So the Lady of the house really wanted something for the kitchen. A functional coffee bar with storage cabinets under it and a hutch for cook books and "knick knacks" (you will find as you follow our home we are "knick knack" people). I am not one to spend hundreds of dollars on a "new" piece of laminate particle board furniture that will have to be replaced in 5 years. I like the old stuff, the older the better. I like scratches, nicks, signs of life and use. Off to craigslist we went!
After days of searching we couldn’t find the "right" piece. Then one day when we were about to give up, we came across this!
I saw immediate potential, and called the seller that night! I drove down and looked at it the next day, and after $80 loaded it into the little red truck. This thing had seen years of abuse. The owner’s mother in law purchased it in the 60's at an estate sale, and used it on the porch to store random junk. Since she had died a few years ago it sat in a garage collecting dust. It was pretty scratched with some serious gouges in the top. This was no problem, since it was made of solid pecan, there is no laminate on it at all, the sander was able get everything even and create a smooth, fine finish.
Once sanding was completed, I figured we would need to raise the hutch up at least 4 inches so the coffee maker would fit under it. We wanted to do something that looked like it belonged to the piece and definitely didn't want any ends showing. I took an old book case that we had in our house when we lived in Savannah, and started cutting it up. I made two 4 inch legs by cutting the pieces at 45 degree angles to create a solid base for the hutch to sit on that would not show any end grain of the pine.
After the Boxes were built, I sat them on the top of the base and then positioned the hutch on top of the boxes. Once it was centered, I nailed the hutch into the boxes and made a back panel to fill the gap. In the panel I cut two 1 inch diameter holes to run power cords. Finally I ran trim along the base to make it easier on the eye and tie it all together.
The next step was the hutch itself. The piece had an old 50's style cardboard backing to it. This is cheap flimsy stuff that just screamed "take me off". I obliged and replaced the back with wainscot board that maintained the paneled appearance, but was much more appealing to the eye and more durable.
After I got the back on, it was time to attack the glass doors. I liked the two outside glass doors but the one in the middle just did not suit. I knocked it out with a hammer and screw driver to open the space up. After removing the middle piece, we had to build partitions for the remaining two doors. This was done easy enough with 1x12 white pine. Somehow I cut one of them with the grain going horizontal instead of vertical, no idea how this happened, but it did and I was out of 1x12 so I had to make it work. I slid the partitions in, notched the tops to fit the magnetic door latch, and nailed them in place. Once they were in, it just didn’t look right, something was missing. I took a scrap piece of left over book shelf and cut it to fit between the partitions. I then drilled 5 one inch holes evenly spaced in the middle, and then ripped it in half, creating two identical arch pieces. Put them both on the router to give it some shape and then nailed them into place.
Finally it was time for paint. One last attack of 220 grit sand paper and she was ready to paint. I matched the base color with the cabinets in the kitchen, sprayed it down, and let it set up for a day. After drying, I stained the base top with "Kona", a dark stain that would stand out and contrast with the light paint color. I sanded some paint off of the edges and around the handles, did a quick stain and wipe on the entire thing and let it dry. This gave it a nice distressed look that turned out way better than I anticipated. A little bit of poly-urethane on the top and it was ready for the kitchen.
Total Time < 10 hrs
Total Cost < $100!
After days of searching we couldn’t find the "right" piece. Then one day when we were about to give up, we came across this!
Once sanding was completed, I figured we would need to raise the hutch up at least 4 inches so the coffee maker would fit under it. We wanted to do something that looked like it belonged to the piece and definitely didn't want any ends showing. I took an old book case that we had in our house when we lived in Savannah, and started cutting it up. I made two 4 inch legs by cutting the pieces at 45 degree angles to create a solid base for the hutch to sit on that would not show any end grain of the pine.
The next step was the hutch itself. The piece had an old 50's style cardboard backing to it. This is cheap flimsy stuff that just screamed "take me off". I obliged and replaced the back with wainscot board that maintained the paneled appearance, but was much more appealing to the eye and more durable.
After I got the back on, it was time to attack the glass doors. I liked the two outside glass doors but the one in the middle just did not suit. I knocked it out with a hammer and screw driver to open the space up. After removing the middle piece, we had to build partitions for the remaining two doors. This was done easy enough with 1x12 white pine. Somehow I cut one of them with the grain going horizontal instead of vertical, no idea how this happened, but it did and I was out of 1x12 so I had to make it work. I slid the partitions in, notched the tops to fit the magnetic door latch, and nailed them in place. Once they were in, it just didn’t look right, something was missing. I took a scrap piece of left over book shelf and cut it to fit between the partitions. I then drilled 5 one inch holes evenly spaced in the middle, and then ripped it in half, creating two identical arch pieces. Put them both on the router to give it some shape and then nailed them into place.
Finally it was time for paint. One last attack of 220 grit sand paper and she was ready to paint. I matched the base color with the cabinets in the kitchen, sprayed it down, and let it set up for a day. After drying, I stained the base top with "Kona", a dark stain that would stand out and contrast with the light paint color. I sanded some paint off of the edges and around the handles, did a quick stain and wipe on the entire thing and let it dry. This gave it a nice distressed look that turned out way better than I anticipated. A little bit of poly-urethane on the top and it was ready for the kitchen.
Total Time < 10 hrs
Total Cost < $100!
