The Life Long Awaited

The posting stated that the top wood piece was broken and that the glass shelves were also broken. It had been listed for over a month, and a few people liked it, but were scared of all the "broken-ness" about it. So I inquired if it was still available and what exactly was the top wood piece that was broken, and what was left of the shelves. I was pretty sure I could fix it, but would it be worth it?

After a few messages back and forth, I figured out what was wrong, and was pretty positive it would be a simple fix. Later that night, my little family made our way just a couple miles down the road to check it out. I was super excited to find that I could in fact fix it, and quickly bought it.

Now, I had a custom order of a huge dining table, 5 chairs, and 2 benches coming to my garage soon. Not to mention all of the furniture I already had piling up. But I was so excited about this hutch! I mean, $20!! Seriously!?!? But man, I needed to get some space cleared up for the next custom order coming my way. 

The next day when baby was asleep I hurried outside to see what I could do. 

The best way that I can describe what the top wooden piece was (that needed fixing), is to call it the ceiling for the hutch. It was still attached to the back piece that sits against the wall, but had fallen from the spot it was cradled in at the front of the hutch. All I had to do was put it back in it's little nook and staple the back piece to the side of the hutch (just to help it stay put in the future).

Now for the broken glass shelves. I didn't really want glass shelves to begin with, so it didn't bother me at all. But I had to figure out how to build the shelves I wanted, with the use of only a few tools. I kept envisioning shelves made out of wood slats, all put together. So, off to Lowes I went. I found that the width of 7 furring strips were perfect for the space inside the hutch. Which was great because I really wanted the look of a lot of boards put together for these shelves!

After I got home, I tried to figure out how I was going to attach all of the boards together to provide a sturdy shelf, and then attach the new shelf to the old shelf supports. I ended up gluing the edge of each of the furring strips together, and then nailed a thin piece of wood to the middle 5 piece of wood. I then took my kreg jig (I love this thing!! I wish I would have bought one sooner than I did! Why did I wait so long?? ) and made pocket holes to screw the outside 2 furring strips to the two sides of the furring strip shelf. I had to do this so the shelf would sit flat on the shelf support. If I would have used the thin piece of wood across all 7 pieces of furring strips, the shelf would have had a small gap between the support and the shelf.  I hope that made sense!!

I made two of these shelves, and let the glue dry, Then I took my sander to it to smooth down all the edges. I then stained both sides of the the shelves with Minwax Dark Walnut and let them dry.

Now I was finally ready to get to the usual part of lightly sanding, wiping down, painting, distressing, and sealing the hutch. I chose to use a navy blue paint (Behr's Hampton Surf), and I am so so so glad that I did!!

I couldn't wait for the hutch to be dry so I could put the shelves in and see the finishing touch! 

((Sorry for the horrible final picture!! :/ I didn't realize I never got a good picture of the whole piece.))

I'm so happy with how it turned out! And before I could even bring it in  the house to photograph, a super nice lady bought it when a different piece she was eyeing down wasn't going to work for her. Thankfully she couldn't take it quite yet, so I had time to get a few pictures! 

So next time you see a piece that needs fixing up because it's "broken", ask a few more questions to find out if its something you can easily fix... especially if the price is right!! 

Until next time -- Natalie