Thank you to all who came back for part 2 of the hutch transformation.  This is when the fun begins!  This is when we get to see the all of the character start to develop.  This is also quite a bit more involved than the first portion – which is why we enlightened you with the hilarious “um, so” gag reel in part 1.  I hope you enjoyed it!  This next one is lengthy, but interesting!

Lets brighten this piece up!  As I mentioned, we chose General Finishes buttermilk yellow for the topcoat of Cindy’s hutch.  It’s a creamy yellow and not so bold and overwhelming.  The first coat covered over the coastal blue much better than I had anticipated.  This paint never disappoints!  I wanted to try and get a somewhat solid coat of the yellow so I knew that I would need 2 coats for sure.  When I painted my teal hutch, I decided to leave the back of it black to provide a little contrast.  I love the way it looks with the stained buffet top.  I decided to try leaving the back of Cindy’s hutch navy, briefly.  I love my mom to pieces!  I think I called her at least 4 times during this process.  Each time, she dropped what she was doing to drive over and give me her opinion – or to just ooh and ahh with me at the newest change.  She is my partner in repurposing crime! We both decided that the navy back was too much.  This was after my first coat of yellow.  You’ll notice some streaking of the navy blue through the yellow, but the coverage is still amazing.  After letting it dry for a few hours, I added the second coat starting with the back of the shelving.  Total painting time for each coat was approximately 30 minutes. Pretty simple!  There were still a few streaky areas that I needed to swipe over but a complete third coat wasn’t necessary.  Also, the areas that were a little streaky were spots that I knew would be good to distress once I got started with the sanding.  The doors were briefly out of sight out of mind, but I got them done, too!

Once the yellow dried, it was time for distressing.  It think this is my favorite part of this process.  There isn’t really a part that I don’t like – I am genuinely enthusiastic about doing this!  I love watching the transformation and trying out new things!  But I just really enjoy this part!  When distressing this piece, I used two different sanders.  Both were 220 fine grit, but one was regular sand paper sheets and the other was a sanding block.  The sanding block is great for large areas and is a little bit easier to hold onto.  The sand paper is great for getting into smaller areas or spots that are really detailed.  I like to start with the edges when I’m sanding.  You don’t have to completely sand everything off of the edges.  I don’t like for it to be completely uniform so I try to distress areas a little differently.  You can do the edges, grooves, areas where there are interesting pieces – like the top front of this hutch that my mom refers to as the “dental work” .  She’s helping me with my terminology!  I tried to lightly sand because I didn’t want to push through the blue to the natural woodwork.  The purpose of this two tone painting process is to bring the blue out through the yellow, not to take it down to the wood grain like the plant stand.  This cupboard door is a great example of the different areas that I distress.  I also chose to sand a few random spots on the door to just add a little more of the weathered look.  You still see the matte finish of the milk paint, but as soon as the first layer of top coat is applied, it will even out and have a beautiful shine.

After distressing your piece, there will be a lot of dust from the paint that you sanded off.  If it’s something smaller, I just use a damp rag to clean up the dust.  This piece is pretty large!  I just added a brush attachment to my vacuum to get rid of as much as I could.  Then I used the damp rag process to get the rest of the dust.  Dust can make the top coat a little dingy so it’s good to clean it well.  Using the same process I did on the coastal blue, I applied my first coat of sealant.  I love adding that satin shine to a piece!  It just really makes it come to life.  I honestly smile and ooh and ahh throughout this whole process.  I would say it out loud, but then Jordan would have more material for her out takes!

Now, onto the hardware.  There was a time period where furniture designers thought it was good to put heavy weight brass hardware on EVERY PIECE OF FURNITURE designed.  It gets dirty.  It turns green.  It can look awful.  I struggled with this hardware a bit.  I wanted something different but pulls can be tough.  You have to find the right size to fit your holes and sometimes it can be just a hair off.  I don’t like to drill new pull holes.  I can do it, but I like to avoid it.  I have a few random knobs laying around and found these adorable muted black ones.  When I tested them out on the cupboard doors, they looked adorable!  I decided that spray painting the fixtures black would be the best idea.  If there is any gunk on the knobs, pulls, or hinges, be sure to clean that off first so those areas don’t chip later.  Don’t forget the hinges!  And if your screws will be visable, you will want to spray them, too.  Lay everything out flat on a sheet.  Shake your spray paint well and then in a sweeping motion, lightly coat each piece.  I do them individually to ensure good coverage.  I like to make sure that I spray each side of the hinges because I usually spray the wrong side first!  If there is a hanging handle on your pull, I like to lift the handle and add another coat to make sure it’s completely covered.  This works amazing!!  I have had fixtures that I totally despised and then loved after adding a coat of paint.  If your hardware is just out of control hideous, you can always purchase new.  Hobby Lobby has incredibly fun pulls and knobs that go on sale 1/2 off usually every other week.  I like to stock up on them when I can!  Such a big difference between the dirty brass and the fresh black hardware!  There were even big bulky knobs for the top doors that Cindy and I both agreed were awful.  Once they were livened up a bit and added back onto the doors, they actually looked adorable!

The hardware is done and all that is left to do is to finish adding the extra two layers of top coat and then to put it back together.  Again, I used the same sponge process to apply two additional coats of the General Finishes High Performance top coat, allowing drying time in between.  The end result is a beautiful luster that evens out the tones and adds a timeless satin gloss to this new piece!

Once it was completely dry, I gathered up all of my screws, hardware, and power drill and got to work reassembling the doors.  I also washed the glass pieces and carefully put them back in place.  Be careful that you are placing the hinges back on the correct way.  Once again, learn from my mistakes and double check!  Make sure you get them screwed in all the way so that the doors aren’t loose.  Also, when you are putting the hinges back on, your freshly refinished doors will be facing down.  Keep a soft blanket, sheet, tarp, etc beneath it so it doesn’t scratch your door.

She’s finally done!!  I have been dying to put the top back on the buffet of this hutch to see it put together.  Jason helped me hoist it back on.  I love it!!  I love the buttery yellow color with the rich navy coming out to add special detail.  I love to find pieces with character and great lines and this piece has a lot of them!  It has been a long, detailed process but so much love has gone into this one!  Cindy was amazing to work with and trusted me to be creative and make her happy.  I think she is pleased!!

Thank you again for taking this journey with me!  My next project will be another fun design that is a new thing to me too!  A little tlc, a little grey, a little decoupage.  Very much looking forward to this one!