The dusty hutch

It’s hard for me to resist stopping at any thrift stores I come across when I’m out & about. For some silly reason I feel like I’ll be missing out on something HUGE if you don’t stop and have a little look. I blame this obsession on past experiences, when I did on a whim just stop and found that one thing that I swore was left just for me. Some may think it’s sad but I can tell you which store gets their shipments on what day of the week and know the furniture departments sales department employee by first name. Anyway, at first glance you wouldn’t think this dusty old scratched up hutch would be a find to brag about, but under all that dust and dirt was an amazing solid oak luster, dovetail drawers and it was made by Richardson Brothers & company in 1978. Not only was this a good solid piece of tree but for only $8.99 I wasn’t going to leave that store without her. Well, like a number of my resale treasures she sat untouched until the day came when I finally had enough time to tackle this project. With a piece of 60 grit sand paper ( I prefer the round disc that are usually used on electric hand sanders folded in half ) I lightly sanded off the years of dirt, wax and polyurethane until the finish gets dull. I use an old damp cotton t-shirt or towel to get off any saw dust,unscrew the hardware, tape off certain areas & she’s ready to be primed. Like a lot of other DIYer’s I use zinsser oil based primer and usually always put 2 thin coats on. The one thing I love about this primer is regardless of any brush strokes or streaks you get from painting, once you hit it with the sandpaper the finish gets so soft & smooth. You can’t even tell that is was painted by hand. This is where I tend to drive myself nuts and constantly run my hands down every inch to make sure her finish is perfect. Swiss Coffee by Behr is the color I used for the top coat in a satin. Two good coats with a light sanding in between, and some wipe on polyurethane. I picked out some oil rubbed bronze hardware, applied some moroccan fabric I found @ Joann's and decked her out with white ironstone & that was it :)