Patience.

 What a productive weekend!  We had no plans except for to go through our house and do some reorganizing.  I had been searching Craigslist for a hutch to replace our bar, and I found one in Sioux City.  I was very reluctant to replace our bar, it seems to be the "show piece" of our home!  Everyone is always attracted to it, there are usually some "oohhs" and "aahhhs" and nice compliments when Aron shows off it's nifty features, but it was taking up a lot of space and didn't have quite the storage capabilities we require in our pint-sized home. 

Normally I wouldn't seek a piece of furniture outside of Brookings, (or occasionally in Sioux Falls since Aaron commutes there daily) but Aaron's parents live in Sioux City, and we would also need to borrow their truck.  So off we went to Sioux City, we located and loaded the hutch and we were on our merry way.  We even stopped with Scott and Lisa and they treated us to prime rib, which was delicious
(even though the restaurant was in an old gas station!)

The Dunes had horrible flooding this summer, and left some roads in rough shape.  While we were on our way back to Scott and Lisa's, we hit a few potholes and the buffet went CRASH!!!  It fell on the glass doors, but amazingly the glass stayed in tact.  I don't know hoe we didn't all die of a heart attacks, but we parked the vehicle and nervously peeked to see what condition the buffet was in. 

It already had a "distressed" finish, so the few nicks and small dents didn't scare us.  I even have black paint I have  used many times to touch up other furniture in our home.  The windows popped out of place a little, but nothing the nail gun couldn't handle.  We were impressed with the piece for being so durable!!

We made a few adjustments and secured the buffet and were on the road again.  We were so thankful that it didn't fall out of the vehicle, and that it didn't fall when we were on the interstate, I don't know what we would have done!

As you can see in the picture above, the backing wasn't anything special.  The piece was solid wood except for that part, so we ripped it off, measured and went to purchase wainscoting to replace it.

The wainscoting needed 5 coats of stain AND varnish...this was going to take FOREVER (in Noelle time.)  So while we waited we reorganized a closet, did laundry, decorated for fall and I made a few gallons of soup.

Beef and veggie soup, yum!

And 2 big pots of chili!!!

Sometimes I forget how small my freezer is...

Fast forward a few hours and we have a completed hutch!

 

The wainscoting adds a lot of character!  We have a lot of black and wood furniture, distressed furniture, etc.

 

It required some patience, but the final product was definitely worth the wait!  It coordinates perfectly with our table and other furniture, and was a fraction of the price that something brand new would have cost us.  

Our living room furniture isn't all from one "line," but I feel like it goes together perfectly.  All of the furniture is black, espresso or black and espresso.  Much of it is "distressed" or has waincoting details,  and most of it has some molding or ornate details to make it a little bit special.  I always switch out the hardware so that all the furniture has the same color and type of drawer pulls, it doesn't take much to pull it all together, but the details make a big difference.  I don't think furniture needs to be part of a matching set to be beautiful.  Keeping it all in a certain style, same color or similar lines helps, but if you find piece that you love you can always find a way to make them work together beautifully.  

If you feel like your home looks like a "hodge podge" consider grabbing a paint brush and painting a few pieces in the same color, or adding a faux antique finish.  

If you're handy, and you could include some waincoting into some of your pieces to tie them together and change out that hardware.  

If you're really artsy, you could stencil on your furniture to add a little interest...I don't have the patience for this!

Or you can try Uppercase living or any other vinyl stencil.

Be brave!  Do something bold!  If the furniture is already ugly what's there to lose?!?  You might be surprised by how easy it is to transform a piece of furniture!  Do you have any furniture you have modified to fit perfectly in your home?  Send me pictures!!

Noelle