I’m so excited to share this project with you because it’s one of the few spaces in my home that’s finally coming together and so close to completion! For a long time (several months +??) it was a storage room that you could not see through or walk through. The list of projects were constantly weighing on my mind and every time I walked in my house they were literally staring me down.

The ugly truth… yes that’s a fridge and a couch and a kitchen cabinet and after this picture was taken more things found their home in there.

 

I’m also pretty proud of the credenza project since this is one of my more professional looking ones. It was a long difficult process to create the legs on the credenza, but the result is beautiful and takes this furniture from a dull, simple set to an elegant, high end design. The best part is the cost, it was so cheap! Let’s break it down:

• hutch & credenza from Craigslist- $100
• wood for legs on credenza & supplies from Lowes- $30
• brass feet for credenza purchased on Etsy from this store – $60
• knob and star plate for credenza- $25 & $18
• hairpin legs for hutch from Etsy- $95

If you recall from my previous post I found this amazing credenza and hutch combination on Craigslist and knew it would be perfect for our dining room design refresh. I have a lot of glass and serving ware so I needed the storage area, but I wanted a lighter feeling space since it’s the first room you walk into from our entry way.

I used to have a more traditional French Provincial cabinet and sideboard that I painted a beautiful rich peacock blue. My new direction for the dining room is a Mid Century Modern feel with the glamour of Art Deco vibes. So out with that bulky furniture in with new clean lines!

My vision was to separate the new MCM piece to make it less bulky and add new legs to each. Starting with the hutch, I added tall hairpin legs creating an airy feel. You can find hairpin legs on Etsy or Amazon. I wouldn’t recommend the Etsy user I ordered from so will not include the link, however if you simply search hairpin legs you’ll find a variety of sizes and finishes. Using gloss black finish 26″ legs brought the final height to 70.5″ which seems like a great size for the room since it’s a bit above eye level, but not too tall making it intrusive to the space.

 

Ok, here’s the details of how we did it. My husband and I make a great team, bouncing ideas off of each other making the process smoother and faster. I’ve been known to go rouge and not wait on him (#impatient), but with a deadline looming we tackled this one together. Before we got started, I cleaned it all up and fixed the weird lighting situation inside to make it more streamlined. The finish was in excellent condition so using wood cleaner just brought back the shine and refreshed it. I like to use Old English Lemon Oil.

First, we flipped the cabinet over onto a blanket to protect he top. The bottom of the hutch has a hollow center so we needed to add wood to create a good base to secure the legs. We wanted to make sure that the screws would not poke through on the inside of the cabinet so measuring the wood thickness and choosing screws to fit the depth will ensure a good hold and no unsightly exposed screws.

 

 

Next, we measured the width of the space and cut our boards to fit snugly for good support. Then we added some wood glue for more stability and attached with screws in the center of the board to hold it in place when we later attach the legs.

 

Next, we held the legs in place and marked the center of the hole for each screw. Then drilled pilot holes to ensure the screw will go in straight. Setting the legs back in place we drilled each screw about 2/3 of the way to ensure they all sit well. Once all screws are in partially then we went back and drilled them all the way down. We also decided to attach the hutch to the wall to ensure it’s tip proof. We added two L brackets to the bottom of the cabinet making it stable for children which is especially important here since the center of gravity on this piece is so high.

 

Repeat for the remaining legs and BAM you have a hutch with hairpin legs.

 

Stay tuned for Part 2 where I show you how I made the base frame and legs for the credenza!