An Antique Hutch in Blue and Cream

When Carl the Furniture Guy sent me a text message with a picture of this adorable antique hutch I had to chuckle. I refinished the very same piece just last fall. Apparently there's a few of these cuties floating around Connecticut. They were made in Massachusetts by Leven's Fine Furniture about 1915. The last one was solid maple all the way through. This one is maple primary wood with chestnut secondary wood. Fascinating! Also, fun to have the opportunity to see how a piece would look with a different color scheme and style.

The last one I did in greens, and this one I went with a new custom mixed blue called 'Blue Silk Ribbon'. I swapped out the round drawer pulls for another set that hadn't been painted because I wanted the continuity of the solid maple top and the touch of wood lower on the case.

The top had been painted and when I finally after an hour of sanding removed the last of the white paint, realized why. It had several black water marks on the wood, each about the size of a baseball. In the past I've just gone ahead and repainted tops when I encountered these stubborn marks, but this time I decided to try wood bleach, something I've never done before. I was absolutely terrified of the stuff, certain if it touched me in would burn a hole straight through my hand, but damned if it didn't do the trick on the top. I was absolutely amazed at how well it worked, like 100% well, the marks were completely removed! And now the top is flawless once more, which makes me a happy camper.

I've staged the piece with a mixture of vintage, antique, and new stone wear to play up the white that peeks through all the heavy distressing.

And here's the one I did last fall!