All in the Family

By Kate Riley June 25, 2009

My sister Amelie has finally been bitten by the bug.  She sent me some photos of her most recent transformation.  Rock on, sis.

Sunroom wall Before, cluttered and unorganized:

amelie sunroom 1 

Sunroom wall After, with her new thrift store hutch that she transformed:

amelie sunroom 2

Here is the old fashioned hutch Before.  Beautiful glass !

amelie sunroom 3

Sanding step for the oak base:

amelie sunroom 4

After a fresh coat of white paint and modern knobs:

amelie sunroom 5

She told me a frustrating funny story.  The day she painted the piece white in her front yard, she left with the paint wet to go run some errands.  When she came back, she discovered that the neighbor had chosen that particular morning to use his blower to blow all the debris off his front yard.  Where did that debris end up?  Yessir.  Right in her paint job.  Needless to say she was beyond frustrated.  Had to pick it all out and paint again.  Ggggrrrrrr.  She had me in hysterics as she related that story.   My favorite part was when she said, “What the <bleeeeep> ?  Dude, who walks past a freshly painted cabinet with a yard blower on?  Some idiot !”

Here’s some detail up close:

amelie sunroom 6

I love how the glass in the ‘Before’ picture reflects the rusty honey tone of the oak, but now, Shazam !  Glorious sparkle !  Crisp white !

amelie sunroom 8

My sister’s got some skills, so go on, give her a shout out.

45 comments

  1. That is a beautiful transformation. I would have been seeing red if I had to pick out all of the yard debris from it!

  2. WOW!!!! It's GORGEOUS!!!!! It is amazing how a little bit of paint can make such a big difference!!!

  3. wow that is amazing!!

    don't you just love what white paint does? clean, crisp and new!

  4. WOW! Just striking! The change in the glass is really amazing. Where did she find that gem?

  5. Looks like the skills run in the family! Awesome, awesome, job! I thought she somehow changed out the diamond shape glass at first because of the way the color changed. Love it.

  6. What a beautiful hutch! The glass really makes it stand out. I can just imagine all the possibilities of what will be stored inside. Love it!

  7. Creativity definitely runs in the family! What a beautiful transformation…

  8. beautiful!! i've been on the lookout for a similar piece. my bar glasses need a home!

  9. Wow – It's BEAUTIFUL!!! You guys make me want to find a flea market or garage sales STAT!

  10. That is beautiful! Makes me want to paint all my wood furniture white!

  11. I would have lost it if my neighbor walked by with a blower after I'd done this. Holy moly, that'd be a scary sight. She did a great job, though! Looks wonderful.

  12. That caabinet looks GREAT! Such a difference painted white….LOVE IT! I would have had to show my butt on the neighbor…Stupid neighbor!

  13. Wow that is really fabulous! I love the color of the glass now.It really does sparkle.

  14. Gorgeous! I love how the white brings out the detail in the diamond shaped glass!
    Awesome rehab!

  15. It's lovely!! She did a great job! :) It must run in the family.

  16. Amelie did a fantastic job. No kiddin- all in the family! Amelie, BTW, was on the top of my name list for DD #3 ~ though when she was born, she looked like a Piper (they all look like Pipers the way my girls screamed)– Confession: I would have walked right by that piece thinking it was too homely- but shizamm! I was wrong- it looks great. The color (white vs. honey) makes all the difference! Kudos, Amelie!

  17. That looks awesome!!! What a beautiful piece.

    I laughed about your sister's neighbor. I have idiots who live in my neighborhood like that. I could totally see that happening at my house.

  18. Love the blower story! It is true, it would be an idiot who blows his leaves into a nicely new painted hutch! Jerk! Next time he has something painted in his year, show him the same kind of love!!

    It turned out AWESOME!

  19. I've been reading your blog since the first mayo dresser fix (linked from another blog). I love what you do with your finds. Seeing the fabulous job that your sister does makes me think about trying a piece myself. Ok at this point it's just thinking, but soon …
    Thanks for all the inspiration and directions!
    Erin-Joi

  20. Really pretty! I love to see makeovers like that! Makes me want to go search for something to paint… :-)

  21. I have big plans for our china hutch, so this was really encouraging. Lovely!

  22. I love it…so beautiful!! I am especially jealous of your flowers…how do you grow them so perfect?!

  23. I totally thought the original hutch had amber glass. Amazing how good it looks white. Congrats to your sis! I dunno if I would have recovered so nicely if someone's lawn-blowing obliviousness resulted in my having to repaint. I'm easily dissuaded.

  24. That is one rockin transformation! And that glass…divine. I think I would have wanted to murder the neighbor. What a putz!

    ~Amanda

  25. That is beautiful! I would be so ticked if that had happened to me! I would not have had the patience to paint it again.

    I'm glad she did, because it looks amazing!

  26. Now this is truly fabulous. I love it. I don't blame her for being upset. That was extremely unthoughtful of the neighbor. What was he thinking. I'm sure he would have had a fit. Her hard work paid off, it is gorgeous. Hugs, Marty

  27. This looks fantastic! Sorry to hear about your sister's neighbor's leaf blower faux pas. When you think about it, what good have leaf blowers ever really done in the world? That never would have happened if the lazy neighbor had just bought himself a rake ;)

  28. Sister Amelie here. I'm indubitably flattered by the many compliments posted here. Many thanks!

    p.s. I, too, am convinced of the diabolical wrong that is known to the common man as The Leafblower.

  29. Fabulous! We just picked up a desk for Evie (not for anywhere NEAR the bargain prices you seem to find!) and I wasn't sure it was going to look right painted, but after seeing this transformation I think it will be great. We'll see!

  30. Your sister definitely has some skills. That turned out beautifully. I can't believe that guy blew all his crap onto her newly painted hutch, seriously?!? That is either incredibly dumb or inconsiderate…

  31. That's crazy, I was wondering how on earth she got the glass to be clear. I thought the glass was actually tinted brown. Amazing! What a great piece, and once again it is so incredible how much a coat of paint can transform something. It really doesn't even look like the same piece of furniture!

  32. Kate your sis does have some serious skills! She did an amazin job transforming that cabinet and I can't believe her neighbor did some serious debris damage to it and she had to pick it all out by hand….ugh!

  33. WOW amazing! Great job sister, I would have walked by *that* 100 times…..

  34. Goodness- such a beauty! Nice job “Sis” and you are right!…. no one in their RIGHT mind would start blowing crud nearby someone with freshly painted funiture. Maybe the man was getting heck from his wife that “wish you would make over a nice piece of furniture like that lady is doing”… jealiousy is an ugly thing! LOL

    Came across Kate’s blog today following a link from Miss Mustard Seed’s blog and looked up recently and saw that I have been on her site for HOURS (3+ so far). Oh by golly, I’ll be back from now until the end of time.

    Greetings from NW Illinois

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