FOR SALE: Open Shelf Hutch in ASCP French Linen

When Don and I were first married we bought a pine coffee table and sofa table to go with our new couch. They served their purpose for several years (still using all three pieces mind you).  Eventually he made me a bench that totally belonged behind my couch so the sofa table lost its place. I had always wanted a china hutch so I got creative and had my husband build an open hutch using the old sofa table as the base. Follow me? Well... recently I've been giving our sunroom/office a face lift and that poor thing has lost its place once again to another piece of furniture! Huh...oh well...Que sera sera.

I decided to give the hutch a mini-makeover before I sold it. I painted it with Annie Sloan's French Linen Chalk Paint using Graphite as the undercoat. I distressed it and gave it a healthy coat of dark wax to create a very aged patina. Here's the final product.

What'cha think?

French Linen is one of my favorite ASCP colors.

I added this faux mercury glass knob for a bit of sparkle.

 

I love the bead board look...not sure my camera does it justice.

 

When we built the shelves, I made sure Don added those "grooves" for 

my collection of white platters.

I understand not everyone is into bead board, 

so I decided to make removable fabric panels to line the shelves.

I bought foam board and this ikat fabric at Hobby Lobby to

give the hutch a modern feel.

 Here's the final product (again)...

I love it!

Don't you?

Hard to believe it started out as a pine sofa table...

If you are in the market for a  hutch let me know.

 This piece is for sale for $295 SOLD.

48" W x 16" D x 78" H

As always, thank you for reading 13 County Custom Finishes. Wishing everyone a HAPPY EASTER!
~Wendy

House Call

My sister-n-law, Jenn, has been getting ready for a couple of big events at her house...a graduation and a first communion celebration. There's always a certain amount of nesting that goes along with milestones such as these. A few weeks ago I decided to make a house call. I loaded up all of my paints, brushes, chemicals, tools, and kids and headed to to her house to help her out. We painted and repainted, waxed, pondered, tinkered, and toiled all day long while our kids played and played and played. It was bliss for everyone (except maybe my brother-n-law). LOL!

We tackled 3 big projects that weekend and a couple of mini ones that I forgot to photograph...oops.

PROJECT #1: Tweaking the antique hutch.

PROJECT #2:   Updating the bedroom armoire.

PROJECT #3:  Restoring a vintage handkerchief dresser.

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Project #1:  I was with my sister-n-law when she bought this antique hutch years ago (Oh how I love helping people spend their money!). It's a gorgeous piece of furniture with intricate details...nothing I would ever paint.... but still we decided it needed a little "tweaking". I asked Jenn to pick up this patterned burlap fabric at Walmart. It sells for about $5 a yard. I measured and cut strips of cardboard to fit snugly between the shelves. I used an adhesive spray to adhere the fabric to the cardboard and Frog tape to hold the edges down on the back. Easy peasy!

Then I purged. 

Downsizing sentimental pieces can be difficult

but when it's not actually your stuff it's rather easy. Ha!

What'ch think?

Pretty awesome for a $5 makeover, right?

Blue and white are so beautiful together.

They're dairy farmers 

so kept her collection of white milk pitchers 

and found a vintage milking can to set on top of the hutch.

 I think the ensemble looks fantastic.
Cha-ching!

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PROJECT #2:  Jenn picked up this armoire for $40 a couple years ago. I wasn't with her at the time but was thrilled with her purchase. I think it resembles a piece of Scandinavian furniture.

It was originally white...cute...but a little on the country side. 

We opted to darken it up a bit with ASCP French Linen.

I love, love, love the mellow tone of French Linen.



It's the perfect color for any room in your house.

 

The armoire had the original key holes but no hardware.

I thought it would be fun to make the handles for it

so we gave my nephew the task of fashioning some rope pulls.

He did a great job!

I love the unexpected combination 

of the detailed woodwork paired with the masculine rope handles.

Simply beautiful!

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PROJECT #3: The final project for the weekend was a handkerchief dresser for the master bedroom. It didn't take much to bring out the beauty in this piece.

We chose to paint the piece with ASCP Graphite.

It's just such an awesome blue hue.
These indoor pictures just don't do it justice.



I let some of the wood and black undercoat come through the finish to give it more character.

I also decided to stain the two top drawers

and accentuate the ornate legs with Dark Walnut.

The faux mercury glass knobs were purchased at Hobby Lobby.

They add the perfect amount to sparkle to the piece!

Just lovely!

All three of these projects are perfect examples

of how a little hard work, paint, and creativity can really pay off.

As always thanks for reading 13CCF. Be sure to stop by next week. I hope to have an open hutch finished and ready to sell!

~Wendy

Office Makeover

When my husband went into business for himself he needed a desk. I found this one at a local antique store. It's made of quarter sawn oak, has dozens of compartments, and is as sturdy as an Army tank.

After ten years of wear and tear, it was still looking pretty good but the color of the oak didn't fit with the finish of my new dark walnut buffet (which I love). Heavy sigh...another project. It's called the "snowball effect" people....refinishing one thing always leads to another in this house!

I've been dragging my feet on this one because refinishing oak can be tricky! I always struggle to get the stain dark enough for my liking. This time I think I may have figured out a way around the problem, not a solution mind you...but a BandAid at least. First I stripped and sanded down the surface.

 
Then to get the oak dark enough I stained it with dark walnut followed by a mixture of Tudor and Bombay Mahogony from the Minwax Polyshades line. Polyshades are a one-step wood stain and polyurethane finish that essentially sit on the surface rather than absorbing into the wood (thus the ability to make the oak appear darker). I finished the process by giving the desk top two coats of Spar urethane. After the fact I found this post on staining stubborn oak and may just have to try it out in the future if I can find the brand. Until then, I will use my BandAid.

With to the top finished, I decided to paint the bottom of the desk with ASCP Graphite and clear wax as well as the cupboard above it. I simply didn't have the time, patience, or will power to strip, stain, and varnish both pieces. I had one weekend, no more.

Here are pictures of the final products.

Better, don't you think?

Wait, don't answer that! LOL!

 

I know there are a lot of wood lovers out there who think 

painting quarter sawn oak is a crime. 

Please don't fret! I have plenty of unpainted wood in my house;) Plenty!

Besides, I love the contrast between the finished oak and paint. 

We'll just have to agree to disagree. K?

I had picked up a ladder shelf at a second hand store recently with the sheer intention 

of refinishing and reselling it. Then I realized it would go great with the new desk. Score!

 I kept the original hardware. Love the wooden shell handles;)

They go with that 'South Carolina' feel I am going for in our sunroom/office.

I had my husband add a piece of galvanized sheet metal 

to the back of the cabinet that sits above the desk.

We actually found the cupboard in one of Herb's barns after we first moved to the farm.

It will always have a place in our house.

I love the modern element the magnet board and metal chairs bring to the room.

The colors of my house are progressively leaning toward shades of brown, grey, and blue with a pop of green here and there. Why? Because collectively they make a very neutral, subdued pallet. My husband needs neutral. Apparently I'm not the minority here because these are the tones I see repeatedly in magazines. Go figure!

 

As always thanks for reading 13CCF. I hope you've found some inspiration!

~Wendy