The Craigslist Hutch Makeover

It had been several months since we moved into our new home and I still couldn't find a fit for an empty wall in our dining room.  My dining room has a type of cut-in little cubby hole made to fit a hutch or buffet.  Nothing I liked fit the dimensions of the space.  That is, nothing until we saw this on Craigslist...

The hutch was just $30 on Craigslist.
The seller said that she had purchased it a year or
 more ago with the intentions of refinishing it herself.

As you can see, the hutch had been greatly "loved."  If I were wanting a rustic antique look then it might have been good as it was, but I had already purchased a new dining room table with a modern look and feel.   The size was perfect, and since it was only $30, I decided to take it home.  After two hours of fighting wonderful Dallas traffic and a few back strains, we brought the hutch home to get it ready for its makeover.

Inexpensive fresh Roses
from Aldi are one of my
favorite decorative touches.

The first task was to get rid of the cupboards  This step was as simple as removing the doors and cutting off two partitions.  The original hutch also had some heart cut-outs just below the cupboard that were very easy to take off by removing that board.











Next, came the finish.  Stripping the stain to the original wood sounded like too much work for this project, so I settled on painting.

Paint color is Chaparral from Behr.

I settled on a color called Chaparral from Behr because it best matched the dark wood of the dining room table.  I love to skip sanding and priming whenever possible, but this hutch was so beat-up that sanding was imperative.  So, a palm sander and a coat of primer with Kiltz left the hutch ready to paint.

Finally all that was left was the hardware. New hardware is the fastest, cheapest and all-together easiest way to makeover a hutch.  I was looking for hardware that would bridge the gap between the traditional bevels of the hutch and the clean lines of my table.  After looking at what seemed like hundreds, I settled on these eye-catching glass knobs from Lowes.

I just love the way the new handles reflect light and add shimmer to the buffet.

So, that's the story!  For a while I considered leaving the hutch's top shelves off in place of this bracket-less shelving.  The problem was my white dishes seemed to get lost in the grey wall behind them.  I really wanted something that would contrast with the white dishes and cause them to really stand out.








So what do you think?  What have you done to makeover your Craigslist finds?

New to Redfly?  Many more creations to come!

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