China Hutch Makeover Part 2

Welcome back!  When I left off the hutch had been painted and finished.  Now it was time to put new hardware or leave the old.

This is the original hardware.  There were also two round knobs for the doors which I decided to paint.

This is very close to my original vision.  Two little round things were nagging at me.

These are the original knobs.  They just wouldn't do.

I found these knobs at Hobby Lobby.  I love that they look like crackled glass.  Now my vision was fulfilled.

I have turned my attention to decorating a little bit.  I've had several good ideas from the recent Spring link up parties.

A white platter from a GW store.

A white pitcher with a very authentic crack and bright pink carnations.

A lovely card a friend made for me.

A miniature tea set Jace bought for me before we were married.

A figurine I had bought for my mother when I was a little girl.  Behind is a platter I recently bought at an estate sale.

 A real bird nest, which I'll describe in another post and eggs I colored.

I think yellow is so cheerful in Spring.  I put yellow roses and daisies in a milk pail with a yellow ribbon.  Organic lemons in a tureen from a consignment shop.  A citrus scented candle with a lace collar I crocheted myself.

A new accomplishment in my gardening.  Tulips I grew.  Quite pretty with the two colors.  I will have more solid colored tulips soon. The greenery is fennel which grows very well all winter.  It gives off a light lemon/licorice scent.

After all the hard work, Rowan helped set some things up for tea.

Within a day things around the hutch were already changing.  I hope you'll return to see the future changes.

All around the house we are making remodeling/redecorating changes.  Jace has been bitten by the chalk paint bug and is addicted!  He's taken a real interest and I think understands the style I'm going for.

The garden posts will start popping up very soon.  My planting date is March 25th.  I didn't want to risk planting anything on the 20th.  We always get a last spot of bad weather.  Wouldn't you know it, today and tomorrow will be cold, rainy, and windy.  Not a great start for new plants.  I am looking forward to this season of all things new.

I'm sharing this post with:

Seasonal Sundays #195 at The Tablescaper
Twirl and Take a Bow at Deja Vue Designs

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.

March 12, 2014 I Spent the Day Sanding

It could be another inside day here.  The wind has really kicked up and it just makes being outside kind of miserable.  I still have lots of things to do inside.  There really is always more to do than I have time for.  It should be a clue to simplify my life, and it is, but the process to get to simplicity is slow.

The Ultimate Blog Planning Notebook looks kinda promising.  I found it at Lamberts Lately through Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life.

The wind did end up remaining throughout the day.  I spent the day sanding.  I can happily say that I'm am done sanding the china hutch!  This is kind of a monumental task for me.  I was getting a little worried it was going to end up in my unfinished projects pile.  I'd love to post a picture but the hutch is sitting the wrong way.  Ah well, we will just have to wait and see the finished product.

Tomorrow we are going on a field trip for homeschool.  Very exciting activities and things to see.  Which reminds me, I should go charge the camera battery.  And I should go get myself to bed and go to sleep.

February 6, 2014

0815  I suppose the chickens want out.  They're needy like that.  Have I mentioned that one of them is trying to find their voice?  That means crowing is coming soon.  That means chicken dinner is coming soon.  Still need to watch a video on that.

Update:  I watched 2 videos.  Tomorrow might be the day...

0830  Chickens are free.  Chicken water is frozen again.  Not all the way through.  This will give them something to do.  Yesterday I gave them all my grass and weed pullings from the garden.  Is this ok?  I don't know.  They are all still alive today.  I also gave them some dog food my neighbor gave me.  They let it sit around for awhile and then they peck at it.  They seem to like it ok.  They are interesting birds but I find that I don't have a real deep affection for them.  Perhaps because I know they are livestock and are here to work and serve a purpose.  I feel the same about the rabbits.  Jace takes care of them so I don't really see them a lot anyway.

My love is for Peppermint, Lizzie, and Onslo.  I let Lizzie and Peppermint sleep on the bed last night.  A big no no, I know.  Peppermint sleeps on the bed all the time.  Lizzie was looking kind of downhearted about sleeping in the laundry room.  I think she does not like it there any longer.  Her breed is very social and she is well potty trained, so I think it may be time for her to move up in the world and stay with the family all the time.  This will of course depend on her obeying and behavior.

Today looks like it will be an inside day.  Outside it is gray, cold, and breezy at 36 degrees.  In the hoop house it is 40 degrees this morning.  No new sprouts and all the current plants look ok.

 

This cold and dreary weather is responsible for THIS! (pointing to evidence above)  It's a simple white cake recipe which I added brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and almonds to.

 

Lizzie and Peppermint sleeping.  They have been growing up together and Lizzie loves everyone and everything.  Today Rowan and I gave her a bath and conditioner.  I shaved a little more.  I'm doing it a little more and about once a week to get her used to it.  There are so many stickers that it's a lot of work trying to keep her sticker free.  It'll be easier just to keep her shaved.

 

 Isn't she cute?  I picked her up at Hobby Lobby.  I'm hoping she'll sit on the china hutch when I finish it.

This is the orange cinnamon natural cleaner I put together a couple of weeks ago.  I poured it into a bottle and put the orange peel and cinnamon sticks in the compost bucket.  It smells pretty much like you would expect:  orange, cinnamon, and vinegar.  I had already finished cleaning the kitchen (4 sink loads of dishes) so I'll have to try it tomorrow.

Lastly, this is my first paper rose I made last night.  I followed the youtube video.  For color I used a couple drops of red food coloring in about a quarter cup of water.  I'm looking forward to making some more. 

January 28th, 2014 Sanding the China Hutch Is Not Going As Planned

0830  Waking up back on the homestead.  I'm done with work till the end of the week.  The weather is 28 degrees and showing some freezing rain or snow.  It's 47 degrees in the hoop house.  It'll be an inside day here.  I'll be going out for an eye appointment.  I purposely scheduled all my doctor checkups during this time of bad weather.  It does look like Thursday and Friday will be nice days.

I need to work on the blog appearance.  It's on the same list as needing to put away laundry and needing to plant my okra seeds.  I did soak the seeds but now they are sprouting in the water.  I might need to redo soaking the seeds and planting.

 

I've been enjoying eating dried fruit that I keep stored in jars instead of their ugly plastic wrapper.

 

 

Onslo is a dog who thinks he's a bird because he made a nest with his blanket.  He's refusing to come out.

0315  My sanding project came to a halt.  I need to palm sand the china hutch I bought the other day.  I got everything ready and the palm sander does not work.  It's been sitting around for much too long.  Looks like tomorrow I will go get a new one.  I don't want to let this project wait too long or it won't get done.   

January 24, 2014 Ice Storm Results and a China Hutch

0730  Up with the coffee maker.  I thought Jace was up so I was actually tricked into getting up.  Let the dogs out.  They were naughty and made several piles of poo.  Not what I like waking up to.  But let's face it, if they are too chicken to go out in the cold, then they're going to poo on the floor.

0735  Poo cleaned up.  Still no Peppermint.  I let her out last night and it was sleeting.  I checked for her several times up until midnight.  I'm pretty sure she's a popsicle and we'll have to wait till Spring to get a search party gathered to find her.

I went and checked on the chickens.  Surprise!  The lock is frozen so I can't let them out.  Off to the hoop house to get some scissors to break the ice.  I check the temperature in the hoop house.  Yippee!  It's a balmy 40 degrees in here.  It's 27 outside.  Maintaining 13 degrees difference is great.  It rarely gets below freezing here and the whole purpose of the hoop house is to get plants started early and not having them freeze.  The hoop house held up fine.  There's ice on the outside of it.  I worry that this will have an effect on it, like it will shatter.

I make it back to the chickens and bust open that lock.  They are tweeting like mad.  Out of the door they come.  Don't they know there's ice all over the ground?  They really seem to have a mob mentality.  Not particularly intelligent and they all join in.  "Yes, let's all jump off this cliff."

0800  Having my coffee.  Lizzie gives 3 short barks.  I go check, and yep, there's Peppermint.  She doesn't look bad and is eager to come inside.  Now I can relax.  Stupid cat.  Off to more exciting things now, paying bills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I went to town to the resale shop.  I was planning on going to a few different stores.  I'm searching for some chairs for my table.  I have some rickety cheap chairs that just aren't holding up well.  I don't mind nice looking used things.  

I've been searching for a China hutch for a loooooong time.  I've found the right one many, many times, but the price has been too steep.  I saw this and thought, "Here we go again.  At least $900 I'm sure."  Instead it was $300.  It's solid maple.  I'll probably never see one this nice for that price again.  I will also keep it forever.  So I bought it right away.  I've learned that if it's an item you know in your heart of hearts you will use and keep for a very long time, you should buy it right away, otherwise it WILL be gone when you come back.  Contrary to the picture, I will not keep my shoes on it.