Revamped Hutch!

I just finished a big project for designer Karen Dunlap of KMD Designs (karen@kmdinteriors.com) and wanted to share it with you.

Here is the before photo that Karen first sent to me.  A lovely hutch made by Ethan Allen, the scroll work and the finish were not going to work with their new design plan but fortunately Karen is great at re-imagining furniture with a new paint job and hardware (her customer's love it too because they save so much money!)  I love the opportunity to make her vision happen!

The first thing that had to go was the scroll work at the top.  My friend Mike, who is a handyman, offered to change it out to a plain board.  I wish I had watched him do it to see what the process was, but he said it was pretty straightforward and had the piece back to me within a few hours.

Here is the before and after of the scroll work:

Before

After

It made a big difference!  Great job Mike!

The beaded board back panel of the hutch, the crown molding and the top of the base were all to remain natural wood, just the white parts were to be painted.  Karen asked me to paint it with Benjamin Moore's CSP 85 - Tweed Coat (a soft gray) and then distress it.  Unfortunately, the CSP series of paint is not meant for furniture, but it was simple enough to have the folks at Benjamin Moore color match it in their Advance paint.  I chose Benjamin Moore's #1484 - Ashwood Moss as an undercoat, which is a darker gray that would show through the distressing.

Next step, taping off and priming and painting the base coat of Ashwood Moss.

I used newspaper to completely protect the back board from oopsies and then taped very carefully.  Even doing that though I had to touch up after painting. 

Doors with the first of two coats of the Ashwood Moss.  Getting the paint down into the groove in the middle of the door panels was a definite challenge!

The top coat went on very easily.  I hand brushed the entire project to keep true to the "old, distressed" look.  To me, seeing brush strokes just adds to the aged look.  After the top coat dried, it was time to distress the piece.  The best way for me to do that is to think about where someone would be touching the piece and sand that area - around the doors, under the knobs and even sometimes in the middle of the piece.  You aren't looking for symmetry as much as you are looking for balance in your placement of the distressed areas.  I step back a lot and take a look at the piece as a whole to make sure the balance is there.

Before - Close up of the drawers.  When the knots of the wood are showing through, I always put a few extra swipes of primer over them.  Knots tend to "bleed" through if they aren't sealed completely.

After - The top coat is sanded to show the darker gray underneath and even a bit of the primer.

Isn't the hardware GORGEOUS!! 

After - the customer loves it!  As a final touch, I oiled all of the natural wood and it just sparkled!

I am still taking the photography class so hopefully my shots will be improving soon.  I was rushing today to get the hardware on and touch ups done before the movers arrived to pick it up!  They actually arrived while I was taking these photos, but hopefully you can see how pretty it looks.

Thank you all for your patience as I sporadically post these days.  I have several things going on that I will share as I can - all good things! :)  Have a great week!  I leave you with a few more of my favorite photos from my photography class this week!

My cherry blossoms from the tree in my front yard.

This is a small farm near my home.  The lady who lived here collected Irises from all over the world I guess.  She recently passed away and now they are deciding what to do with the property - I hope they make a park out of it!

Self portrait from my dock at the lake.