January 13, 2008


The Great Room was one of the first rooms in the house to be renovated. And we've been very happy
with it. The only critcism we've made to ourselves is that we've left the room somewhat bare.

We had thought about getting some sort of table or...something...to put against the half-wall. But
everything we thought of was too big and too cluttery. So we tabled the idea (no pun intended) a while
ago. We told ourselves, "If we find something, we find something." We visited an unfinished furniture
merchant in the area, Jan. 13, looking for a small side table for another room. That's when we spotted "it."

And "it" was this -- a red oak wall hutch only 8.5 inches deep. There was no price on the piece, so we
asked about it. It turns out the piece was a one-of-a-kind custom piece ordered by a customer
who had a change of heart. We negotiated with the merchant and got it for $350...quite a savings from
the original price of $709 when it was custom-made. We knew it was the piece.

Within 30 minutes of seeing it in the store, it was in my house, and I had a new project.
Immediately the ideas started flowing, and I quickly mapped it out in my head.

Another angle of the unfinished hutch. Once it's stained and finished, it will be mounted to the wall
with the base moulding running into the sides. The piece will be attached to the wall; not free-standing.
And I will relocate the plug from the wall to the right of the piece. I also plan to light the cabinet,
so I'll also adding a wall switch to the right of the cabinet to control the lighting.

But first it's into the basement workshop to begin the finishing. I removed the doors and shelves, then
removed the hardware and glass from the doors. Everything got a good sanding with a 150 grit sanding
sponge, then I applied the stain...the color is "Provincial" which is the same as the other cabinets.

All the wood in the kitchen and Great Room is red oak with Provincial, so this piece should match well.
The door frames and shelves are laid out to dry.

Work turns to the cabinet itself. First it's sanded.

Then it's stained. And when the stain fumes started making me happy, I knew it was time for a fan.

With the staining done, the next step is to polyurethane the hutch.

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