Subject: The hutch that never was

Melissa, Happy Monday! So lately I have really been scoring on Craigslist. Not only did I find my mirror two weekends ago, last week I spotted a cute little side table with a magazine rack on the bottom (which I have always wanted BTW) listed for only $20. After some email negotiating (the only kind I am capable of, apparently) I scored it for $15! I can't wait to show you the transformation (I picked up paint today!). In addition to the side table, I found the most amazing hutch. Let me warn you: it is not much to look at...now. But for only $75 (he refused to go lower), I think it is a total steal and has so much potential:

My mother-in-law is slowly re-doing her house with furniture that she actually wants/likes, instead of inherited furniture following a divorce. So, yeah - I am constantly on the hunt for her. She has a small-ish dining area with a table that seats six and then this little metal & glass console table that holds a few picture frames and magazines and is kind of a catch-all for mail and books and other random things. She had mentioned that she was looking for a hutch-type piece, something sort of along the vein of something like this from Pottery Barn:

Obviously, this piece is gorgeous...and $999. However, my MIL decided that the Craigslist piece was not for so then I briefly entertained the thought of buying it for myself, painting it in some fabulous scheme and then selling it for an awesome profit that I could then use to buy fabric or paint or something for a future project.

I ended up not doing this for several reasons: 1. Mr. Lass reminded me I have a few other projects to do and this one would take a ton of work. 2. I don't really have a venue to sell this thing, other than Craigslist, which isn't really the best option. I mean, people go on to Craigslist to get cheap stuff, so I probably couldn't get top dollar for my refinished hutch. 3. I couldn't get the owner to go any cheaper than $75 (I offered $50) and I calculated that matierials would cost about $30, so I didn't want to invest over $100 and not know how much I would end up selling it for.

So even though I ended up not buying it (which I'm kind of relieved because it really would have been a lot of work), here is some of my inspiration that got me excited about this kind of project...

First up, I loved the textured wallpaper on this lovely re-do:

via Censational Girl

Next, I wanted to incorporate this idea from Jenny at Little Green Notebook:

 

via Little Green Notebook

I love how she used white paint to really make the details pop against the turquoise paint.  Finally, this hutch from Censational Girl is also a great example of how to paint trim to make a piece pop.  

via Censational Girl

So, after thinking about this a lot (do you think about furniture projects as you fall asleep at night too?!), I decided that I would paint the entire thing a soft gray and then use white paint to trim out the edges around the drawers and cabinets. I also wanted to paint the inside of the cabinets and drawers with a fun pop of color, and was totally inspired by Little Green Notebook's latest project. I love the corral!!! And this would have been the knobs, courtesy of Anthropologie, of course:

Ahh. It feels so nice to get all that off my chest - it's almost like I re-finished it! But Hubby was right: I do have a lot of projects right now. My table arrived today, so I will be working on that over the next few weeks, as well as my new side table and bathroom mirror. Ugh - I feel exhausted just thinking about it!

Here's to all the 'after' photos,

Kara