Hello there DIYer! Today, I have a special treat for you. I’ d like to share with you my super easy Cabinet Hutch Makeover Tutorial.
Did you know that a China Cabinet is one-piece furniture and a Kitchen Hutch usually comes in 2 pieces, the top and bottom?
I used the term China Cabinet on the title for the sake of convenience. Readers usually type China Cabinet instead of hutch. Do you agree?
Last year, I scored an old cabinet in Craigslist. Yes, like I always say, I try to be as frugal as I can and be smart with the things I buy. I do not feel comfortable buying new things anymore especially if they will cost me hundreds and thousands of dollars and the moment that item leaves the store; its value declines right away.
“ Being frugal does not mean being cheap! It means being economical and avoiding waste.” Catherin Pulsifer
So like many furniture makeovers, it starts from the before photos. Here’ s how it looked like.
It looked really old and had a lot of grease and grimes in the corners so it needed a lot of cleaning. One thing I liked about this project is using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. With this brand of paint, you can skip sanding. Yes! No sanding necessary. I hate sanding!
Here’s what I did. Oh, let me rephrase that. Here’ s what WE did, since my husband decided to jump in and join the fun.
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What you need:
- Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.
- Flat paintbrush. I prefer Purdy XL Angular trim paintbrush in 2 ½”.
- Annie Sloan Clear Chalk Paint Wax 120ml-500ml
- Annie Sloan’s pure bristle Chalk Paint Brush –N.22 or Brossum round chalk paint brush 2″.
- Poets Paint Unique Water glass Paint in Seaside– 4oz.
- Clean, lint-free cloth (I used white old socks. Lol!
Let’ s begin:
- First, remove the hardware. Carefully place the hardware in zip locks and label each one so it’ s easier to know where to put it back.
- I think the most steps are cleaning the surfaces. Remove the grease and grime using soap and warm water then let it dry. You can also use Goo Gone goo and adhesive remover if the surfaces have a lot of grease.
- Before applying the paint, make sure to remove the loose paintbrush bristles. Open the can of chalk paint and stir well. If it’ s too thick, just add water. Don’ t worry. All the necessary instructions are printed on the label. Apply Annie Sloan chalk paint using light brush strokes, which Annie Sloan refers to as feathering. Apply the paint following the wood grain. Not that it’s really necessary to follow the grain but if you want a smooth finish, this is the best way to go. Don’t freak out when you see a lot of brush strokes on the first coat. This is absolutely normal! The paint dries so fast that I was ready for the next coat after 2 hours.
- It’s recommended that you wait 24 hours to dry before applying the next coat but I think it’s up to each individual preferences. I was too excited to finish the project, so after coming back from an 8- hour shift, I applied the next one. I didn’t encounter any problems. It’ s been more than a year now and my cabinet is still looking fabulous. Two- 3 coats of chalk paint is enough to make it look fabulous but again, it’ s up to each individual preferences.
- For the inside of the hutch, we used Poet’s Paint Unique Water glass paint in Seaside instead of Annie Sloan Duck Egg blue. They are both great but I didn’t’ want to spend so much since I only needed 4oz of paint.
- Wait! I almost forgot to tell you. Please make sure to clean your paintbrushes by soaking it in warm water. You don’t want to go buying another paintbrush for the next coat do you?
This is a very important step in furniture makeover. Apply wax to seal and protect your furniture. You can buff it to a really nice shine. The clear wax is pasty and it’ s like a butter or Crisco but don’ t worry about it. It hardens when it dries. The thing with wax, which you have to be cautious of, is you don’t want apply too much. Just place enough to soak into your furniture.
- Dip in your wax brush lightly into the can, avoiding too much wax to adhere to the brush. Some people prefer to use the cloth for application but with bigger pieces like cabinets, I prefer the brush.
- Rub in the wax or “push” it into the furniture using circular motion or going with the grain. It doesn’t’ t really matter because you will wipe off the wax later and wont see brush strokes. Its brush IN, wipe OFF.
- Wipe off excess wax with a clean cloth (your old socks, lol!). Do not buff it yet. Wait for the wax to dry for 24 hours before buffing to achieve a shiny and smooth finish. Or if you plan a distressed/aged look, you don’t have to buff it so it will have a matte finish.
- Wax dries really fast and you can start using your furniture lightly after 24 hours. Annie Sloan says it takes 5-21 days for the wax to “cure” depending on the temperature but if you don’t have toddlers like me, I think you can use your furniture right away. For the cabinet, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Annie Sloan’ s company was kind enough to allow me to link to to her website for more detailed tips and techniques.
Voilà! Here’ s the product of my busy hands!
What do you think? Do you also have tips and techniques to share with us? Please let us know. After all, this blog is about helping each other to make our lives easier.
Thanks a lot for coming by!x-o-x-o