The {Not-So-Secret} Life of Jennifer Nicole: Hutch Makeover

I've wanted a hutch for about 8 years, or so...Well, I don't know the exact time frame but I know that when I saw my friend Jenn's that she refinished a few years ago, I was in love. However, in those days I was not really a DIY'er (Am I even one, now??), so the thought of refinishing something was foreign. Anyway, one day I decided to put my matching chair to my living room sofa on KSL (because as usual, I have some sort of vision of how I want my living room to look one day and I seem to have grandiose thoughts that I will eventually reupholster the sectional in my basement).

After a couple of days, some lady called on it. Only she wanted to trade for a hutch instead of buying it. Once I heard "hutch" and saw the pictures, I was all, "SOLD!" so they delivered the hutch and took the chair and we were both happy campers :).

I decided to use chalk paint this time because I had seen some really cool projects done with the "Annie Sloan" chalk paint. The cool thing about chalk paint is that you don't have to sand or prime it AND you can paint anything with it! Genius! No spraying required, so it's perfect to do in the house when the weather is too cold (In fact, I painted the entire thing in my bedroom and living room)...or, if you have been using spray paint so much that you are sure your IQ has already dropped 20 points from the fumes and you need a teensy break.They do sell Annie Sloan in a few paint stores, but it's hard to find and it's also buckoo-bucks, so I knew I had to find a cheaper version.

Enter home decor blogger-land search.

It turns out, you can find a ton of recipes online. I tried out two of them. One was at I heart Naptime (the link is below) and the other was on Liz Marie here. Both worked after playing around with the mixture. I really think it depends on what supplies you have on hand or would rather work with. I say try both, what do you have to lose? As I always say, you can repaint anything and since you are probably using something cheap or that you didn't have to pay for to refinish, what is the harm?

Of course, I don't have any real "before" pictures because I am still terrible at taking them, but here are what the original cabinet doors looked like.

(You are probably wondering what the black is all over the doors. it's actually black acrylic paint! It helps immensely for the projects you want to distress or make "chippy". Paint it where you want it and then cover it with a light coat of vaseline. When it's time to sand it, after you are done painting it. the paint will easily sand off on those spots. It makes the sanding much less labor intensive. I got this idea from Jamielyn at I heart Naptime, right here along with her chalk paint recipe.)

Anyway, I painted the cabinet doors in my bedroom while watching old episodes of "Real Housewives" with only one slight "oopsie!"

I did have to do 3 coats, but I think it was because the wood was so dark. Also, like I said above, with chalk paint you might have to play with the mixture a bit (which isn't a big deal, you just add more water, or more of your product of choice until it's the consistency you need) and my first mixture may have been a little runny.

Anyway, I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out. Although, I will probably change the drawer pulls to cup style. I think it will fit it much better.