This hutch had good bones but it needed quite a bit of work. The top was coming off, the screen on the sides of the bottom was discoloured and coming away and the colour was too dark. I loved the handles though.
The first thing I did was to attach a thin piece of wood to the bottom and the top to secure the top. I then removed the handles and the old screen from the sides. I then cleaned the piece well (Dixie Belle's White Lightening is perfect for this).
Next, I coated the piece with 3 coats of white chalk paint (Dixie Belle's Buttercream or Drop Cloth would be perfect), sanding in between each coat.
I didn't have issues with Tannin bleed through (the yellow, brown or red stains that appear through your paint) which can sometimes happen with older pieces but if you encounter this issue you could use Dixie Belle's BOSS Stain Blocker Primer.
Next, I focused on the back of the hutch, it was cute painted all white but a little plain, so I decided to use Dark wax (I recommend Dixie Belle's Best Dang Wax Brown) over the antique white. I also added some to the doors as they had the same wood panel detail. I worked the wax into the wood, the cracks and the grooves, and evened it out Clear wax.
Finally, I sealed the whole piece with a Polyacrylic satin finish (Dixie Belle's Clear Coat in Satin would work beautifully).
When it was dry I attached the handles once more and added chicken wire to the sides where I had removed the old screens. I used a staple gun on the inside to attach it to the frames.
This hutch is just so cute and really reminds me of something you'd find in a fairy tale cottage.
Thank you for reading. If you have any questions please feel free to send an email to theprovincialfarmhouse@outlook.com.
-Erin
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