New Hutch For the Dining Room
This past weekend I spent most of my time resting on the couch and watching the NCAA Tournament on TV, but on Saturday Frank and I did head out to the Treasure Mart, which is a great furniture and house wares consignment shop in town.
Since we are getting married this summer we are making plans for Frank moving in with me. As part of figuring out merging households we need a bit more closet space in the master bedroom to fit all of our clothing so we were looking for a clothes armoire.
We struck out on the armoire front, but on the way out of the store this beautiful hutch caught our eye. It is a lovely antique with gorgeous wood and solid construction. It had been there for two months, so it was marked down twenty percent which was nice as well. Being a large piece I wasn't sure where it would fit in the house so I measured it (I carry a tape measure in my purse, of course!) and we headed home.
Back at home I measured the space on the dining room wall and it looked like a perfect fit. Frank and I talked about it and decided to get it. I called the Treasure Mart and paid for it over the phone and they arranged to deliver it to us on Monday.
Previously on that wall I had a bookshelf that I had built with bricks and bi-fold doors right when I moved back home from Japan. It's been four years so it was time for a change. Here are a few shots of what the wall used to look like.
Here is the view from the living room of the hutch in place. It fits the space perfectly and makes quite an impact. It's hard to tell from the photos but we have just shy of three feet clearance to the couch and about four feet to the dining table.
I'm excited to have the extra storage and can't wait to fill it up. I think maybe we'll put linens below and dishes up top. I have a bit of a problem with having too many sets of napkins and tablecloths...
My favorite part are the drawers which have hand sawn dovetail joints and birds eye maple fronts.
From afar the hutch looks great but it does need a little work. There are some scratches on it and I am thinking of trying Restore-A-Finish to see how that works. Also, the glass is only being held in by glazing points so I will need to add some glazing putty to keep the glass secure.
I'm really excited to get the hutch cleaned up and get it filled. I absolutely love it!
Thursday, April 4, 2013 at 7:53AM | Posted by Lisa | 8 Comments | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article 
Reader Comments (8)
What a beautiful piece! I don't know much about antiques and was wondering...What is a bird eye maple front? Thanks ;-)
Beautiful piece of furniture. Anything left in it to tell the history? Too many napkins & table cloths, impossible I say :-)
I love this! What a beautiful piece! It reminds me of my mom's china cabinet, same knobs and style, but it doesn't have a hutch and your looks much larger. I'm going there today, I'll have to take a photo and put it on Instagram for you.
It is amazing what you have done with your house. You are my inspiration!
Laura- Thank you! Birds eye maple is a type of maple that has a swirling pattern in the grain of the wood. It isn't a particular breed of tree, but instead an anomaly that occurs in some trees. The interesting thing is that no one knows exactly what what causes the pattern to form.
Mary-Lou- Thank you! Unfortunately, there isn't anything to indicate the history, but I wish I knew more about it!
Hilary- Thank you! I saw the photo that you posted on Instagram and they do look very similar. Very cool! Thank you for sharing!
Kathy- Thank you so much! That is so sweet of you to say!
Really beautiful. I am a fan of dovetail joints too. I always feel like it is an indication of a well-made piece of furniture. Thanks for sharing!
What a beautiful piece and it looks amazing in that spot.. Who needs more closet space anyway when a piece like this beckons? Congratulations again to you and Frank. You are already building a beautiful home together!
Rene- Thank you! A lot of modern furniture isn't built like that anymore...
Liza- Thank you! It is fun setting up things around the house to work for both of us. Luckily for me he mostly defers to my decorating tastes. :)