Before and (almost) After

A few years ago, my sister acquired an old china hutch with a houseful of other furniture. She didn't have any spot for it, so when we were moving a U-Haul full of other stuff to Las Vegas with us, it ended up in the truck. I used it to display my collection of pig figurines in a corner of our Vegas apartment, and when it came with us to Illinois, it ended up in our living room. The dark, heavy, dated formality of the piece started to wear on me especially since the piece had such a prominent piece in our house. I was working out with the Wii one day when it hit me. Why not paint it in the colors that I'm hoping to decorate the living room with eventually?

Earlier this month, my sixteen year-old niece came for a visit and I enlisted her help. We dragged the hutch out to the garage, sanded and primed it, put a little brown paint on and then painted the inside of the hutch in a paint called "China White" appropriately enough. The outside was painted in "Aqua Lily" and then the sander was put to use again to rough up the paint job.

Brass mesh screens and hinges were spray painted in a brushed nickel, and new hardware was put on. It's almost done, just one little hitch. The knobs I picked out for the bottom cabinet doors didn't come with long enough screws to attach them to the doors. I just need one more trip to Lowe's and a few screws to attach, and it will be done! My paint job isn't exactly how I imagined it, but I love it so much better than before. Now I just need to get rid of or cover the forest green secondhand couch. Woohoo!