A few weeks ago, I shared open shelving ideas and inspiration for kitchens, as well as a sneak peak at my own kitchen solution for open shelving. I encourage you to check out that post because it allowed me to brainstorm alternatives to create a look that I loved without having to grapple with budget constraints.

Take a look at my basic brown hutch. Most of us have these pieces in our home, and if you don’t, you can find them easily on Craig’s List for around $100 – 200 and much, much less at yard sales. In fact, my greatest yard sale find of all times was an antique hutch for $5 – don’t miss checking it out. Your jaw will drop.

Do you have something similar? You know those solid wood furniture items that we have loved for a long time, but that no longer fit our decor. Our tastes have changed over the years, and they may have become dated, so we want to change them, but are hesitant.

Here’s the problem.

We’re not quite sure what to do with them because the “wood lovers” in the family shame us into thinking we should never paint over beautiful wood pieces such as this hutch.

Don’t listen to them, and here’s why.

If you don’t love it, change it. Live ONLY with those things that you love.

Too often, I live with things in my home because they were a good deal, but honestly, I’d rather invest in a few items that I love or be willing to change the things I already own into something I love.

For years, I’ve wanted to change this hutch, but I kept procrastinating. Now that it’s finished, I could kick myself for taking so long because I just LOVE IT!! It only took a day and around $40 in paint and it was worth every penny.

I knew I wanted to go white to match my kitchen cabinets, but be certain because there are SO many hues of white. We went with Antique White by Annie Sloan. I love this white since it’s so versatile, but it really changed hues based on the room. It looked quite white in my foyer when painting it, but when we moved it into the kitchen, the surrounding area made it look much more off white with yellowish hues, so double and triple check since paint can look so different based on the room you have it.

The beauty with Annie Sloan chalk paint is that you have no sanding or priming to do. That made all the difference for me. There are some pieces I don’t mind sanding because it’s a simple process and I can go with less expensive paint, but for a huge project like this, it is worth the slight investment because I would still be procrastinating.

If you follow Balancing Beauty and Bedlam on facebook, then you saw this picture already. Someone was concerned that I was painting inside because of all the fumes, but another reason I love this stuff is there are no fumes. This piece is SO heavy and I have no garage or work area, so the freedom of painting right in my foyer was a dream.

AS chalk paint  Sneak Peak at my Kitchen Make Over Solution for Open ShelvesI decided to go with a pop of color in the background. I knew this would be the deciding factor that would set this piece apart and it truly did. This color is Provence and it’s gorgeous, isn’t it?

huelogy team1 Sneak Peak at my Kitchen Make Over Solution for Open Shelves

MJ and Trish are my sweet friends who came and helped me get this done in a few hours. They are the genius painting dream team behind the blog, Huelogy, and also share their Annie Sloan Chalk Paint expertise through painting workshops at the beautiful Interior Design Store, Total Bliss. 

It’s wonderful having talented friends because I’ve asked MJ to lead our furniture painting workshop at my Becoming Conference (there are still some tickets left) and she’s going to be amazing. She is SO knowledgeable on all things painting. She’s also doing the optional, hands on painting workshop where you can actually bring a piece of furniture and they will go really in-depth on how to turn your old furniture or thrift store finds into masterpieces with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

It took about two coats of the Antique White Chalk Paint to achieve the look we wanted, which was right around a quart. I barely needed any of the Provence, so I’ve been having fun with other paint projects since then because there was so much left over

Can I have too many blue pieces of furniture? (Well, yes, probably. ;))

After we painted, we used sandpaper to give it the distressed look that I was desiring.

It’s nearly impossible to capture how it really looks on camera, but the effect is gorgeous. After the distressing, we waxed the areas that would get the most hand traffic to really seal it in. I didn’t bother with waxing the blue, since I should be the only one touching that area. 🙂

Then I went to town styling the shelves.

This is where it pays to be the Trash to Treasure guru because EVERYTHING on the shelves are second hand for literally pennies on the dollar. I snag milk glass where ever I see it and typically pay about $1 for something like a vase. These books at $0.50 were perfect to give a bit of the extra height that I needed. Even the fake fruit was thrifted.  (Oops, I take back the “everything”. I’ve been playing around by taking things off, and putting on new things, so these two plates – Gratitude and Wonder – are from Dayspring. :))

It’s still unbelievable to me what a little bit of paint and your imagination can do.

This “After” picture was taken the first day I painted, so, it wasn’t quite finished. I’m still searching for just the right knobs.


I bought a few wooden knobs and have painted them blue to hold me over until I find the ones I want.

painted hutch styled for Christmas1 Painted Hutch Love: Christmas Style

Here it is all styled for Christmas. Go check out that simple transformation that I just adore.

Unbelievable BEFORE/AFTER 80's Hutch Redo. Add a pop of color in only a few hours.

But right now, I am so happy with it, that I don’t even mind having temporary knobs.

This is my view right now. I have my computer at our kitchen table and when I look up, this is exactly what I see.  It just makes me happy. I was going to have this hutch store more of my practical items. I have blue and white dishes that are stuffed into our kitchen cabinets. (You can see the dessert plates under the cake plate straight ahead.) I will continue to play around with what I want, and utilize it to the best of my ability.

This gives you a better shot of where the hutch is located. We have an open concept on our first floor, so our kitchen opens right into our family room and this hutch is right where the two rooms separate. Now I see white instead of brown and love it.

I have two more wood pieces that are in line to be painted. I am waiting until I paint over my green great room to determine the colors I want, so now I need to stop procrastinating on that paint color. I’ve had the swatches painted in a corner on the wall for about four months.

I hope that my DIY Hutch Redo has inspired you to step out of your comfort zone, and let your creative juices flow.

You can do it!!

It’s so worth it to revitalize the items that you already own or give new life to something thrifted.

Do you have a piece that you want to redo? What is it? I’ll cheer  you all the way to the paint store. 🙂