China Hutch Makeover

When I first moved into my first home, my parents gave me their old 70's era dining room table and china hutch set.  It was not my style, but it was free, so I made it work.  Eventually my husband and I bought a modern dining table and chairs from Pier One, and gave the old table to my sister.  I always kept the corner hutch because it was a nice piece for storage, but it always bugged me that it did not fit in with my style.  I have been wanting to paint it for a long time, but could not decide on a color and was afraid of messing it up.  After painting a few other pieces of furniture, I was ready to finally tackle this project.
I was offered the opportunity to try a new line of paint carried by Serendipity House called L'Essentiel Botanics Furniture Paint, and I thought my china hutch would be the perfect piece to use it on.  L'Essentiel Botanics is made in Australia and is all natural, made of chalks, clays, minerals and pigments.

L'Essentiel Botanics Paint 250 ML

This was my first time using a chalk paint, so I was not sure what to expect, but it went on smoothly and did not have a strong smell to it.  It also cleaned up super easy...with just soap and water. Michelle from Serendipity House sent me two large bottles of Turquoise, a small bottle of Scarlet, and a small container of Dark beeswax polish.  (Fun fact:  Clear beeswax can be used on hands, feet, face)

I started by removing the doors and cleaning the hutch with warm soapy water.  Michelle recommended to paint a test area without sanding, so I did and the paint adhered well, so I did not sand the piece.  

First coat of paint - Wet

My husband also suggested we face the front of it with trim to cover up the curvy design.  We used 2-1/2" and 3" pieces of Poplar molding to face the top, sides, and bottom of the hutch.  We cut the pieces to size and used wood glue along with a few finishing nails to attach them. 

We used clamps to secure the pieces until the glue was dry.  I used a little wood filler on the joints where the pieces meet and on the nail holes. After sanding the areas where I put the wood filler, I painted the trim. 

Adding the trim

After the first coat dried, I decided I wanted to paint the back of the shelves Scarlet, so I did not paint that area when I put on the second coat.  If you like the shabby chic look, one coat would be enough coverage, but I wanted a more uniform look, which required two coats.  Below is what it looked like before I painted the back of the shelves so you can see the coverage. (I am not sure why the colors look so off in this shot except that maybe it was taken without much natural light.  My walls are NOT pink!)

I have been looking for handles and pulls for about a year now, but could not decide what to go with. On my last trip to Goodwill, I picked up a 10 pack of pulls that matched the ones in our bathroom. At the time, I bought them to use on the vanity in our basement bathroom, but I had the bright idea to use 4 of them on the China hutch!  I just had to fill in one set of holes on the drawer where the handles were.

I could not easily find any hinges to match the existing ones, so I ended up painting them with leftover Rust-Oleum Metallic spray paint.

Painted Hinges

I am so happy with the way this project came out and do not know why I waited so long!  I still need to add a top coat, but have not decided what to use yet, so if you have recommendations, leave them for me in the comments below!

Painted China Hutch: After

Check out Serendipity House on Facebook and Instagram to see more projects!  Serendipity House also carries supplies such as Unicorn SPiT Gel Stain and Glaze and The Olde Barn Vintage Milk Paint.

Disclosure:  I received complimentary products to review, but all opinions are my own.