Its Done, well for now anyway...

For several months now, I have been working on an old kitchen hutch my husband had in the garage, given to him by his Uncle Dean years ago.  It held a variety of tools,fishing equipment, grease guns and the like.  It was stuffed so full, the drawers would not shut, and the glass cabinet doors for some reason had been removed.

It had character, too much character to be shoved into a corner of the garage, never seen, exposed to the heat and cold, abused......  So, I decided to rescue it.

Before

So, I took it apart (it was 2 separate pieces)  I soon found out the large chip out of the enamel top on the bottom piece, was not a missing chip after all--it was black paint, which came right off.  Then I started stripping, and stripping and stripping....It had at least 11 coats of paint on it, some which I am sure contained lead.  Lead paint means you can not use the heat gun, or the sander...So, I had to chemical strip...and strip...and strip.

 In its past, it has been several shades of white,cream, yellow, peach, pink, 2 shades of green, one drawer had lavender on it....a little of every color.

I don't think the top and bottom went together originally   They are of 2 different woods and construction styles, and the handles are different.

But, that adds to the character.

The wood has been damaged in several pieces.  Some I repaired, others I left alone--for the character.

I tried to go for the shabby chic or distressed look.  My husband though, calls it the "it looks like she didn't finish it look"....I even showed him pieces on eBay going for several thousands dollars with the same look....He wasn't impressed.

I declared it done--for now.  Later I want to paint our bedroom, but I don't know what color.  When I do, I will probably go over the piece with a paste stain to compliment the room color.  That might be in a month, or five years from now.  So, I went ahead and moved it into my bedroom, and relocated some other items into it.  It provides great storage and a good place to show off some of the small antiques and glass items.

You can tell the pine bottom is darker than the top.  When I stain it, that will even out some--I am leaning towards a sage green or mauve stain....maybe.

Now, I need to switch a couple other pieces of furniture around, to balance the room, as  I now have 2 tall pieces side by side, and it just makes the room seem tilted..  That will be tomorrows project.