Painting a Hutch
It dawned on me the other day that the first piece of furniture I ever painted was a hutch…almost 27 years ago. WHAT?!?! How is that possible?
I’ve learned so much about paints and painting since then. I regret that I haven’t kept a log of all the furniture pieces, décor items, kitchen cabinets and on and on that I’ve painted. The number has to be into the hundreds by now. And still, I’m amazed every time I stand back and look at a finished piece. There’s just something about paint that makes old, new, and ugly pretty again.
Anyway, now that you’re here let’s talk about this hutch.
Before
No doubt this hutch is beautiful and I almost considered not painting it. However it had a lot of veneer damage.
People think that furniture with “pretty wood” should never be painted. BUT what they don’t realize is that that pretty wood is often veneer. And it is near impossible to affordably refinish a piece that has veneer on it. Reason being, most vintage/antique furniture was in fact built with a solid wood base. BUT said wood is UGLY! The veneer that is covering it is pretty. However that veneer is very thin and over time it gets very brittle and chips and cracks. So it typically has to be removed. And it is pretty expensive to replace. Therefore painting vintage/antique pieces is a smart way to salvage them and keep them out of landfills.
This piece only sat in the shop for a couple weeks before a customer came in and snatched it up.
She decided she would like it painted white with some distressing. I painted it with Annie Sloan Pure. It’s Annie’s whitest white and it is oh so very beautiful.
I then top-coated it with clear wax. Waxing is my favorite topcoat. We have people come in the shop all the time that are afraid of waxing but I have to tell you it’s not hard at all. You just need to remember to do light coats and buff off any excess.
I like to do my distressing during the waxing process. I will distress a little with a damp cloth or baby wipe (I actually have a Youtube video I recorded all about that here) and then I will add my wax. It’s a process.
This customer decided to leave the inside of this hutch natural and I’m so glad she did. I think it really helps the items inside to pop and I love the contrast of the wood againist the white paint.
So what do you think of this piece? Would you have painted it or just lived with the cracked, peeling veneer?
