I came across this vintage hutch for free on Facebook Marketplace and decided to give it a colorful makeover! Sometimes all a piece needs in a bit of paint and wallpaper to have a brand new life.
IT’S REVEAL DAYYYYYY!! After lots of sweat and work, the hutch is officially done. I’m so happy for you to finally be able to see it.
Be sure to check out part one of the hutch makeover if you’re just catching up here. There’s so much to say, so let’s just get right into it! Here’s the reveal of my painted hutch makeover:
If you prefer to watch how I did the cabinet makeover, I even made video for this project! This video is actually the launch of my YouTube Channel. I’ll try to share longer home decor videos over there, so be sure to subscribe to stay around a while.
Choosing the Color
And the color I went with, if you couldn’t already tell, was green! I’m definitely having a moment with green right now, so I’m leaning into it. Plus it matches so well with everything else we have planned for the dining room area of our apartment. Don’t worry, pink is still in the plan, just in other areas.
The color is Amazon Moss from Benjamin Moore. It’s super bright in the can as you can see here, but it does dry a rich, pretty green. I know a lot of furniture makeovers use chalk paint, but I really prefer the colors you can get from interior paint.
How to Paint Furniture
Let’s talk about paint application. You can use a paint brush, or a roller, but for the smoothest finish, I used a compressor mounted spray gun. The downside of course is that you need to use an air compressor, but I have to tell you that this is the smoothest finish I’ve ever gotten! You could also use a sprayer with the compressor built in; however I found this one easier for paint clean up.
It’s so much easier to get into those hard to reach curves and details when using the spray gun. Plus there were no brush strokes when it dried. It will take an extra coat of paint for coverage, I ended up needing a second quart, but the end result were worth it.
I sealed everything with Polycrylic. I recommend quickly applying on a thin layer with roller and then going over it with a sponge brush. Use long brush strokes until all the air bubble are smoothed out.
To add a bit of pattern to the piece, I decided to wallpaper the back of the hutch. I’ve been eyeing this wallpaper from Rifle Paper Co, and since I can’t justify wallpapering the walls in our rental, this was the perfect opportunity to use it. The flowers and the gold detailing is the perfect combination!
How to Wallpaper Furniture
Adding wallpaper to furniture is a great way to bring in an unexpected detail. You can of course use peel and stick wallpaper, which is what I did for our Ikea Pax Wardrobe makeover. But here’s how to wallpaper furniture using traditional wallpaper:
1. Apply a thin layer of wallpaper paste to your furniture the back. You don’t need a lot of the paste because you want to avoid any excess coming out the sides onto the wallpaper. If you’re wallpapering a back panel like I did for our hutch, try your best to remove it and work on a flat surface.
2. Roll out as much wallpaper as you need then position in place, leaving a few inches of trim around the border. Keep adding and aligning your wallpaper until your piece is covered.
3. Carefully go over the surface with a smoothing tool to remove any imperfections and to even out the paste.
4. After letting the paper and paste dry for a few days, trim any excess paper with an X-Acto knife.
The Finishing Touches
The final detail for finishing the furniture makeover came down to the hardware for the bottom cabinet. I was torn between a vintage piece on the left and a flower knob on the right.
I ended up going with the flower knob for two reasons:
- It matched the flower detail on the hutch perfectly! The rounded petals were almost identical.
- The tone of brass was much more complimentary with the green. The antique brass matched the original hardware that I saved for the top cabinets.
And just like that, drumroll for the final product……
The Results
So that’s the thrifted hutch makeover!! I can’t believe the hutch was just sitting in a garage before we got to it. I know not everyone likes painted furniture, but I feel really happy that we saved this piece from being thrown out. We found several hutches at thrift stores too, so they’re out there if you’re looking to recreate this project!
A lot of work went into this project, but I really think it was worth it at the end. It may just be one of my favorite pieces of furniture that I’ve ever owned. Not only do we have a unique piece for our living room, but we also have something that has memories because we worked on it to make it our own.
My dishes also feel that much more special having them on display. Some are thrifted, but the ceramic plates can be found here, here, and here, and we love them so much! Like this is the dish I would be happy having for the rest of my life. They’re that right kind of heavy and the perfect shade of pink (we also have a set in white too).
Let me know what you think! Also if you have any other questions about the process or want sources linked, just drop me a note in the comments and I’ll be happy to help!
