Hutch Updated to 21st Century

 

Hutch Before

Many people have a China cabinet or hutch such as this one as they a useful to house those precious collectibles, dishes and fancy glassware. And likely because they tend to be large and cumbersome, people are reluctant to replace them with newer versions because of cost, sentimentality or wanting to leave it to a loved one. This is one of the things we enjoy doing, breathing new life and purpose into such a treasured piece of furniture. Although this cabinet had more than served its purpose and was far from retiring, it required some updating. Still an attractive piece of furniture, it was well worth doing to give it a modernized look while still retaining the elements which were original to the design.

Hutch After

Our customer had wanted to keep the wood look instead of selecting paint, and had chosen a fog gray stain so she could still see the woodgrain. She had also asked that the top scalloping in the center be removed, one update, and the other that the plate rack on the bottom portion be eliminated. She had other plans for this large hutch which didn't involve using it for dishes and collectibles. Therefore Jim cut off the outdated scalloped top and carefully removed the plate rack, which resulted in a modernized, streamlined cabinet. Luckily, this massive piece of furniture came in two sections, as most large pieces do. 

There was a lot of prep work involved. Once the scalloped top and plate rack were removed, he proceeded to mask off the glass and mirrors and start the tedious process of stripping the entire thing. This was quite a lengthy process because of the glass and large mirrors on the top half of the hutch. It was also a large area to cover and some of it was hard to reach, even for Jim who has long arms! So after the stripping and sanding was complete, Jim finished this piece off with satin polyurethane to protect the surfaces. The finalized refinished hutch was stunning. Same bones, different facing. The best of both worlds. 

Our customer had chosen new hardware which looked fabulous and is using this lovely piece as a display case in her office environment. It's very cool to see it in its new home, isn't it? Leave comments below. We'd love to hear from you.

Dining Room Set Painted

China Cabinet Before

Wow! This was a big job. Lots of pieces and lots of work,

China Cabinet After

attention to detail and planning. A traditional dining set which was selected to be painted for an updated look to match our customer’s new home. The wood tone no longer suited and after selecting various stains in light shades, we moved into a different direction; paint. With thousands of paint colors available with as many names to match, we ended up with “Dorian Gray,” by Sherwin-Williams. It was a great color; light enough to look fresh but not super bright as white would have been.

Hutch Before

The China cabinet had a lot of curves and detail, so the doors and

Hutch After

drawers were removed and the entire cabinet was sanded, primed and painted, interior and exterior. The hardware was also painted in an accent gunmetal gray metallic, which looked splendid with the new paint in a high gloss finish. The hutch got the same treatment. The color really brought out the carving and details of the pieces.

The other challenge was the six chairs, including two armchairs. These had been re-upholstered many years ago with leather with decorative brass nail heads, but it wasn’t what our customer wanted, I suggested double welting instead of decorative nails. 

The chairs took a long time just to remove the fabric, three hours per chair. There were so many nail heads and beneath them, a million or so staples and smaller nails holding the previous leather in place. It was a very time consuming job leaving Jim and I both with sore hands and shoulders. After that each chair had to be masked off on the seat area, sanded, primed and painted. After they dried, they were ready for fabric, which was custom ordered. While waiting for the fabric, I added decorative detailing paint to the top center of each chair, to  highlight the scallop design. It tied both the light and dark gray colors together and matched the painted hardware. It’s fun adding “bling” to a project.

Armchair After

Armchair Before

The fabric our customer chose was a dark gray plush with a nap and was gorgeous for the freshly painted chairs. Cutting fabric has a sequence. First you need to cut a piece about 4” larger than the area you are covering to allow movement and positioning. 

If the fabric has a pattern, you’ll want to pay attention to the focal point and place the pattern in the center of the seat, working around it to center it prior to attaching it. You tack it in place then stretch it to center it. It’s essential to carefully cut around the arms of the chairs so that you aren’t short. You cut in a “Y” seam perpendicular to the chair’s arm. Precision is key here. Once the fabric is stretched into place, have a pneumatic stapler ready and loaded is essential to get the job done efficiently. It’s my new favorite tool. 

The dining room table had three leaves, which made it a fairly large piece. Painting large surfaces requires patience and a lot of skill. The glossy finish was perfect for this classic design. What a difference!

This was a lengthy job with many challenges, but we love how it turned out and that’s the ultimate reward.

Table Before

Table After

Chair Before

Chair After

China Cabinet Transforms to Coffee Station

China Cabinet Before 

New Self-Serve Coffee Bar

This is another example of how to redefine what an item of furniture can become by employing a few creative elements, a dash of imagination and a coat of paint. This was a 1980’s era China cabinet which held a collection of, well, China. It likely housed glasses, knick-knacks and crystal. But my daughter had wanted this cabinet to be used at “Roasted” in downtown Marine City’s Water Street as a self-serve coffee station to replace the old coffee bar during the store’s recent design upgrades and painting.

Her vision was to remove the top doors and paint the entire cabinet, then add wood to the interior to match the paneled wood in the restaurant’s bottom portion of the wall that complements the new paint color. She got the idea on Pinterest, but Jim was able to modify the original design to fit the needs of the coffee shop and size of this general cabinet.

He removed the top glass doors (as they were no longer being used) and lined the interior with the same wood panels to match the theme of the newly decorated coffee shop. Jim removed the original front bottom door panels and replaced them with the same panels as the interior. He built a raised platform so the coffee station would be ergonomically sufficient. This also created storage directly beneath for napkins, sugar, stir sticks, etc. The bottom portion would hold coffee cups and other supplies easily reachable but hidden behind the newly fashioned doors. The final updated cabinet was stunning. A ship’s wheel clock was the perfect design element that perfectly tied in with the coffee shop’s new theme and matched the new coffee station perfectly. You can see the cabinet at “Roasted,” which is located at 218 S. Water Street, Marine City, Michigan.

Antique Oak China Cabinet

China Cabinet Before

China Cabinet After

We acquired this gorgeous oak China cabinet and immediately saw its potential. It was in almost perfect condition, with three mirrors, two glass shelves and two wood shelves. It had the original hardware and needed just a little work to expose its original glory.

Of course, as with all projects, I get "before" photos before beginning any project. Luckily, this large cabinet had wheels, which made it much easier to maneuver.

Other than minor scratches, the cabinet needed little other than touch-up and a good cleaning. I carefully removed the shelves, then unscrewed the angled shelving brackets, each made of brass, as well as the original brass handle and put them aside to be polished. The bowed glass door's molding had a few missing nails, so I used my pin nailer to reinforce the tiny 1/4" molding, holding the glass firmly in place. (I love my small nailer!) This process can be a bit dicy, because the molding holds the glass in place, therefore you don't have a lot of space in which to shoot nails, as the last thing you want to do it break that glass! Once that was done, I cleaned the interior glass first, then the exterior, which showed a lot of dust and smudges, likely from being stored.

Furniture Goes to the Navy!

China Cabinet Before

China Cabinet After

I'm always up to a challenge, and this job was no different. I received a
call from a client who had an antique China cabinet and matching buffet she wanted painted a dark navy blue. When I arrived at her house, she showed me the two pieces, which were lovely, but worn out and tired looking. A new coat of paint was just what the doctor ordered!

She told me she wanted a very dark, almost black navy, so I gave her the Sherwin-Williams color palette so she could choose the color. She selected #6244, Naval. It was the deepest navy blue they offered. I told her I agreed it was the right color. She preferred a "high gloss" finish, which I also thought would be a perfect choice that would complement the original brass hardware.

The process was a long, tedious one which involved a lot of preparation. We removed all the hardware, which would have to be polished. All drawers had to be removed since they'd be painted separately. There was a broken center bottom molding on the buffet, which had to be repaired and reinstalled. Other than minor repairs, the furniture was in great shape.



Buffet Before

Buffer After

The next step was sanding all the surfaces smooth. Jim took care of this while I painstakingly removed the molding, glass and filigree wood inside of the China cabinet's doors. The glass was held in place with 1/4" trim molding and attached with 5/8" nails. Luckily there weren't a lot of nails, but the ones I removed were difficult, as I didn't want to damage the molding. I carefully slid a thin metal putty knife between the interior of the door and the molding and gently pried the molding forward, revealing each nail. When I was certain I could grab the nail, I used my vice grips and tugged, until all nails were out, then carefully peeled the molding away from the edge. This took over an hour for just two doors. After I had removed the molding, I then marked each edge so that reassembly would be easy. (When working on this type of job, it's important to think ahead!)

Petite China Cabinet Makeover

China Cabinet Before

China Cabinet After

This beautiful little China cabinet was a petite, 54" tall. When we first found it at an antique shop in Lexington, something about its "quaintness" appealed to me. I was unsure what kind of wood lie beneath the many layers of stain that had been applied over the years. After many tedious hours of stripping, we revealed gleaming pine underneath all that stain and the wood grain was once again visible. This was a 2-month project in the making, between other projects and we wanted to do this piece justice. The original interior had ugly, hacked up wooden shelves, not original to the piece. Both Jim and I decided that glass shelves would make this special little beauty sparkle. Then Jim suggested we take it a step further and add some "bling" by installing a mirror onto the back. Since the back was recessed, this required Jim's special carpentry skills. He had to add a "filler" to the back of the cabinet, bringing it level with the shelves, so that the mirror fits in position, perfectly.

Cabinet in its new home!

On the day we installed the mirror, it was a nail-biting experience until it was firmly and safely in place. Once there, we knew she'd be just great. Indeed, this little gem turned out to be one the most gorgeous pieces we've done so far. Adding "bling" to any old piece of furniture can turn an ugly duckling into a sparkling, beautiful swan.

I ended up selling this cute little cabinet to another customer who had also purchased my oval table. She bought the table and I showed her this cabinet. A few days later she informed me that she just had to have it and came back yesterday to pick it up. It's now a part of her home, gracing her foyer. This is the part of the restoration process that most appeals to me; when the piece I've lovingly restored, finds a new home and has brought someone who cherishes it as much pleasure in owning as I had in restoring.

Good bye, my little treasure!