My Makeover

Last fall I spotted an ad on Craigslist for this china hutch.

It looked huge and the price was RIGHT. I emailed the person hosting the ad expecting to find it was already gone. A day later I received an email back. If I was interested and could pick it up within the next few days it was mine. I convinced Mr.Dickey to come with me and we headed out to the opposite end of the Portland suburbs to pick it up.
Craigslist can be a gamble. Pictures never tell the truth. Sometimes items look great and are actually in terrible shape. Other times the items don't look great, but they are fantastic. This piece was better than I imagined. The glass shelves and doors were still perfect. The doors shut, the lights worked, and it was free of any damage. Yahoo!
This lady came home and sat in my garage all through November, December, January...you get the idea. I finally started work on her this week.
I decided to paint her with March Wind from Sherwin Williams. It is a stellar shade of light grey. I happen to be in love with the guys at my local SW. I also love their quart size paint. When they have a sale I can pick up great paint for $5 in any shade I choose!
Usually I am a just-paint-it-and-get-it-over-with kind of person. I decided for this lady I was going to take it slow. I taped the glass, the metal inserts in the doors and primed. I decided to use a spray primer for a smoother surface.  Then I began the transformation. The paint went on well and my trusty Purdy brush and I had fun in the freezing cold garage with various 90's tunes playing. The name March Wind was apropos for the weather outside! We have had snow flurries several times this week.
After the paint had cured I rubbed a coat of Minwax over the entire cabinet and buffed. I sprayed the hardware to match the goldy-bronze metal inserts on the door and scraped the glass of a few dabs of paint.
Now if she was going to stick around my house I wanted her to have a vintage flair. I envisioned old music scores lining the back of the back of the cabinet. How cool would that be? I would love it, but would other people shake their heads and ask, "Why did she ruin a great piece doing that?". I compromised by cutting  pieces of foam core board to insert into the cabinet. The new owner can simply pop these pieces out for a new look OR they can leave them in to make a statement.
A Dickey tangent: Do you own a pair of electric scissors? My brother-in-law gave me mine as a Christmas gift a few years ago. I looked at them and thought, "Okay. When will I use those?" Let me tell you they are the best thing to use when cutting chipboard, foam core, and other heavy duty paper materials. I couldn't live without them. Thanks Jono!
After a polishing the glass this lady is ready to show off her new look:

I am really happy about how she turned out. I thought about distressing her. I thought about adding some metallic accents to the detailing. I thought about adding some white accents to her. In the end I decided to leave her pretty plain. Sometimes less is more. I felt this way she would appeal to a broader range of people. I am hoping to sell her either on Craigslist or perhaps at an antique store. I am in the process of procuring a stall at an antique store. I think I am ready to take this venture on. Now I am off to nurse my aching hand. Too much painting makes for me.