Obsessing over the New (old) Hutch!

Maybe it’s the pandemic and being stuck home most of the time, but I am finding that once I get a notion in my head, I pursue it.

I had been wishing I had a “china cabinet” or a hutch as the younger generations call it. At any rate, I wanted it on that wall visible from every angle: the kitchen, the front hall, and the back entryway. John was opposed to the idea — blocking the sight line, interfering with the walkway, etc. I was a bit disheartened at first, but strong-willed women and all that. (I actually wrote a blog post about that a few years back). https://justasecondbuzz.blogspot.com/2011/05/its-been-few-days-since-ive-updated.html

I decided to start searching anyway. It had to be shallow from front to back, see through sides, drawers on the bottom instead of cupboards. I figured I probably would have to paint it, and was thinking black or charcoal. At any rate, every time we were out and about I would look, but most were too big, too heavy, maybe too fancy, and I wasn’t sure how they would look in our less formal setting. I pointed out that the chairs there stood out from the wall 18″, and John was quick to point out he didn’t really like those there either. But, he tolerated them and had never complained – a point in my favor.

I kept checking Pinterest to refine my search to see what would really work. At any rate, I left one day to go to the store, and decided to go to Salvation Army first. I walked in and there was a cupboard there. It was pine, not too big, and it had glass sides. I liked it. I let the person at the checkout know that I was interested. I said it looked like it should have shelves in it. Were they missing? As I was saying that, a person was coming from the back room with the shelves. It was just being set up! The shelves were glass. The cabinet was $59.00 and I bought it. I let John know that I needed his help to get it and that it would fit in the back of the van. How’s that for fast decision making?!? I know from experience at my shop and those I have worked at, that “the item you are looking at today and need to go home and think about ” will be gone tomorrow.

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We went back over. We got it home. John rigged up a ramp for the steps, put it on his dolly, and he pushed it into the walkway. It was easy enough to load up. It fit in the space, and I don’t think I’ll paint it because it looks like it’s always been there. I did change out the knobs, removed the matching wood knobs and replaced them with porcelain knobs – a favorite of mine.

Of course we had to take the painting down from the wall – a pretty big one – a painting by Ingrid Dohm which John had surprised me with. It was a painting of The North End, and at the time I was in charge of the North End Business Association trying to revitalize the area. The painting was on the fireplace for a while, but then I found a really cool window that we had in the attic that we had to take out for the loft remodel, so the painting was hung in the walkway to make room for the window, and now we had to take the painting down again. It’s been sitting in the dining room for a while, since we were on the road visiting the new little ones and then meeting up with the Salt Lake City crew in Omaha. It was wonderful. I had been getting really down realizing we wouldn’t be able to have the whole family in town for Thanksgiving. Between brand new babies and distance and most of all Covid 19 – it was not a possibility.

So back to the home projects. I washed the wood down with Murphy’s oil soap, and used windex on the glass and started loading it up — white ironstone pitchers, a cute martini set that struck my fancy on FB marketplace and was gathering dust on the bar/sideboard/primitive table in the dining room. We were thinking it would be fun to have our neighbor over for martinis on the patio, keeping our social distance, of course.

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Oh, and did I mention that the hutch has a light in it? I turn on the light first thing in the morning. It brightens my day. Of course, at least one of the kids reminded me that I have enough “stuff”. I found more “stuff” this time pewter and silverplate (tarnished), so the top shelf is mostly glass, the middle shelf ironstone, and the bottom shelf metal. I added some fake fall fruit – pears and apples. Much of what is on and in the hutch will be listed on my Etsy shop, Just a Second on Main. You can see the sign on the top shelf. So actually I bought nothing, except the cabinet, of course. The rest of the effort was focused on gathering, sorting, and containing — those great organizing steps. I think they need to add displaying, because that is my favorite part!

Well I gathered quite a few items, and found a place for them. More fit in that hutch than I had ever imagined. Some of the items had been in the garage from when I had my shop in there after our building was torn down. We, really John, finally made room for our car, so this winter it will not have to be out in the snow. In conclusion, the goodies are stored and so is the car! It’s a win-win!