Refinishing the base of a kitchen hutch in Perfect Gray Milk Paint
One of my favorite ways to procure small to medium sized servers is to use the bases of kitchen hutch cabinets! This particular piece refinished beautifully in General Finishes “Perfect Gray” Milk Paint!
Why Kitchen Hutches?
Kitchen hutch cabinets typically come in two parts – the base and the hutch top. One of my fellow dealers at Morgantown Market had a pine kitchen hutch that belonged to her late father. She offered the piece to me, and I instantly knew I wanted the base.
The base of kitchen hutches are often the perfect size to serve as a TV console, office storage, dining room server or even a larger nightstand (if your space is that big)! You can also repurpose them to serve as bathroom vanities by inserting a vessel sink in the top.
I’ve refinished a few kitchen hutch bases in my furniture painting career. This one in particular was a favorite! Oh, and the beautiful shop pictured here is Painted Table Designs in Elverson, PA!
Here’s how that one began:
Instead of discarding the top of this particular hutch, we hung it in our master bathroom for open shelf storage! It works beautifully.
Refinishing the Top with Graystone Water Based Wood Stain
The top of my hutch base was in rough shape. It had a lot of gouges in it from years of use (and abuse). To even everything out, I sanded the top down and restained it using General Finishes Graystone Water Based Wood Stain.
This stain color is one of my absolute favorites to use! It has the gray tones that I love with a subtle warmth that creates a handsome finish.
To protect my freshly refinished surface, 2 coats of High Performance Topcoat in Satin were applied.
Painting the Hutch Base in Perfect Gray Milk Paint
I often like to pair Graystone Water Based Wood Stain with General Finishes Perfect Gray Milk Paint.
This color is a warmer gray that looks fabulous on just about anything (in my opinion). It’s one of the top 5 colors I use from the General Finishes Milk Paint line.
When painting with this color, you may want to consider priming your piece first using General Finishes Stain Blocker. This sophisticated primer will block any potential stains that could bleed through your paint finish. It was necessary on this pine hutch base, as there were quite a few knots on the surface.
Sprucing Up the Interior
Like most kitchen hutches, this piece had a single shelf on the bottom. The interior was in decent shape, so I decided to leave it natural.
The only treatment the interior received was a hydrating dose of Feed-N-Wax by Howard Products.
Function, Style and a New Purpose
I’m quite happy with the end result of my kitchen hutch base. I wish I had a place for it in our new home, but it’s not quite a piece that we need. Someone else will love it and put it to good use, I’m sure!
