Hutch Re-do

In our first house, our kitchen was a small galley style and had very little storage. There was space on the wall just outside the kitchen for a hutch that could store extra dishes & kitchen items. I started scouring Craigslist for a solid piece of furniture and found this piece:

It was in serious need of some TLC, but the lines were good and it was constructed well. My first step was to sand the whole piece down. I did it by hand because there were so many nooks and crannies with the decorative molding.

I didn't like the little spindles on the second shelf and felt they dated the piece, so I pulled them off and filled in the holes with wood filler. Be sure to use wood filler that can be painted and apply two or three times to fill larger holes. When the holes are filled and the filler is good and dry, sand the area until the filled wholes are flat and level with the wood. I then gave the whole piece two coats of black paint and added new hardware.

It looked like a whole new piece of furniture and was the perfect size to sit just outside my kitchen in the transitional area between our kitchen and living room. I was really happy with the finished product!

P.S. I have a house update. On our first day of house hunting, we found a great house! We had looked at 50 houses during our last visit, so we knew immediately what a steal this was. It was by far the best house we've seen. God was definitely at work and the fact that we even got to see this house had details of His hand all over the story. Our offer was accepted yesterday and our inspection is scheduled for tomorrow. It is a beautiful house and I can't wait to paint and move in...and of course, share pictures! I think it will be a wonderful home for us and a perfect space to entertain students, family & friends. We are very excited!