Modern Makeover:

Remember a few posts ago I mentioned my finger were covered in paint…well I’m excited to show you why!! This last week I’ve worked on transforming my grandma’s antique hutch. Each day I devoted a few hours to this project, giving it a fresh coat of paint and a more modern touch by stenciling a quatrefoil design to the back! Once it was finished I was even more excited to fill the shelves with accessories and a few of my favorite things. Hope you enjoy how this project turned out as much as I do, here is a look at the difference the paint and stenciling made.

I wish I had a before before picture that would show its original oak finish that Peter and I painted white a few years ago to brighten it up. That coat of paint made a dramatic difference, creating a fresh new look in the kitchen of our last house to the previously dark, overwhelming, piece of furniture. 

I decided it could use even more updating so we brightened up the shade of white with another coat of paint and then I searched for a quatrefoil stencil! Thanks to Jen from Tatertots and Jello, she had shared a post with a free printable that I was able to use :) After using an exacto knife to carefully cut out the negative space from the computer paper I got to work.

If I had the chance to do this again I probably would have cut the stencil from a heavier paper but honestly the letter size sheet from my printer worked surprisingly well and held up through this repetitive process perfectly. The only trouble I really ran into was where the stencil met the corner of the shelf and I had to fold it over. This caused the sheet to “bubble” and not lay as flat so it took a little more time to align the design each time (really why  I would recommend cutting it from cardstock…hehe)  It definitely was worth all the hours spent with that brush in my hand, carefully filling in the space behind the shelves because I lOve the look of it now! 

The robins egg blue paint carries the color from our living room to the other side of the space that makes up our entryway.  It really adds much needed height to visually fill the wall, while combining the modern design with vintage accessories to balance out the décor of the room. 

                                                   I chose pieces from around our house but did splurge, spending $5 to get the little jack sculpture from Tuesday Morning. (for those of you who have never been there, this store is stocked with cute décor and home items, similar to TJ Maxx or Marshalls, with the same great low prices!!)  I selected muted creams and bright whites with rustic browns in the accessories to stand out but not take away from the design behind the shelves. I experimented with the arrangement until I achieved something that was balanced, trying a variety of pieces to find a combination I was happy with!

I really like how all the elements work together and create a unified look among the different textures and finishes and how this piece now captures both Peter’s style and mine!  I am excited to find other patterns and stencils to try too, despite the time it takes I definitely lOve the final product and could not be happier with how this project turned out! Hope this inspires you to try a different design on a piece of furniture or find your favorite pattern in a stencil to give fabric or a wall treatment a whole new look :)  I know I’ll be on the look out, can’t wait to make over something else soon!

This post was linked to: