Refinished Farmhouse Hutch with Tutorial

This post has been a long time in the making, and I am really happy I can finally blog about it.  Since we moved in April, I knew that I wanted to find a great hutch for our kitchen because we have the perfect space for it.  I had been keeping my eye out for months, and then finally I found one I really liked on craigslist.  It was listed for $75, which I thought was a great deal.  After some emailing, going to see the hutch, and having the nice gentleman deliver it, I finally had the hutch in my garage!!!  This is what it looked like:

I didn't take any pictures with it stacked how it is supposed to be, because I wanted to get to work on it right away.  I started off by cleaning this whole thing very thoroughly.  It had a nasty odor (I think from cats...) on the inside of the cabinet, and I was determined to get it out.  I used Kiltz primer on the inside of the cabinets to cover it up, and it worked.  I didn't really like the the spindles on the top cabinet doors, so I removed those.  It was extremely difficult because all the screws on the hinges were totally stripped.  Luckily, my husband and I were able to put some elbow grease into it and get them removed (both by unscrewing and literally ripping it apart).  After this I took off all the hardware and went back and filled in the holes with wood filler.  Then I was ready to start sanding!

Now, when I did this whole sanding process I wasn't yet sure what type of paint or finish I was going to do on the hutch.  I later decided to go ahead and try Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint for the first time, which actually makes it so you don't have to sand the surface.  This would have been a nice step to skip (and mess to skip, that's for sure), but the piece had a lot of scratches in it anyway, so it was probably best to go ahead and sand it anyway.  It definitely helped the paint go on a lot smoother.  After I did the bottom portion, I did my best to do the top of the hutch, but it was hard with all the detailed work on that section.  I didn't stress about it too much and figured I could fix whatever I needed to as I progressed.

Finding Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint was pretty easy, because there is a retailer right by my house, but it isn't carried that many places and is often only found in specialty shops.  You can order it online though.  I have read so much about the paint that I was expecting miracles, and I think maybe I had my expectations set too high.  Everything says you only need 1 coat (I needed 2 everywhere, and a 3rd in some places), that the whole quart (not gallon, quart) will last you several furniture projects (I ended up needing 2 quarts, at $40 a piece it was not cheap), and that it is just the easiest paint to paint with.  While I didn't have to worry too much about how I was painting, I wouldn't really say it was easy.  I ended up needing a 2nd quart of the paint, which was a bummer, but I have about half the 2nd can left for other projects now.

Anyway, this is how it looked after the paint:

After I finished with the Chalk Paint I was feeling a little disappointed about how it looked.  I knew it wasn't done yet, because there were 2 more vital steps left....distressing and waxing, both pretty much required when using AS Chalk Paint.  I ended up taking a break for a little while because I was tired of dealing with this whole project.  About a week later, I felt super determined to finish this thing.  I knew I still had a ways to go, but I knew I could do it and dedicate my weekend to it.

I started with the distressing on the bottom cabinet portion.....

It is a little difficult to see in the pictures, but after I started this I was feeling a lot happier about the overall look, and really felt compelled to continue.

I finished the whole bottom, and then knew I had a couple things to do before I started the top hutch.   I wanted to put shelves in the cabinet where the spindle doors had been.  It would have been a very large/tall space to fill without cabinets.  I set out to Home Depot to figure out how I could do this.  Luckily one of the guys there knew exactly what I was talking about and walked me through doing it.  He cut 2 small squares (which I had measured for before I went) of lightweight wood, and then showed me a trick to get them to stay up easier-small pieces of molding glued to the sides....just set the shelf on top!  So I bought some great wood glue, the wood, the molding, and I was on my way!  Once I got home I painted the molding with the chalk paint (even though it was white, I wanted it to match exactly), and sanded and painted the wood squares as well.  I waited for them to dry and then glued the molding inside the cabinets (see sides!):

I put the shelves inside and then continued distressing the top.  This is where I got a little laxed with the picture taking, because I was so determined to finish it......The last step was waxing it.  I ended up using the natural Minwax soft wax.  Annie Sloan recommends that you use her wax, but it's so expensive I decided I would try something else.  I read lots of tutorials and it seemed like it was okay to try other waxes on the chalk paint.  The Minwax didn't come in a clear finish (at least that I could find), so I had to use a 'natural' finish, which was a little brown/yellow.  It slightly changed the color/finish of the paint, but I ended up liking it in the end.  After I applied the wax, I waited the 20 minutes for it to dry and then buffed it.  It really left a nice even sheen on the hutch, and made it super smooth to the touch.  The wax really brought out the color of the wood where it was distressed, which I really liked.  I think from now on I will use wax on most of my furniture projects!

I still had to find hardware and style it, but I couldn't wait any longer and my husband wanted it out of the garage (because it was a disaster area).  So we brought it inside! And this is where I got way too picture happy....

When I finished it a couple weeks ago, I decided to wait to post it because I wanted to find some things to decorate it with, and also some nice hardware.  I got pretty lucky and ended up finding all the hardware at Hobby Lobby, while they were having a '50% off knobs sale'!!! Score!!! I ended up getting the 4 top knobs for $1.50 each, and the bottom 3 knobs for $2 each, for a grand total of  $10.50!!!!  This is a huge steal considering I spent over $30 on the hardware I used for my dresser refinishing, and it was just simple hardware from Home Depot.  I was seriously stoked.

Then over the course of those few weeks I found some different decor to style it with....

 I picked up some fall decor at the dollar store (see little pumpkins!!! Ceramic and only $1-totally cute!).  I found the few baskets and bowls at Home Goods, and the big wicker vase at Kohls.  I made the twine vase in the center for under $2, and picked up a few fall type flowers from the dollar store as well.  I ended up using a few old pictures/frames, and this 'A' I had found at Goodwill for like .50 a few months ago (and still hadn't used it).

One of my favorite parts is the large vase I found at Home Goods for only $7.99, and then I finally found a use for all the corks I have been saving for the last 3 years!!!!!  My husband has asked me countless times if it is really necessary to keep all the corks, and I demanded it was-ha!  It totally paid off!  Now all I have to do is toss them in there anytime we pop open a new bottle of wine!  I may just open a bottle to celebrate!

Anyway, it's done!! Finally!!! Finally done!!!  I am sure I will add to it here and there, and obviously change out the fall decor for other seasonal decor as well.  I am really happy with how it turned out and it looks really great in the kitchen.  What do you think?

Other things you might need to create this project:

Orbital Sander

Paint Brush

Chalk Paint Brush/Wax Brush

Finishing Wax Paste

Chalk Paint

Like furniture DIYs as much as I do? Check out my other projects:

DIY Dresser to TV Console

DIY Dresser Refinishing Tutorial

DIY Tufted Ikat Ottoman from Upcycled Pallet with Tutorial

Refinished Farmhouse Hutch Tutorial

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Thanks for visiting!

- Allyson