Not-A-Corner Hutch

****This is an older post that I am linking to Furniture Feature Friday at Mustard Seed Creations. Go check out the party!

And then be sure to head over to the Thrifty Decor Chick for her Before and After Party!

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Well, I got it finished girls!

The reason I love participating in Metamorphosis Monday each week is because it causes me to GET THINGS DONE!

I announced on my blog last Monday that I would be re-doing my hutch and posting it this week. So I knew I had 7 days to get it finished. It wasn’t easy, but I did it!

Now one of the projects that I had on my “to do” list can be checked off!

I’ve turned my corner hutch into not-a-corner hutch.

Here’s what it looked like before…

It had to be put in the corner because of the large back. I left the doors open because the “genius” that designed it didn’t take into account that the doors hit the wall every time you opened and closed them. So I just left them open all the time!

Here it is pulled out from the wall for me to paint the first of two colors that I applied to our den walls. (That’s another story!)

This is the large back that protruded from the hutch making it impossible to sit flat against the wall.

So my very handy husband took his SKIL saw and cut the back off.

Now I wanted the hutch to look like a cross between these two pictures from Ballard Designs’ magazine:

I like the color of the picture above, and the style of the picture below resembles mine.

There is bead board in the back of this entertainment center.

So Mr. Handyman added bead board to the back of ours.

Oops! I have to back up and share how we added some detail to the sides.

Notice how the sides of the doors have a 3-grooved trim piece. (I just totally made up that name!)

I wanted that trim piece to continue on the sides of the top part of the hutch, just like the brown entertainment center in the Ballard Designs’ magazine.

We tried to find a trim to match at Lowe’s, but it had 4 grooves in it. Then Mr. Handyman got the bright idea to just cut the 3-grooved piece of the upper doors off to use as the trim piece.

Am I making any sense? He cut off the part we needed, sanded the rough edges, took the hinges off, and nailed it back on.

Then it looked like this…

There was a small gap that he filled with caulk so it wouldn’t be noticeable once we painted it.

Next, I put two good coats of white paint on the entire hutch. Trying my best to wait until it dried real good before I started sanding.

Next, I used a fine grit sanding sponge to sand all the edges. This took a little while and my arms were sore the next day from this step!

Then it was time to glaze.

I have had many people ask me what glaze I use. It is Valspar Mocha Glaze (and this is the Valspar white paint I have used on all my furniture makeovers). I love both of these products.

Glazing is a very scary step for me. I am so nervous that I will mess up all the hard work I have done so far.

But it never has. This is my third project using this glaze, and they have all turned out wonderful. (You can see my other projects if you click on “furniture makeovers” in my sidebar.)

I have applied the glaze with an old cloth, with paper towels, and with a sponge brush, but this time I used a sock!

The sock worked good because it was like I was applying the glaze with a cloth glove.

I just put a big glob of glaze on the sock and start spreading it over the piece. I worked in sections. First, I did the middle section of the hutch. When it was covered in glaze, I got a damp paper towel and used it to wipe the glaze off. I know it sounds crazy, but it works for me. I continued these steps in sections all over the entire piece of furniture.

If I want to leave more glaze on, I just rub lightly with the paper towel. If I want more of the glaze off, I press harder when I am wiping it off and usually get a second wet paper towel and wipe off even more.

The glaze is very forgiving. I add and take off glaze as I desire to get the look I am after.

I put the original hardware back on for now, and here is what it looks like..

What do ya think?

I love it! It’s exactly what I wanted.

Please forgive the accessories. I will definitely be changing those! I just wanted to get some stuff up there so I could post this on Met. Monday like I promised my followers.

This is the flat screen from our bedroom. We will be getting a larger flat screen someday…

I sat the TV on a white shelf just to give it more height.

Now I need to get curtains for this room!

Any suggestions?

I am so glad this is finished.

Now head on over to Between Naps on the Porch for more wonderful Met. Monday posts.

****I’ve also posted this on DIY Thursday at A Soft Place to Land. Go by there to check out other DIYers!

Traci