I found this great vintage Ethan Allen china cabinet hutch at Goodwill for $79.99. What a great price! I loved the shape of it, but it definitely needed a little bit of updating. I had done some research to find a china cabinet for our new house, but all of the ones I liked were upwards of $1k-$2k. That definitely would not fit in the budget. I figured for $79.99 it was worth taking a chance and I am so glad that I did! It was quite a labor of love, but in the end I am very pleased with the outcome.
The stars of the show for this project were liquid deglosser and Rust-Oleum Universal Satin Black Spray Paint. Oh man this spray paint is fantastic! The coverage is great and the durability is pretty good. Instead of sanding the whole cabinet, I tried this liquid deglosser. It was so easy and so much less messy.
The most time consuming part of this project was actually the prep work. In order to make this project worthwhile, my secret was to take my time and do it right. There is nothing worse than working so hard on a project and not being happy with the outcome! Making sure everything was taped perfectly was a pain in the rear, but now that all my paint lines are straight, it is totally worth the professional looking finish.
I found these great rectangular drawer pulls at Lowe’s. I was pleasantly surprised at the selection of pulls that they offered. They are similar to a style I found at Restoration Hardware, but less than half the price!
Another thing I love about this little cabinet is the quality workmanship. You definitely can’t go wrong with Ethan Allen. The dovetailing and other details are such a nice touch that have helped this cabinet survive for over half a century.
I didn’t want the cabinet to be too dark on the inside and wanted to keep some of the original charm of the piece so I carefully taped off the inside of the cabinet. I really like how the two-toned colors worked out.
If you have the luck of finding some vintage furniture pieces to makeover I would definitely recommend it! It was quite the process but in the end saved me A TON of money and now I have a cabinet that perfectly fits the styling of our home.
I don’t know why, but I have a love for blue and white pieces. It is so calming to me. Now all of my goodies have a spot to be displayed and they are all nice and neat!
How has the spray paint held up on your piece?
Very well. Rust-oleum is a great paint and protector.
Did you use your drglosser on the hutch first, then the spray then painted it? I am painting ours for the first time and would like to know your step by step procedure. Thanks.