Kitchen Hutch Makeover Reveal

I've officially become obsessed with making something out of nothing.  I was so excited to start this project.  The hutch before was a complete disaster.  But the reason I chose this piece was because it was FREE from a neighbor.  Yes, you read that right.  F-R-E-E!  Big fat goose egg.  No moola.  Okay, I think you get the point.  I don't even know what this piece was originally used for, and I didn't care.  I knew where I wanted it in my home, and I was going to make sure it looked perfect for my kitchen.

{Warning:  This post is extremely pic heavy so you'll either (A.) really enjoy it, or (B.) completely be annoyed by it. Hopefully we go with A. }

Lets start with the before, shall we?

I know what you're thinking.  No wonder this was free.  It's disgusting.  And yes, it really was.  Not only did it have your typical scratches, gashes, and knicks but it also had some type of water damage to the back board.  And I don't know if you can tell from the above pictures, but it originally had doors on it.  There were holes where the old hinges used to be, and those little push thing-a-ma-jiggys where the doors used to be.

Inside the hutch was no better than the outside.  There was some type of oil mark or goo, I'm not really sure what the heck it was and honestly, I don't like to think about the work I had to put in to try and get that off!

Okay, so it was time to get started.  First things first.  I removed all the hardware (which I kept and later used), the bottom cabinet doors, the drawer, and I removed the horrendous backing.  I also popped out those little push thing-a-ma-jiggys (someone PLEASE give me the correct word for these), and the little wooden door stoppers.  (if that is what those are even called, too!)

I don't even know how to explain what happened to this back.  To me it looks like water damage or it just rotted.  I don't even know but I was glad to haul that thing to the curb.

I, like always, filled in any scratches or holes with wood filler and let it dry for a few hours. I gave it a light sand with 150 grit sandpaper to smooth everything out.

The white mark on the side of the cabinet was actually from me!  I wanted to see how paint would stick without using a primer.  It didn't!  I had to sand off the paint.  Way to make more unnecessary work for myself! I don't know if I'll ever learn to stop trying to take short cuts.  But it was worth a try!

I gave the drawer and the cabinet doors a good sanding as well using 100 grit sandpaper.  I only did a light sand because I was using not only a primer, but a paint that was a paint in primer in one.  So I knew the coverage would be good.

Look at all the marks on the garage floor!  Black stain and no tarp is not a good match.  Whoops!

Once everything was sanded and all the wood filler was smooth, I used Zinnser Cover Stain Primer and a 4" foam roller and got to work.

Now, I've re-done enough furniture in my time to know that primer doesn't ever look good.  But for some reason, this completely freaked me out.  It looked horrible!  It was splotchy and I could see every roller mark.  And I'm not quite sure what kind of wood this piece of furniture was, but whatever it was it was soaking up primer like crazy!  The more I applied, the worse it got.  But I was determined to make this darn thing look good, so I kept going! Two more coats of primer and it looked pretty decent at this point.

I decided to also prime and paint the inside of the drawer and all the sides of the drawer.  I will eventually be lining the drawer with some velvet, but for now I just wanted a nice clean drawer.

I gave everything three coats of white paint.  My signature go to white paint is Behr's Popped Corn.  It's a perfect, bright, and clean white that I think covers almost anything. So using a 4'' foam roller and an angled brush for the edges, I got to work.

I didn't take any pictures (surprised, right?) of the final step.  I actually caulked all the edges inside the cabinet and along any trim that had a decent amount of space between the edges.

The cabinet was finally finished!  Now I needed to add the back.

For a kitchen "feel" I knew I was going to go with some type of paneling.  So off to Home Depot I went and picked up this MDF Wainscot Panel.  It ran around $19 for the entire piece.

A quick side note: I should have made my husband take his truck to pick this up.  For some odd reason I didn't realize how big the actual piece of MDF was until I brought it out to my car.  How the heck was I going to get this home?!  Normally I would have had Home Depot cut this to size, but because I'm an annoyance to myself, I forgot my measurements at home.  And I didn't want to guess.  So my husband tied this giant ol' board to the top of my car and I had to hold this thing while leaning slightly out my window.  I wanted to die.  Not only from the pain of having to hold my arm in one position for a 20 minute drive, but of complete humiliation!   So if you're going to pick up a giant piece of ANYTHING, either have a truck or bring your measurements. :)

Alright, moving on…

I measured the back of the hutch and with a saw, my hubby cut the MDF to size.

When he held it up onto the hutch, I thought it looked very nice, but a little too bland for my taste.  I wanted to pick up a color so I went with an apple green that I have placed throughout my kitchen.

Yes, I actually brought this entire little "bouquet" to Home Depot. 

Got a paint sample for $2.50 and it was perfect!  The color is Japanese Fern by Behr.

I gave the board three thin coats of paint.

(sorry about the bad phone picture, but it was dark)

I also decided to paint the inside of the cabinets, and the sides of the drawer with the green, as well.

I let all of it dry overnight. 

While it was all drying I painted the hinges and pulls.  Here they are before:

uhhh, gross!  I had a spray primer on hand so I gave everything a quick coat and let it dry for a few hours. 

Using a hammered bronze spray paint by Rust-Oleum, I gave everything two coats of paint, letting each coat of paint dry a few hours in between.

Using 1" panel board nails, my husband attached the board to the back of the hutch while I put everything back together.  It was done! *cue Hallelujah music*

I think the green added just the right amount of "kitchen feel" and I love the pop of color every time I open the cabinets or the drawer!

And I think the dark bronze handles go so well with the light colored furniture.

If there wasn't enough pictures in this post, here's a few more of the finished piece!

If you compare these two top pictures, you can tell I'm constantly changing the decor.  Every time I go into a store I'm always looking for new green or white pieces for this little beauty!  One day I'll get it perfect! *fingers crossed*

Lets just agree right now on how amazing this artichoke is!

Here's the final before and after:

For the price of the MDF, the spray paint, and the paint sample (which are the only three things I had to buy), I got an amazing kitchen hutch for $27.  

Just because something looks really bad, you can always make it into something beautiful. 

A little work and some paint..paired with something you envision can turn anything ordinary into something great.

^^ Well, I guess that was my Dr. Seuss moment of the day.