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Saturday, March 11, 2017

Sideboard instead...


 I sat looking at that what-not shelf yesterday and decided it didn't really go with the rest of the furniture. I saw an idea on Pinterest and could see that a couple of Michael's hutches could be turned into what I had in mind. Here are the two hutches that I started with:
The first thing I had to do was get them apart as I was going to use different pieces from each one. Most of these are the same size, so you can interchange the parts. They are glued together with hot glue and the fastest way to get them apart is in the microwave. You have to be very careful with your time though as the pitch in the pine that these are made of will light on fire! Yes, I do have a scorched one tucked away somewhere. A safer way is to boil them in hot water until they loosen. Well, do you think I wanted to go out to the kitchen and wait for water to boil? Nope! I put the first one in the microwave and set the time for 30 seconds. I checked it after 10 seconds and put it back in for another 10. Most of it came apart after this, but the fake drawer front needed the final 10 to come free. By the time you get to the last 10 seconds, the hutch will be hot and you will need potholders to hold it. I finally had all the pieces free that I needed and took them to the shop.
The first thing I wanted to do was build a real drawer on the back of the fake drawer front. I cut a bottom piece the same size as the drawer opening and added some strip wood for the back and sides.
After this was dry, I glued on the front.
The next step was to add trim along the back and sides of the top.
All this occurred after considerable sanding and I think I can still smell pine in my nose...remind me next time to wear a dust mask when I do this. I have to hide my dust mask otherwise the minions sneak and draw funny faces on it with my markers. Last time I put it on and turned around, they all started laughing hysterically. I said, "What?" I looked in the mirror and I had a funny nose and monster teeth...wiseguys. Anyway, where was I...oh yeah, I used the piece of trim that came off the top of the Michael's hutch along the back of the top. I then cut short pieces of popsicle stick for each side and shaped them a bit with my xacto knife. I used the bottom of the second hutch for the base after adding a piece of strip wood between the legs on each side.

Into the clamps it went and I poked around looking for some snacks to pose on it.
Once it was dry, I did some touch-up sanding and staged it for a picture.
I thought I might paint it a shabby chic white at first, but I think a nice soft green will go well with the lavender and pink of the other pieces; decisions, decisions. Have a great day!


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