Craft Storage Center from an Old Hutch!

When my husband and I married, we inherited an old hutch from his grandmother that has been used throughout the years throughout our home: first to store our collection of china, and then later in my craft room to store supplies and tools. I have always loved the storage capabilities of this piece, but after I did a recent update in my craft room, the original dark finish just didn’t fit well with the brightened feel of the space. Plus, the many doors on the piece made it very difficult to access items stored inside. I considered calling the Salvation Army to come pick up the hutch so I could replace it with something else until my daughter gave me the brilliant idea to update it to fit my needs instead. With just a bit of paint and elbow grease, I was able to turn the outdated hutch into a craft storage command center, and I have to say I am absolutely delighted with the end result!

Here is a run-down of all of the steps it took to transform an outdated hutch into a beautiful craft storage center!

• To start, I removed all of the cabinet doors from the top and bottom portions of the hutch, filling all of the holes from the previous hardware with wood filler and then sanding smooth once it was dry. The original doors were in very good shape, but the middle doors on the top and bottom of the original piece were fixed in place, making it incredibly difficult to access to all of my supplies inside.
• To avoid tedious sanding, I opted to use chalk paint for this project. I mixed Sherwin-Williams Super Paint in Pure White (flat finish) with BB Frosch Chalk Paint Powder, following the handy instructions on the BB Frosch website.

• Using an angled brush, I painted the entire surface of the hutch–inside and out–with the paint. I won’t lie: this part of the project was incredibly time-consuming, since there were so many nooks, crannies and details on the piece! For even coverage, it took me three coats.

…And this is what I looked like after applying all of those coats! Totally covered in paint and wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into!

• Once the paint was dry, I sealed everything with coat of Minwax Satin Polyacrylic (affiliate link). Although it is typical to finish off chalk paint projects with wax, wax finishes have to be reapplied over time to ensure the piece stays protected, and I wanted this to be a project I could finish and know it will stand the test of time.
• Instead of replacing the drawer pulls as I had initially planned on doing, I decided the original brass pulls still looked really current, so I popped those into place.
• With all of the hard work done, it was time for the fun part: filling the updated piece with my craft supplies! I found some cute scalloped bins at Michaels, along with some other great organizational products to kick my crafty organization up about 1,000 notches!

Four two-tiered lazy Susans and various shelves turn this hutch into a craft storage powerhouse!

I found these handy 3-tiered shelves on Amazon (affiliate link) that are generally used in a pantry to be the perfect solution for storing paint bottles. 

Lazy Susans allow so many products to be stored in a small space while also ensuring everything is nice and accessible. I found these 12-inch white lazy Susans on Amazon for a very great price. (affiliate link)

I love how the top portion of the hutch is lit, really allowing all of the bright colors of the paint and other supplies to pop against the crisp white backdrop. A couple of handy jars from Ikea and a pretty footed compote dish that belonged to my grandmother hold sewing trims, ribbons and buttons.

On the shelves below, I filled the cute scalloped metal bins I found at Michaels with things like ribbon, washi tape, adhesives and other supplies. I plan to add labels to these containers to easily help identify each one’s contests.

Overall, I am absolutely thrilled with how well my new craft storage center turned out!

A few takeaways from this project…

In retrospect. I honestly think it might have been faster to sand/prime first and then paint with a latex paint like I did on the painted antique dresser I did for my youngest son’s nursery a few years back. Although I loved the feel of the chalk paint, it just didn’t cover as well as I had hoped.

When revamping old furniture pieces, consider using the original hardware to save a bit of money in the process. I had priced some new drawer pulls for about $15 apiece before I opted to use the old ones, and I am so happy I decided to stick with the old brash pulls. They have such great detailing and patina!

Take a look around your home and give a fresh look at furniture pieces that are outdated or are no longer functioning well in your household in their current capacity. This hutch started off life housing china and flatware, but I love that I’ve given new life to this old family piece by updating it to incorporate into my craft studio!

Thanks so much for stopping in!