The Gardener's Hutch

Happy March! Happy Spring! I know it's not officially calendar spring yet, but it certainly feels like spring. It's another beautiful day here in East Hampton. The local nursery has just put their pansies out for sale (!!!!!!) and when I went running yesterday I spotted crocus and snowdrops blooming all over the place. An early spring is the best kind of spring, and so in celebration of this month coming in like a lamb, I've staged this hutch in full gardener's kit. I'm a mediocre gardener on my best days, and yet I seem to have a surprising amount of gardening accoutrement scattered about.

       The hutch is solid maple, made by the Virginia Craftsmen, a guild of skilled craftsmen who started building high end reproduction early American furniture in 1927. They're still in business today! I think this hutch is a fairly early example, maybe from the 30s or 40s as it already has quite a bit of oxidation on the exposed wood, and certainly was quite travel worn when it came into my possession. I really really wanted to keep this one for myself. It's so special and unique. Sadly it's massive and I don't have a single damn wall in my damn house where it could fit. So then I thought maybe I should just go ahead and buy a second house just so I could keep it. I refinished the top and painted the case in a custom mixed cream called 'Buttermilk Biscuit'. It's got just a hair of yellow to it, just enough to give it body, but definitely leans more towards wheat. The interior and backboard are in a stark fresh white for contrast.