Come Stare With Me

I finished my china hutch.  I love it.  I absolutely love it.  I sit and stare at it and smile.  It turned out just as I had hoped.

David and I bought this hutch his fourth year of seminary.  David's brother Mark had decided to follow David and Paul, another brother, to the seminary.  (If you need to keep count, David was a fourth year, Paul was on vicarage, and Mark was a first year). Mark and Beth had two little girls and had to sell their home and find a new one in Ft. Wayne.  They had no room for their dining room hutch.  We said we would buy it from them.

I always liked this hutch and it has served me well for many years.

But in this current parsonage, it just didn't quite work.  The floors in the dining room are hardwood, the room dividers, and the trim are all wood, the table and chairs are wood.  It was just too much wood.  Last fall while at camp, I had asked my friend Amy if she thought my hutch would look good painted.  She told me absolutely and that she knew which paint I should use.

It took me till July to work up the nerve to buy Annie Sloan's paint, but I am so glad I did.  First I used it to paint my porch.  Then this week, it was tackling, finally, my china hutch.

I took off all the hardware, set up a table in the living room, topped it with the top of the hutch, strew the drawers all over the dining room table and floor, turned on Issues, etc. on demand and began painting.

Martin and Katie kept watch.

Annie Sloan chalk paint is easy to use.  No sanding or priming needed, just start painting!  And it sticks to most surfaces - even metal.  That made the daunting task of painting a china hutch not as scary, and even kind of fun!

After everything was painted I used Annie Sloan's wax to help harden the paint.  This was another scary step to me, but once I started, it was quite easy!

I bought one of her brushes too and would recommend you do the same.

After waxing everything, and giving the the base a second coat of wax, I let it dry overnight and then buffed the entire piece.  I also took all the hardware and spray painted them a matte black.

Finally, after a week of walking around all the pieces scattered in the dining room and living room, David and I put it all back together.

This morning I put all the china back inside.

The color seems different because of the lighting.  The ones with the china were taken during the day, while the ones of it empty were taken at night with the lights on.  Either way, I love it.  I absolutely love this color - arles.  Come on over, I'll make some coffee or tea and we'll sit and stare at it together.