The hutch we were "Pregnant" with...Real Life DIY
Once upon a time, when I was just staying home with my little man our friends asked if I would refinish some furniture for them. Of course, I didn't hesitate to say yes...and 1 month later I landed myself a full-time design position.
I still wanted to do the furniture, so we started with their hutch. It was an old wooden piece that was given to them and they just wanted to see if it could be spruced up to look a little more "Pottery Barn" and a little less "visiting grandma's".
After sanding and dis-assembling everything it was time to prime. Matt had gotten me a paint sprayer for Mother's Day and we were pumped to try it out! It was amazing! It covered the piece so quickly and coated it so much better than a paint brush. I am now a big fan, but I will say for small projects I don't use it because there are so many parts to clean after each coat. Anyway we were thinking this would be done in no time.
Long story short, the paint was having trouble sticking in some places and it ended up taking us 2 coats of primer and about 3-4 coats of paint {w/ primer in it} to get it covered. We also had to deal with our work hours {we could only work on weekends} and the weather {can't paint in rain or below 60...and it was winter...not smart}.
After the paint cured I lightly sanded the areas that would naturally get more wear to make it look distressed. I also painted the back wall of the display cabinet a light gray to compliment her walls. Then we clear coated and re-assembled; adding some glass knobs we found at Hobby Lobby.
After almost 9 months we could finally gift them their hutch...only weeks before her second baby was due!
That, my friends, is real life DIY; some projects are wins and some are giant fails. Most of mine eventually end up as wins, but not before tons of tears and little fails along the way...don't give up! If you want any tips on our process or how to achieve this look, feel free to contact me by clicking the link at the top of the screen.
xo,
Nikki