Serendipitous Home: Ikea Hutch Makeover and Built-in's Finishing Touches

It's been a wonderful week off from work that I decided to take last minute since Todd's next job has been delayed which means we could spend the week together with no real plans at all, just hanging out doing whatever we please.

It was also nice to be home with our girl as we recently had our Emma spayed and in spite of her age she has recovered nicely. It was a tough decision to make but I now feel it is the best thing for her in spite of her age. I was torn because I was given different opinions about what is best for your dog but after hearing from a vet tech about the many unspayed dogs who got mammary cancer and the risk of pyometra we decided that this is the very best thing for her health. Also she was going into heat way too often which kept her confined to the house and yard for a month at a time and along with the stress of worrying about her gettting pregnant should she get out or a dog get in, made the decision all the more easy to make.

So with my time to do whatever my hearts desire I decided to tackle this not so pretty piece.

We purchased this Ikea pine sideboard from the scratch and dent section for $275.00 many years ago and I have lived (for the life of me I don't know why) with it in this dark stain all this time.

So we got her outside for her makeover and I patched the hardware holes and sanded all the edges back to the bare wood with the palm sander.

and gave the top a good sanding as well in case I wanted a very distressed look

Then we brought her inside for the painting since they were calling for rain here and there. I know many people don't paint the inside of cabinets but I wanted her to be fresh inside and out. Two coats of STIX primer by Dulux (this stuff is amazing and sticks to any surface without sanding) and then I used up a wee little sample pot of my first Annie Sloan Chalk paint in Cream which I bought from Simply Cottage in Bracebridge for $15.00. I've have always wanted to try Chalk paint but I didn't want to spend the money on a full quart in case I didn't like it. As you can see it is more like a yellow than a cream. I used a brush and applied it sparingly mostly to ensure I'd have enough to paint the entire outside and not run out. Thankfully I did and I loved the coverage as well as the finish but that was not the final coat.
I wanted to have the warmth of the cream/yellow come through along with the wood when I sanded it back.

Then I brushed on a coat of white paint that I had kicking around in natural base.
Nothing fancy here and and definitely a money saving option. I pondered over a second coat but actually liked seeing the texture of the brush marks and a tiny bit of the yellow showing through when you look close.

The next step, I used my palm sander again to sand all the edges so that the warmth of the raw wood and a touch of the dark stain showed through.

I couldn't believe how easy the entire project was.

In just a few places I lightly sanded to let a bit of the Annie Sloan Cream chalk paint show through.

I even distressed the shelf so the inside is as pretty as the outside.

I decided to let the top stay mostly white with the edges sanded back all around so a little of the cream showed through as well.
The last step is to give it a coat of finishing wax to protect it. I previously purchased a tin of Minwax finishing wax a while ago only to read some reviews that it darkens a piece. Since I love it just the way it is I am going to get some clear beeswax to finish it instead.

Now I had to come up with some inexpensive but wonderful new hardware for it to really shine. I pondered simple inexpensive knobs but remembered we have a drawer of leftover knobs in the basement and look what I found! Three antique solid brass suitcase pulls that I think will look incredible. Two have the original patina which is spot on for this piece and I guess I had cleaned up the other one way back so I will have to see how I can give it a faux aged treatment. I need 11 pieces total so then I remembered that we will have three more leftover from the master bedroom renovation. That means all I would have to do is find 5 knobs for doors and the smaller drawers in a similar finish or perhaps a little contrasting for more interest. Reuse, recyle.
Perfect!

And here she is styled with a new wonderful beach print that we both fell in love with at HomeSense!
The handles will be a nice punctuation detail on the soft white and I am over the moon with how well this has turned out so far and I got the two thumbs up from my honey as well so that makes my day.

Ok, I have to add this in now, I'm feeling a little smug. I was flipping through the June House and Home magazine after I created this post and came to this page and remembered how I loved this piece but forgot about it, (or subconsciously I didn't) and think ours is a pretty close version for ooh about
$7300.00 less. Not bad eh?

And now I have to show you what I am even more excited about. I am really doing a happy dance, seriously. We are finally putting the new doors on our built-ins in the living and dining room!

I have been patiently waiting for this day for so long and it is finally coming together but the only thing is I have created more work for my honey as I changed my mind on the design in the dining room after they were finished but thankfully before we got the doors.

As you can see here the doors would have been lower than the top left open shelf and after it was done I thought it would look funny afterall. Soooooo....

I asked him to make a second shelf above so it lines up with the left side and add a 1 1/2" face frame so they are the same as the living room built-ins. I also asked him to add the 1 1/2" face frame to the fronts of the open shelves as well which he is working on right now as I type.

I am so glad I changed it and am so thrilled with the result.
Thank you honey!
Oh yeah. I forgot, we recently picked up these four mint condition chairs from Kijiji and am trying them out here as we moved our other ones to the kitchen. I like each room to have a more contemporary touch and these chairs might do it. I'm still pondering.
I know they say that dining rooms are becoming obsolete but I love having one as it is a room that is mostly about beauty, a room you can just sit and enjoy a cup of tea without too much else going on in it which to me is so very relaxing.