I bought this old china hutch for $40.00. It is out of style but I absolutely love it! I felt it would give the kitchen a warm and cozy feeling. It missed the glass on the doors but I would have replaced it anyway. |
The lacquer from the bottom cabinet came off just by scrubbing with warm water and soap. My plan was to build another cabinet in between these two pieces to house the microwave and toaster. Since I had no other cabinets in the kitchen at the time, I wanted to also fit a few drawers for the kitchen utensils. |
The pieces ready to be glued and gun nailed. |
All veneered plywood for the new addition, cut to size. |
I only had nine feet to the ceiling. By adding the drawers and the microwave, the hutch was 1.5" too tall. I had no other option but to trim 1.5" off the base with the reciprocating saw. |
Taking the nightstand apart as I also needed some of the wood. |
This nightstand I bought for $20.00 from the local thrift store. I bought it mainly for the drawers and the matching hardware. |
Starting on the doors. |
The microwave can be taken out. The upper piece rests on the side columns. |
The columns finished. The inner wall continues underneath the shelf. I had no one help me lift the upper piece on top. I started by raising a corner on top of the coffee table. I then raised the other side and I pushed it all the way on the table. From the coffee table I lift it on the two bar chairs in the same manner. However, I didn't think I'd be able to lift it further - on top of the columns, as I had to do it from the table. Once a corner lifted on the column I would have had to step forward but being on the table it meant stepping on the bar stool and balancing the unit on the edge of the column at the same time. I had a melt down for not having anyone to help me but I felt God telling me to step in faith, get on the coffee table and lift up the unit with all of my strength. It's hard to trust what you don't see, especially when risking to end with a heavy piece on top of you. However, I had no choice but go for it giving my all. My heavenly family was faithful and compensated for the strength I lacked. |
The drawers were too small so I had built an additional compartment in between. The side columns were half done in the photo. |
I also cut inserts for the doors and a shelf. I stained everything and top coated it with polyurethane. The finish/color was temporary until I was to built my kitchen cabinets. Update; the final color on the right. |
Much better. |
Doors ready, with the hinges attached. However, they didn't blend well with the existing doors. I decided to remove the center panels and re-shape new ones. |