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 Therefore Jim cut off the outdated scalloped top and carefully removed the plate rack, which resulted in a modernized, streamlined cabinet.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.

1940's Hutch Makeover

Hutch Before

Hutch After

This 1940's hutch caught by eye at a local antique shop here in Marine City. I fell in love with the great lines and gentle curves of this unique piece of furniture. A plain glass door was functional enough, but I could envision something much more suited to this beauty, so I added a leaded glass panel with bevels and glue chip glass to enhance the hutch adding classic, timeless styling.

With relish, I peeled off hideously sticky contact paper circa 1965 from the interior and painted the shelves with serenity blue chalk paint to give it a modern flair and fresh appeal to today's contemporary styles. I replaced the broken back with a section of bead board, which added vertical lines and created additional texture. It looked great! The exterior was in overall terrific shape, but needed refinishing, no easy task. Section by section, I carefully detailed
and stripped, using my special set of tools to remove many years of old finish which hid the beautiful cherry beneath.

Mid-Century Hutch Modernized

Hutch Original

Hutch Modernized

This lovely hutch came to us from a young couple who had wanted to modernize it. It had belonged to her grandmother and had seen a lot of use, so naturally she had wanted to put it to use in her home. She had asked if it could be painted, but wasn't sure what color paint. 

I suggested black, but she thought that was too dark. I then suggested navy blue, since we had previously painted a China cabinet and buffet in navy blue (See the "Furniture Gets Naval Theme" article on this blog: http://finalefurniture.blogspot.com/2014/02/furniture-gets-naval-theme.html). She loved the blue color idea, so I pulled out the Sherwin-Williams color swatches and she chose SW-6510, Loyal Blue.

The first step in any painted job is to rough up the old polyurethane gloss surface so that it accepts the primer. If you fail to do this, the primer won't stick and neither will the paint, eventually peeling off. Once you have prepared the surface, you're ready to paint. The color turned out beautiful! The customer chose new hardware, nickel handles and hinges and porcelain (kitty cat) door pulls. Modernized and a fresh new look, this old hutch is ready to create many more memories for years to come. Don't be afraid of color!