Friday, January 29, 2016

A Craiglist Hutch Tutorial

I love when the days turn warmer because it means that people start spring-cleaning! (Not me, of course, but other people.) They want to get rid of the old and freshen things up. What do you do with all the stuff then? You have a yard sale, naturally. The trouble is it is not warm weather here in Massachusetts and waiting through the cold months used to be torture. With the advent of the internet we now have access to year round yard sales, estate sales, ect.  I love Craiglist, Freecycle and local yard sale facebook sites!

Since we bought our home in 2003 I have had a love/hate relationship with the old steam radiators in our home. Some of them are gorgeous and because of that I do not mind terribly that they take up space in a corner of a room. At times I have placed a piece of marble or tray on top and made them into make shift tables.

U G L Y!
Neither of the two radiators in my living room are beautiful. They are short, squatty little things with no decoration at all. They weigh a ton so to try to bring them outside for a good cleaning and spray paint is impossible. They stick out from the wall about a foot and they are both placed in stupid locations. The one that caused me most trouble was between the two front windows. So this is the maybe-too-detailed story of what I did to deal with them. I have alluded to parts of this account in other posts but thought maybe I should just put it all out there.

My solution was to build display shelves of some sort to house collectibles, table lamps and whatever else I feel like. So the brain started thinking. It had to have an open bottom because Mister is insistent that we not block the heat in any way. Pedal back about a year or so before when I spied, with my little eye, two porch pillars being thrown out by my neighbor. After she left for work and before the garbage man came I, with cat-like maneuvers, made my way to her garbage pile and snatched the pillars stealing them away to the safety of my back porch. In hindsight they were in no danger from the garbage man as they would never have fit into little compressor thing but no doubt some crazed DIY nut would have snatched them up for some cockamamie idea! ....What?



Yes, you know when Mister saw them he rolled his eyes and asked about them. At the time I had no plans other than to hoard them like they were water and it was Y2K! Okay back to the present time. So now, I had a plan for those pillars. They were going to be the front legs to my shelving. But, what about the shelves? That is when I became obsessed with checking Craigslist in three different areas for like a week. One day, boom! There it was a top to an Ethan Allen hutch that some woman did not want anymore. I immediately emailed her. She forwarded the measurements and I was thrilled that it would fit into my SUV. Off I went with my $40 (either $30 or $40 I forget which).

A little too country rustic for me.\
My daughter was with me. In theory the top would fit into my car....if I could get it through the opening which is smaller than the inside cabin area! I was not letting it go. My daughter and I put it on top of the luggage rack but had only a few bungee cords to try to keep it in place. I drove back roads home 10 miles or so with the sun roof open, our hands sticking up through it holding tightly the top of the hutch. That my friends is determination! Once home I took it quickly to the basement until I could draw up a plan. Mister does so much better with things he can see.

Mister caught the vision and the whole family got involved. The girls washed the cut down pillars readying them for paint.


Mister cut the top from a piece of pre-packaged wood at Home Depot. He built the skirt out of 1x6 and used the corners of the posts to tie the skirt in,



Mister mounted the base onto the wainscoting using it as a sort of cleat. Then the top was placed onto that. Everything got a fresh coat of December Starlight from Lowes to match the trim in the living room.





I painted the top using paint from around the house. Now, please don't fuss that I painted a piece of Ethan Allen furniture. I did not pay $2000 for it and in order for me to have it the way I wanted it the color was going to have to change a bit.



And, done for about $80 in materials, including the hutch top and wood. The decor changes seasonally and it has become one of my favorite diy's.

Kinda makes me want to go see what I can find on Craigslist....and no, I have gotten no farther on the office.
                                           Thanks for spending time with me today!

Linking up:
DIY Vintage Chic, The Pin Junkie, AKA Design, My Flagstaff Home, Life With Lorelai, French Country Cottage, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Art Boutique, My Romantic Home, The Cottage Market, The DIY Village, Blooming Homestead, A Tray of Bliss, Pieced Pastimes, Funky Junk Interiors, One More Time Events, Reasons To Skip The Housework, DIY Crush, Tornadough Alli, DIY Show Off, Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home, Finding Silver Pennies, Thoughts From Alice, Pink When , Inside the Fox Den, Coastal Charm, I Should Be Mopping The Floors, Creatively Living, Plucky's Second Thought, Karen's Up On The Hill, Create With Joy, Strangers and Pilgrims On Earth, Stone Gable, Flamingo Toes, Cupcakes and Crinoline, Home Stories A to Z, Sand & Sisal, Lou Lou Girls, A Stroll Thru Life, Elizabeth & Co, The DIY Dreamer, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Ladybug Blessings, Our Home Away From Home, Cozy Little House, Savvy Southern Style, The Blissful Bee, The Newlywed Pilgrimage, Simply Designing, Gingersnap Crafts, The Dedicated House, DIY By Design, Crafty Allie, Lambert's Lately. Blogdacious, The Curator's Collection, Imparting Grace, Too Much Time On My Hands, My Repurposed Life, The Charm of Home, Craftberry Bush, From My Front Porch To Yours, My Flagstaff Home, Joyful Homemaking, A Cup of Mrs. Olson, Blesser House, Must Love Home,Up To Date Interiors, A Vision To Remember, The Pin Junkie. Life With Lorelai, Remodelaholic, Patina Paradise, My Repurposed Life, Shoestring Elegance, The Chelsea Project


51 comments:

  1. What a great way to use an otherwise awkward space. Great idea! Thanks for sharing at My Flagstaff Home.

    Jennifer

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    1. Thanks for checking out the post and for hosting the party, Jennifer!

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  2. Love it! Such a good idea! It looks great and so fun to change out for the seasons!

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    1. Thank you for the nice compliment, Pam and for spending time with me!

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  3. Looks great, love the blue background. I found a similar hutch at a garage sale. Also, one of my fave finds. Gotta love a good deal :)

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    1. Hi Laurie Anne, thanks for visiting with me and for the kind words! I do love a good find at a great price!

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  4. WOW! You did an amazing job of solving that awkward problem! You are my kind of girl! I love the way you think! This turned out beautifully! I hope you have a great weekend! If you are interested in joining one more party each week I would be so happy to host you over at Making Broken Beautiful. It runs every Thursday thru Sunday and is a home decor and furniture party. Have a great day!
    Smiles!
    Terry
    http://thecuratorscollection.wordpress.com

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    1. Hi Terry! Thank you for the kind words and for visiting with me. I am so excited to join your party and will be sure to stop by Thursday. Thank you for inviting me. I did check out your blog and loved all the beautiful things I saw there. I will be visiting often, I'm sure.

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  5. You did a fantastic job on it and I'm glad you painted it. It is your house and you have to live with it!

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    1. Thanks for visiting with me Mary and for the compliment. "It's just paint" has been a long standing by-line of mine and I do like the painted version vs. the pickled version it was when we got the top.

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  6. I'm wandering over from Merry Monday, and your hutch is absolutely gorgeous!

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    1. Hi, Angela! I am so glad you could stop by and spend some time with me. Hope you drop by again soon.

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  7. This is so pretty! I love how your whole family helped with this project. I am joining you from Inspire me Tuesday

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  8. Love it! Pinned and tweeted! Thank you so much for sharing this with us at our linky party. We hope to see you next Monday @ 7 because we can't wait to see your new creations! Happy Wednesday! Lou Lou Girls

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    1. Thanks, Kimberly and thanks for hosting the party!

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  9. My first visit and I absolutely love the hutch! Even more, I think your sense of humor is fantastic! I got to giggle while drinking my morning coffee.
    -Sheila

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    1. Aw, thanks for such a lovely compliment, Sheila! I am so glad you could spend some time with me this morning and who doesn't like starting the day off with a little laughing?

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  10. My first visit and I absolutely love the hutch! Even more, I think your sense of humor is fantastic! I got to giggle while drinking my morning coffee.
    -Sheila

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  11. That's a fantastic project! Love it!!! I wanted to pin this since you shared it at my craft party but the only pinnable image that loads is the one from the top and not the finished hutch. Would you be able to check this for me? And I hope you'll stop by again tonight at 7pm EST.!

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    1. I will, thanks for letting me know!

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    2. I did check the post and I am seeing any trouble. Maybe if you reload the page?

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  12. That turned out beautifully Jolena! Thanks for sharing at Five Star Frou-Frou this week. Love, Mimi xxx

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  13. what a wonderful makeover for the hutch. And such a great price. Love the name of your blog too.

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    1. Thank you and thanks for stopping by and spending time with me. I hope you can stop by again soon.

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  14. First time visit with you and I am so impressed! That turned out great! You are resourceful and funny, such a great read.

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  15. Great way to hide an old heater and very thrifty too. Thanks for sharing on Merry Monday.

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    1. Thanks, Erlene and thank you for hosting the party!

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  16. Wow...this turned out so great!

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

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    1. Aw, thanks Jessica. Thanks for hosting the party! Have a great weekend!

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  17. It's the perfect solution - brilliant!

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  18. Turned out beautifully!!!
    Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  19. Turned out beautifully!!!
    Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY!
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  20. This looks fantastic!! I am way impressed, and I too would have grabbed those porch posts out of the dumpster. Thanks for linking up to #FridaysFurnitureFix!

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    1. Aw, thanks Melanie! Glad to know there are others that would scavenge in the neighbors garbage can! Thanks for hosting the party!

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  21. Oh pretty! What a wonderful solution to your radiator problem! Featured at Be Inspired this morning. Thanks so much for sharing!

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  22. O my that came out beautiful. Now that the weather is changing I want to start a project. Thank you for the inspiration.
    http://atmycounter.blogspot.com/2016/01/january-pick-2-blog-dare.html

    Have a great day!

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    1. Thanks for spending time with me, Deedra. I am glad to know that one of my projects inspired you. I do think everyone is feeling a little cabin crazy and needing some diversion from winter. Happy creating!

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  23. This is absolutely brilliant. I LOVE the way you used different elements to create a new piece that's so functional. Well done!!

    Thank you for linking to the Grace at Home party at Imparting Grace. I'm featuring you this week!

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    1. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Richella! Thanks for hosting the party! I am honored to have this among the pretty things that caught your eye this week!

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  24. Loved it!! Your amazing post has been Pinned,Tweeted and shared on Facebook! I'll be featuring it this week on the Friday Favorites Link Party at Mustlovehome.com. Come by the party to see your feature and share what you have been working on this week! The doors open at 7PM every Thursday. Hugs - Christine at Must Love Home

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    1. Thank you, Christine! How fun is this, to have my project included in the Friday Favorites!

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  25. You are so clever. This is such a lovely piece. Love those spindles. Thanks so much for linking up to Friday's Furniture Fix.

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