French Country Hutch Now Elegant with Pure & Original Paint

It's time for another Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest project... and I am so excited about this one...  the theme is "Pure Colors, Original Elegance". I chose to update a vintage French Provincial China Hutch with paint, chicken wire and a poster...

I had been wanting to buy one of these china cabinets for forever and finally found an affordable one at an estate sale more than a year ago. It had good bones but the plexiglass was cracked on the middle bow front door. It had been sitting in the garage awaiting its transformation...

This month's contest is being sponsored by PURE & ORIGINAL PAINTS USA, a luxury brand of paint imported from the Netherlands.  Their "Classico" paint is a water soluble chalk based paint that's environmentally friendly and made with 100% natural pigments. It's the perfect paint to refinish furniture or paint walls and it needs no primer or top coat! So much to love about this paint!

*Disclaimer:  I received 2 quarts of their Classico Chalk based paint for use in this challenge. All opinions 100 %  my own. This post contains an affiliate link  which means I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you if you happen to buy this paint.

I had been thinking about how I wanted to paint this cabinet for a while and now that I had more than 120 colors to choose from I was on the right track. It was no small task I might add... but in the end I decided on these two...

"Ristretto" in Italian is what you call a short espresso made with half the water of a regular espresso, so I should have known that it would have a brown tint to it. The name conjured up wonderful memories of my time spent living in Tuscany when I was in my 20s. And "Apple Blossom" had me thinking about Spring... so as I went about working on my piece my thoughts turned to Springtime in Europe...

Speaking of Springtime in Europe, I had found this poster on sale at Hobby Lobby a while back with the thought of using it on a piece of furniture. I knew that this French cabinet would be a great candidate for it.

The only thing left to do was to figure out exactly where to cut it. I had some help with the decision from our kitty who's coloration matches perfectly with the piece, green eyes and all. Don't you just love God's creation!

I added a butterfly and more lettering to balance the left cabinet door with the right cabinet door.

The hardware begged to be painted gold. I love all the curves on this piece which I tried to accentuate with some subtle sanding.

I was so happy to know that I didn't need to sand the piece before painting! The paint went on thick and smoothly drying very quickly. The suggested application is two coats. After two coats of white the wood was still showing through, so keep this in mind if using one of their whites over a dark base. One quart was not enough to do 3 coats on the inside so I ended up using some leftover paint from my stash that was just a shade darker than "Spring Blossom". What impressed me the most about this paint was that when I accidentally dripped the darker color onto the white, I immediately wiped it off with a wet rag and the white paint underneath did not come off even after having been dried for only one hour. Oh and I almost forgot my other favourite thing about this paint is the matte finish. I'm not one for shiny furniture finishes, except if it's a result of wax being buffed on it, so I was a happy camper!

I thought she was finished at this point and even began styling her in a variety of ways with all of my accessories in green and white and gold. And to think that I was actually worried at the thought that I wouldn't have enough accessories to style it... silly me...  (Anyone who has seen my enormous stash of stuff knows that I am in need of help from hoarders anonymous. lol)

But my original vision for the piece was to replace the broken plexiglass with chicken wire... and I couldn't not do it and always wonder how it would look... so I forged on, took the plunge and added it... but the color of the galvanized steel wire just didn't look right now that the hardware was gold... so I took a bit of leftover "Ristretto" paint and a thin paint brush and carefully and slowly brushed it onto all of the chicken wire.

Now I was in love... it was just the right amount of rustic to go with the elegant...

and then onto more fun with styling it now that it was finished...

And just to see the before and after side by side... from drab to fab don't you think!? I'm so happy to finally see my vision with this piece become a reality. Just wishing that my vision for a house where it would fit perfectly could now materialize! ;o)

Hope I have inspired you to get creative with your furniture flips!

To see all of the entries in the Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest head on over to Thirty Eighth Street or Anastasia Vintage.

If you are a blogger who paints furniture and would like to take part in the Fab Furniture Flippin' Contest you can contact Stacy from Anastasia Vintage at info@anastasiavintage.com or Evey from Evey's Creations at info@eveyscreations.com .

Blessings,
Lucy

Sharing at these locations...

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life
The Painted Drawer Link Party @ The Painted Drawer
Project Inspire @ Cupcakes and Crinoline
Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Talk of the Town @ My Repurposed Life
Dream Create Inspire @ Refresh Living 
Swing into Spring @ DIY by Design
Creative Spark @ Two Purple Couches
Welcome Home Wednesdays @ Suburban Simplicity
Work it Wednesdays @ The Happy Housie
Share Your Cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life
The DIY Collective @ Average But Inspired
The Creative Circle @ Up to Date Interiors
Vintage Charm @ Charm Bracelet Diva
Shabbilicous Fridays @ The Shabby Art Boutique
Feathered Nest Fridays @ French Country Cottage
The Handmade Hangout @ Too Much Time on my Hands
The Inspiration Gallery @ craftberry bush
Simple and Sweet Fridays @ Rooted In Thyme 
the weekend retreat @ AKA Design
Creativity Unleashed @ Practically Functional
The Painted Drawer Link Party @ The Painted Drawer
A morning Cup of Joe @ The Cottage Market 
Best of the Weekend @ Sweet Pea 
Upcycled Link Party @ Funky Junk Interiors 
Share it One More Time @ One More Time Events
Saturday Sparks @ Pieced Pastimes
Silver Pennies Sundays @ Finding Silver Pennies 
Inspiration Monday @ What Meegan Makes
Amaze Me Mondays @ Dwellings