Hutches are the most functional and versatile pieces of any dining room furniture collection. Not only do they ground our room and fill up those big empty walls, but they also house all of our beautiful collectible dinnerware and fancy china. From holidays to elegant dinners, a hutch is almost necessary if you love to decorate and entertain. There have been many creative uses for hutches and china cabinets as more and more people love to customize and design their furniture. But let’s talk about the easiest way to transform a hutch for a more modern and functional purpose. From Hutch Top to Elegant Cabinet with Fusion.

While size and storage are one of the most important reasons that we have hutches in our homes, sometimes the size can be a reason we need to kick it to the curb. With this easy project, you can downsize the presence of your hutch while also keeping maximum storage and modernizing its look, simply by creating a piece of furniture from only the top of the cabinet. 

Here is a before look at the piece:

Below is a list of supplies you’ll need to complete a similar project. 

• Fusion TSP Alternative + Wiping Cloths
• Fusion Mineral Paint in Cathedral Taupe
• Electric Sander and Sanding Pads/Paper
• Fusion 1-inch Synthetic Brush
• Staalmeester Roller
• Painter’s Tape

Prep

This piece already looks so much smaller since we separated it from the base. Now we get all the versatility of the storage on a much smaller scale. Since the top was in excellent condition, it only needed to make a few minor repairs. First, we started with cleaning the surface using our Fusion TSP Alternative solution in a spray bottle and a washable microfiber cloth. 

After we cleaned our surface, we moved on to giving it a light scuff sanding so as to give our paint some grip. We like to use our electric sander and sanding pad for scuff sanding as it only abrases the surface rather than removing the finish completely. 

After we sanded our piece, we took a damp cloth to wipe away the dust. 

Paint it Beautiful with Fusion™ Mineral Paint

We are ready for paint! Tape off your glass portions to avoid having to scrape any paint! We used a combination of our Fusion 1-inch Synthetic brushes to get the smaller details, and a Staalmester Roller for our larger, flat portions. 

Even with this mid-range colour Cathedral Taupe, we are able to get fantastic coverage over our brown wood! This photo only shows one coat, and we only needed two total for full coverage!

While we waited for our final coat of paint to dry, we prepped our backer board for our wallpaper. We wanted to add some colour, but also keep it a tad neutral so we settled on this elegant sage and cream lily floral wallpaper. Peel and stick wallpaper is super easy to use and apply, just make sure to more than you need for your projects just in case there is some waste while you’re aligning patterns.

Now that paint is dry and paper is hung, the final touch is adding the legs to give it a more standalone, cabinet type feel. These legs are super simple to install. All you need to do is install the hanger bolts first, then simply screw in the legs until they are snug!

From Hutch Top to Elegant Cabinet with Fusion

Once all the pieces are put back together, it’s hard not to believe that this was a piece of furniture on its own. An old outdated hutch top has literally been recycled to become a one-of-a-kind standalone cabinet.

The floral wallpaper really is the star of the show, but it wouldn’t pop without the creamy neutral Cathedral Taupe foundation. The gold tones in the paper complimented by the wood shelving and legs really play off the warm tones in our paint colour making this a beautiful and elegant piece of furniture. 

Adding legs to large pieces of furniture not only elevates and gives your piece some height, but it really completes the piece, while fortifying its foundations. Any choice of legs would have been beautiful on this piece, but medium wood tones really give us an earthy element to work with. 

This project was so simple to do and we know there is no shortage of ideas for similar pieces to be rescued. The combinations are truly endless when it comes to creating hutch top cabinets and we would love to see your versions of this on our socials! Drop a comment below with the colours you chose for your Elegant Cabinet with Fusion.