Ugly Buffet/Hutch to a Kitchen Storage Swan
By We’ve all seen these hutch/buffets before. Most likely at a Goodwill – or sometime during your childhood. Sorry about the before picture – I started getting into this piece before I remembered to grab the camera.
This piece came from the same set of stuff we picked up with the Ethan Allen side table – and it came with a horrible hutch piece for the top. I immediately trashed that and got to work on the bottom. It started out brown, dirty, clunky and basically something you would never want to have in your house – let alone pick up if it was on the side of the street for free. But I pushed forward – frankly I was worried on how it would turn out but anything was better then what I started with.
So late Saturday night while Lauren was out, I spent some quality time with the paint sprayer (yes, a party animal – that’s me) and sprayed this piece down with Annie Sloans Old White chalk paint. (Read this post to see the sprayer I used and where I got it, plus other tips).
The Sunday morning, after consulting with my lead designer (Lauren), I painted the top with Graphite Annie Sloan paint and then got to work distressing it. The White/Graphite combo on the top allowed the white to show through once distressed and the brown actually worked for us on the body of it. The handles came from Hobby Lobby. I then gave it a coat of clear wax and we hauled it into the new kitchen – with about 2 hours to spare before we had dinner guests over.
And there you have it – from fugly to functional and stylish in less then 24 hours. Total cost – maybe $10 worth of paint and wax.
Edit: Originally this was not for sale, but with so much interest in it – I had to sell it. So this is now SOLD. I’ve promised my lovely wife to find another one just like it for her.
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Oh my gosh I love how that came out!! I am dying to know how the chalk paint worked in your sprayer ~ I have a sprayer with an air compressor ~ Is that what you used ?
Thank you bunches!
Lori
Lori –
Yes, I used an HPLV Sprayer from Harbor Freight ($14.99) and hooked it up to my compressor. I only used the Old White in the sprayer and it worked like a charm – didn’t have to thin it or anything. No drips, runs or any sanding needed to smooth out any lumps. I brushed on the Graphite.
Using the sprayer – I finished 5 pieces in 2 hours (at least the base coat) and only used 1 can of the Old White (with some leftover) – definitely the way to go. I’m going to do a post about the sprayer soon because of the high interest in it.
I am so glad to hear this! I have access to spray painting equipment and a painting room with fans at my husband’s place. I was wondering if it would work. And darn! I just finished hand painting a dining room table for my son’s first house. Can’t wait to try the sprayer!
Beautiful! We have have painted so much furniture, accessories and lately walls and each piece still amazes me.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with Chalk Paint and the your fabulous furniture finishes. WonderFaux Studio has 2 locations in the Houston area to better serve AS Chalk Customers – Spring and Sugar Land locations. Please feel free contact us 281-242-4937
Wow, ten bucks? Annie Sloan chalk paint is (cheapest) $37.50 per quart, and the wax is ~ $25 – so that’s $100 even if you only used 10% of the paint (and in a paint sprayer, which isn’t paint-conservative, that would be pretty unusual).
I mean I love AS chalk paint, but it is very expensive and saying $10 to do this paint job is really misleading.
Emma – yes, AS paint is not cheap, that I agree with, but the math is correct. Ladybutterbug has AS paint for $35.50 per quart but for the sake of the math, I’ll include shipping and round it to $40. I did 5 pieces with 2/3 a quart which would mean $26.40 in paint for 5 pieces (just the white paint) – and that’s assuming all the pieces are the same size (this was actually on the small side). That gives us $5.28 per piece in white paint (only one coat was needed). The graphite on the top of this piece was very minimal – I’ve usedit on 3 other items and still have 9/10 of a quart left. So that’s about $2 of graphite ($4 per 10th a quart divided by 3 pieces, gives us $1.38 per piece – rounded up to $2). So we’re at $7.28 for the paint on this – and the wax goes a long long ways if used properly. Let’s say $30 for a can of wax (to include shipping) – I have over half left and I’ve done at least 6 pieces so far. So that’s $2.50 per piece for wax (again, assuming all pieces are the same size). That gives a total cost of $9.78 for this item in paint and wax.
Check out my post on the HPLV sprayer (high pressure low volume) – these are super efficient. Most sprayers waste a lot of paint that is true but the HPLV sprayer puts out a very fine spray with almost zero over spray (only when the user aims wrong).
If i had brushed this piece or used a different sprayer, then the $10 estimate would be way off, I agree. But the HPLV sprayer works like a charm – not only saving time but paint as well. Hope that helps you out.
Great job on this piece. You are adding a new aesthetic to this genre. Refinishers are ignoring the benefits of Annie Sloan Paint other than the cost, namely, the savings in time. If you don’t have to sand three times, prime, paint, and seal something, you can be done faster and make more money. I’m a new follower now! Ann
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!
Great transformation!
I’m speechless 🙂 The buffet looks smashing I love the graphite top with the white. Your newest follower.
fabulous! the color combo is awesome, and those new handles really take it up to date. huge improvement!
Wow! Looks great!
It’s so beautiful, and I seriously am in love with that mirror:)
I have been wondering how the CP would work with a sprayer…sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing…new follower! 🙂
Wow! You’ve got so much creativity and I’m admiring them all. Can you please share your creative posts at the Creative Bloggers’ Party & Hop? Hope to see you there at the party 🙂
I have just bought this sprayer along witha compressor after reading your blog. I have never used one and am eager to try. Did you use a regulator? Can you tell the settings on everything you used just to give an idea. Also, Do you use this sprayer with oil based paint? And if so, do you thin it, how much? Thanks so much for your help! Lindia
I have that exact same piece of furniture sitting in my garage! I had it in my dining room for many years and it is very well built. I was going to sell it, but now I see how beautiful it could be again. My question is: How do you distress it?
I am new to the chalk paint craze, but love the way it looks. Would you use chalk paint on a dining table and chairs? Wondering if daily usage would wear off the paint too easily.
This very piece (with the top part with the glass doors & matching table and chair set!) was in my house growing up, and now resides in mine. I too painted it the same white shade you used. So much better than that awful 70s brown! I like the contrasting top you did. Very nice!
I have that hutch in my dining room, it was my late mother in law’s wanted to do something to it and now I have hope it will look great. Thanks for the information on the sprayer, did you paint the inside of the doors?
Where is the mirror from and what does it measure? I have looked all over but can’t find one.