint in a jar and it kept well overnight.  I'm planning on using it on a small table.  This paint really does go a long way.

 I reached my goal of being able to place my first plate for display.  I love that the shelves have built in tracks for displaying plates.

 

I found this plate at my local grocery store a couple of weeks ago.  I bought the last one.  I think it is so appropriate for life here on the one acre homestead.

This is where I ended last night.  This piece is such an inspiration.  Jace and I were up at midnight having a decorating explosion of ideas for other areas of the house.  I hope you can join me for the completion of this project.

I'm sharing this post with Deja Vue Design's Twirl and Take a Bow, A Delightsome Life's Home and Garden Thursday, Common Ground's Be Inspired #181.