New Kitchen Buffet with Open Shelves

Well in the midst of the usual balancing of many projects, we squeezed this one in recently.  I  had really been craving some large scale open shelving in our kitchen, because with it's height - I felt something BIG was in order.  

If you've been reading around here for a while you've seen the original Kitchen Hutch we had (If you're new, click here for the Kitchen Hutch History):

 I LOVED it, but when I stood back I just felt like it was small for the room (I might be crazy though...) and a little more country than we were goin' for.  Still, don't get me wrong, I LOVE the hutch and replacing it was a tough choice:

As luck would have it, our friend Kim was soon to be moving into a house & needed furniture, and said she loved it too. Perfect! So knowing that she loved the distressed style, we added a little more character here & there for her:

Just a little sanding sponge action & a Saturday night, you know how it be:

The next task was finding a replacement.  In my mind I saw a buffet vs. a hutch, with wide open shelves above it, sprinkled with vintage goods, my ever-growing dish collection, & plants.  On my very first attempt at finding such a thing, I found the perfect fit:

It was in GREAT shape, solid wood, dovetail joints... I think it's pretty old. It was $70, which is normally a little rich for my blood (for USED furniture), but I had to stand back and look at the bigger picture - knowing something  new would not only be thrice the price, but particle board for sure. Which we all know how long that lasts. . . . But this color wasn't me, and in an effort to tie both sides of the kitchen together, we used the same blue/grey color from our lower kitchen cabinets.  (See THAT post here)

This was such a fast job! One afternoon.  We removed the top because we intend to redo it separately once we decide the stain color.

I was using my favorite spray gun that connects to the air compressor (many have asked, you can find it here) filled with my paint. I prefer paint & primer in one, it has great coverage & less coats. Mix a little floetrol in there, and spray away.

I skipped the clear coat on this one to let it age naturally, and the paint was already semi-gloss so it looked finished.  Win-win.

Let's bring it in:

These will be night shots, sorry! When I get going I wait for no one, not even the Sun.   I picked up these brackets from IKEA. They are solid wood, inexpensive, and cute!  These are the 11" size, and using a 1"x12"x6' board for each shelf. 

One snag, I hit the beam on the left side, but the right was pure drywall. I NEEDED these brackets to be strong & lined up nicely above the buffet for aesthetics, so heavy duty drywall anchors saved the day.

I always get a little scared with wall shelves, so before loading these up I put a few books all over them for the night. The next day everything was still tight & secure, and I knew accessorizing could begin! I gave the shelves a quick whitewash & seal (minwax poly baby), and over the next few days we arrived at this:

I'd been slowly collecting things from thrift shops & beyond for this project.  I wanted the shelves to be useful & cute but not over-packed.  One of the main things I was going to miss from the hutch believe it or not, was the fabric background.  I just love that print. So I quickly covered a canvas in some remnants I had, as a tribute to the last hutch.

Coke bottle spice racks...

Progress! Those doors  had to stay open for a bit after painting the interior, but they are back to normal now.  You can see a black curtain on the left side there... yea... that's part of the "tear out the kitchen rock fireplace" project.   More on that later...

I love it! I installed a simple set of under cabinet lights, using the gap behind the shelves (caused by the brackets) to hide the wires.   Oh, those wine glass racks if you're wondering, are from Amazon.

Owl Salt & Pepper shakers. I'm just playing with my camera here.. bear with me, it's new :)

Done. I'm really happy with the outcome, I think the collection is fun & casual. The shelves are open & airy. The size of this set-up really ties the kitchen together, and gives us a lot more flexibility.  Small steps towards the bigger dream kitchen that is probably years & years away.

With the nice weather, we've been working a lot on the back patio lately... can't wait to show more of that.

Have a great week!

-Jesse

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