Workrm Pt2 Farmhouse Hutch and Cottage Desk

The farmhouse hutch and the cottage desk are finished.  Here are the two pieces of furniture that got makeovers compliments of Caromal Colours, the Country Living Paint line! 

 I finished up the farmhouse hutch with the Liberon soft wax coat Carol sent me. It was easy to apply with a brush and it instantly brought out the details of the colors and the distressing. 

 The hutch was sanded back to reveal some of the original green paint and then topped with the toner. The wax was the final touch~now this baby is ready to be put into service.

A small skirt was made for the bottom our of the same drop cloth material I used for the drapery panels and the work table skirt.

I would prefer large baskets in all the same sizes but since I don't and I had the fabric I decided to make a simple skirt. Effective at hiding the clutter, which is a big problem in this space. The new rug is by Home Collectors Catalogue and the style is called Cove. It is soft under foot which the dogs and I like.

The finished hutch waits for me to load up the shelves!~not going to be a problem.  The color of the hutch is Putty and Parchment by Caromal Colours. 

This is what the original finish looked like~ if you missed how I did this, you can read the steps by clicking here.

The cottage desk is something that came to be when I bought the top half of a secretary desk at auction.

When I got it home I plopped it on top of the drafting table and it looked ridiculous. Plus it was ugly with the multi-colored paints decorating it~totally 1990s.  And look at how messy my containers are under the table.  And there is that neon green wall again!

 I had painted the top with primer when I got the call from Carol of Caromal Colours.  I stopped and waited for the new paints to arrive to see what I would do next~

 I taped off the leather insert on the old desk to preserve its surface.  Next I used some "Chipping Creme" on parts of the black desk. The Chipping Creme is part of the decorative finishes in the "Barnworn Kit" by Caromal Colours.   Check out their tutorial by clicking here.  What the creme does is make the next coat of paint chip away more easily to give you that barn worn finish.  After the creme dried I applied a coat of Putty Textured Basecoat.  I wanted this desk to look really ragged and beat up with lots of distressing and hardship~showing a life of wear and neglect!

 After the basecoat dried, I sanded it heavily and haphazardly.  

 Then I got to work sanding off some of the primer coat that was covering the pine bonnet top.

 After the sanding, a wash of Putty and a bit of water was mixed up and applied by brush to the top of the desk.  The fun of this is kind of making it up as you go along. There are NO rules people!!! Just you and your brush and whatever you want to do...just do it!  There will be no paint police showing up later with a warrant.

See how heavily I sanded the lattice doors?  They are pretty sweet, and now that they are all beat up I like them even more. As I added the wash of putty it really started looking more at home on top of the black and putty desk. The doors on the left have the wash, the doors on the right have been sanded and waiting for their turn.

 After it dries, the wax goes on.  Here you can see the leg has wax on the upper half, where it is darker.  I did not apply the toner to this piece, because I did not want it to darken the finish.  

It looks really pretty sitting between the two windows that are dressed in linen  drop cloths. After a run through the laundry the drop cloths are so soft and hang nicely! (Did I say that? The woman who makes custom draperies for a living!) I clipped them on to black rods using clip-on rings.  I took a large Lowes drop cloth that was 6'x9' and split in two to create one pair.  That is a $5 panel people!

I ordered a french script fabric in pewter beige and black and I will be lining the interior of the desktop when it arrives.  The computer monitor sits in here and I love how this is working out.  It is nice and dark and I can see the screen and still have room for the keyboard.  I use my sewing machine on the small table that is in front of the window,behind the chair.  Everything will have a place now, that is the plan anyway.

My old workroom look...now moving into the Restoration/FrenchCottage look....

There is more to show on the other side of the room.  I revamped a standard closet to make it work for me.  I also will be showing off how the drafting table turned out~and that will all be next! As a special gift, if you order any products from Caromal Colours, all Maison Decor readers will save on shipping costs by entering the code MaisonD at checkout.  I would love to see your projects, so don't be shy and send me some pictures!