Wild Cherry!

 I am still working in my sitting room and am getting close to being done!  One of the items of furniture I was desperately in need of was bookshelves and some storage.  So, to combine the two, I started combing Craigslist for a china hutch with some storage below.  My challenge was that the wall where I would be placing it was only 43" wide, so it couldn't be very large.

I found this beautiful cherry hutch with a bowed front that even matches my vanity and so I contacted the owner to see if I could get the price down from $160 to within my $100 budget I'd set.  We finally settled on $110 and I set off with my lovely friend Terry to pick it up (in Terry's gigantic SUV).  The couple I purchased it from could not have been nicer, and even showed Terry and I around their gorgeous hand painted kitchen area!

Vintage hardware - just gorgeous!

Because it would be placed on the other end of that window next to my vanity (pictured), I chose not to do the two-toned, blue and white finish because I didn't want it to look like I'd purchased it as a set

I really love the cherry wood, but I needed white for my sitting room, and so I removed all hardware and primed and painted it in Benjamin Moore's white satin paint.  Sorry the photo is a little blurry - a good reminder for me to take it off the "close up" feature prior to taking the photo next time...

 Now for the texture - how about tone on tone zebra stripes?  BINGO!  I used Benjamin Moore's latex metallic finish in Pearlescent White and just freehand painted the stripes with a small artists brush.  The result is a beautiful, subtle finish that changes as the light moves around the room.

In go the books and a few of my vintage evening bags to add some sparkle to the interior.  I spray painted the hardware silver and really like the matte finish of the silver handles.  The little ornament tree on top is for the holidays, but afterwards I will go and buy a large silver or mercury glass vase to set up on top.

I love this piece!  You can see I continued the stripes on the sides and the small strip of wood up near the top.

Heading for the finish line now!  Next week I will introduce you to Big Mildred...