My Mother's Hutch

First of all, I want to apologize for two things. One, the quality of the pictures in this post. I just could not get the lighting right that day! Even though I took a bazillion pictures. Two, I forgot to take a before picture!

When my brother was in the Air Force and stationed in Italy many years ago, he shipped this huge (and heavy!) antique hutch to my mother. It really is a pretty cool piece of furniture. It has a pull-out cutting board, that I am assuming was once inlaid with marble. It was not just a decorative piece; it was a working part of someone's kitchen many, many years ago.

It's been a little over twelve years that my mother (and father, but he doesn't have a hutch) has lived with us. This hutch sits next to a perfectly sized wall in our dining/family room area. It is so very heavy that it has always stayed in the same place.

My mother also has an extensive collection of red glass dishes. She has collected them for probably over thirty-five years. I love using them. Red is such a versatile color! I can use them for Valentine's Day, Christmas, and all the patriotic holidays!

Her dishes have sat in the hutch for many more years than she has lived with us. However, no one ever commented on them. No one ever really saw them! The hutch is so dark (black and dark brown) and the dishes such a deep red, everything just blended. The "red holidays" would pass and even I would forget I had them!

So, after twelve years, I finally did something about it! (Yes, it did take a long time to even realize there was a problem!)

Here is a picture half-way through the project:




I covered the back of the hutch with scrapbook paper. So easy. Not a new idea, I know. I've seen it done all over blogland. But, it was an idea that worked!






This dishes are visible now. Enough so that I'll remember to use them!