Dining Room Hutch

As promised, I'm here to tell you about the humble origins of the china cabinet/hutch in our dining room. I mentioned that this piece was one of the first Craigslist purchases we ever made. I don't even know if we were in the market for a hutch. I seriously can't remember since it was so long ago. I guess we must have been. Correction: I must have been. Once something gets in my head, it's hard to get it out. But I had a plan in mind. I knew exactly what I wanted. And even though it would sit for several years, I knew this hutch was the one. Mitch made this piece into just that. You see, this is what the hutch looked like when we bought it. (and Mitch just informed me that we paid $35 for it)

It was a homemade piece of furniture that was a great size. A lot of times hutches can be ginormous, and I knew we couldn't work with something huge. So with a little tweaking here and there, we made it into the perfect piece for us. First thing it needed was some visual interest. So Mitch added trim along the top and sides and bottom. That really beefed up the piece.

The sides were really flimsy, so Mitch added some plywood to strengthen it up a bit, then added the corner molding

I loved the glass doors, but of course wanted some hidden storage as well. Mitch added plywood to the back of the piece (as it was open) and the two doors to the bottom. He made the doors himself out of plywood and added the X detail for some added character. I love how it turned out. It's exactly what I had pictured in my head for this space.

I cleaned up the original (upper) hinges, as they had many layers of paint on them. (Still has a little on there, but I like that patina.) And somewhat recently switched out the glass knobs I had on there for some brass ones. Everything was painted with Martha Stewart Francesca, which is a chalky black color.

The inside has wallpaper on the back, since I wanted to lighten it up a bit in there. Papering the inside of a cabinet is always a great option. Minimal work, but big impact. I picked up the faux bois wallpaper at a thrift store for a couple dollars.

So not only does this piece function aesthetically, but it's also very practical. It houses my white dinnerware, random pretty dishes as well as antique silverware. We use this cabinet on a daily basis. Bryce knows right where to go when I ask him to get my rolling pin.

So that's the story of this once cast-off piece of furniture. I knew it had potential and now it sits pretty in our dining room. Oh and just in case you were wondering, Mitch screwed it into some studs in the wall behind it, so this puppy ain't movin'! (which is something you must consider when you have kids in the house)

So have you ever bought something with the plan of using it in a specific place one day? Even if that place only existed in your head? It took a while, but I think Mitch now understands when I collect stuff like this. ;)