Antique Hutch Painted in Seaside

I received a message from one of my customers telling me she found the most amazing hutch on Marketplace for $100! She wanted a statement piece for her living room and knew this piece had loads of potential if it were only painted.

Adrianne and her husband brought the hutch right over after purchasing it so I could get a good look at it. There were wood details that were missing that we would have to recreate and fill in a few gaps with wood putty but what I failed to notice on my inspection was this severed leg.

One of the legs in the front had broken all the way through! Ouch!
When Adrianne and her husband were at the house they picked out her colors she wanted, Seaside for the outside, Putty on the inside and Chocolate on the legs. 

We started working on her project right away because I realized I had a bit more repair work that needed to be done before I could get to painting. Chris took on the task of remaking the intricate wood details and he traced out the remaining trim and then used a dremel to make the new pieces.

Once we realized the leg was broken we glued it with industrial grade wood glue and clamped it for a few days to make sure the glue was set.

Once Chris had finished making all the wood details we glued those and I went around and filled all the cracks with wood putty making for a smooth transition. 

Now with all the repairs behind us I can get started prepping the piece for paint. I always start with a good cleaning of Fusion TSP
followed by a scuff sand with 220 sandpaper and another good cleaning. There were a lot of different components to this hutch with a lot of detail, including the door. I had to take the door completely apart and remove the glass so I could get into every nook and cranny with my spray gun.

Taking the fretwork out of the doors is a very delicate job because you can easily break the small trim pieces if you aren’t careful. 

Since I spray my Fusion Mineral paint I had to decide how I was going to tackle this project especially with painting 3 different colors.

I decided to go with painting the inside of the hutch first, I primed with BIN shellac based primer since I was using a light color, Putty, I just didn’t want any tannins to leach through.

After I applied the primer I sprayed the inside with Putty and once it was dry I taped and papered the opening so I didn't get any overspray of the other colors on the inside. I then decided to paint the legs in Chocolate and once those were dry I taped and papered them.

 Lastly I painted the body in Seaside, paying special attention to all the details and making sure they get painted really well. One of my favorite things to do once I have the whole piece painted is to take the tape and paper off to reveal what the piece actually looks like! It is one of the most satisfying things especially when all the colors go so well together. Since the piece was woodgrain before and my customer wanted a different color on the inside from the outside I had to make a clean line between the Putty and the Seaside on the outside underneath the door. 

The next day I sprayed a semi gloss poly to the entire hutch to give it a bit of shine and that WOW factor my customer was looking for. You only have to wait 24 hours for the Fusion paint to dry before you apply your polyurethane.

Since Fusion has a built in top coat you don’t need to add one but because this is a custom piece I like the added protection knowing that my customer will have a paint finish that will be durable and last for many years to come. Here is how the hutch turned out, What do you think?!





I also sprayed the handles gold and added some antiquing glaze to sit in the details to make them pop.




I am so thrilled with how this piece turned out! When I let my customer know it was finished I had one word to describe it and that was EPIC! I am also really thrilled with how the broken leg looks after it was painted, you can hardly tell that there was a break and I am so glad to be able to fix it so this piece can live on for many more years and be appreciated by all who see it in their home.

When Adrianne came to pick up the hutch her eyes filled with tears, it was more stunning than she had dreamed! As a furniture refinisher that is everything we could ever want is to see our customers filled with such joy. When they got it home and unloaded it in its new spot she got a chair and sat in front of it just admiring her new hutch for hours. Isn’t that the sweetest thing?! 

Here is what her hutch looks like in her home all decorated. 

Get This Look For Your Own Furniture (click on any of the pics to shop these colors)

If you have a piece you would like painted but don't want to do the work yourself just click my picture below for more info on custom painting.

or you can shop my entire website and purchase paint to DIY yourself, just click the picture below.  


If you want to see the whole process of painting this piece beginning to end, please watch the video, click below.