Have you ever purposefully destroyed something you created?
One of my first babies (and I’m not talking about my live kiddos…but one of my first painted furniture pieces), I just destroyed to makeover. This painted hutch started my love for painting and repurposing furniture. I re-painted it for our foster care bedroom, so it only seems natural to share with you where we are at in our certification process.
Yesterday, we had our LAST home visit. If you have been (or know of anyone who has gone) through this process, you know what a big deal this is to us. It has been such a journey, and we have been on it for almost a year now. God is so good to bring us to where we are today! We are thrilled!
We are so close! Once our paper work is processed, we will be certified foster care parents.
Our foster care bedroom is almost complete. We have painted it, created a wood planked wall, made wall art, and repurposed this hutch for it. We are praying that whomever comes and stays with us, will feel safe and loved while they use this room.
Now, for some more HUTCH details! This is the piece as I painted it about six years ago.
I love the use of color and patterns, but my taste has been a little bit more refined in the last few years. Even if I still love both of those concepts, I no longer loved this piece. So, it was time for a hutch makeover, and I sanded it down like crazy. It took a lot of muscles and a week to recover before I wanted to tackle it with the next step.
This past weekend, I painted the bottom a really pretty black. I decided to leave a little of the former color on top to give it a more rustic/distressed look. I wanted this piece to look weathered and not perfect.
After the black paint dried, I sanded it a little more. We used a fine grit sandpaper to smooth the top and used a rougher sand paper to sand the sides of my black paint job (to create a more aged look).
I then stained the whole piece, wiped it down, and let it dry. Once it was dry, we brought it inside, added some new hardware and screwed the doors back into place. It was complete!
I love how it came together! It now looks like a more classic piece that can still hold lots of colorful things on top and be a fun accent piece in the room. It just wont make your eyes go crazy, as if you were looking at a Dr. Suess book. 🙂
I think it’s so funny how our taste can change and refine with time. I guess that is life.
A spoonful of imagination in the midst of it all can help us to never be scared to try something new, because it can always be changed again!
Congrats on the last home visit! Praying for the little one(s) who come into your home! The hutch looks GREAT! 🙂
Yay…y’all are one step closer!! The hutch looks great and I can definitely relate to changing tastes! I look at some of the first pieces I did and wonder what I was thinking 🙂
Oh how you inspire me! I need to just bite the bullet and paint my coffee table but I will need your muscles if I hate it and need to sand it all off!!!!! So happy for you guys and for any child that is lucky enough to come into your home.
I love your hutch makeover! It it totally timeless and versatile! Great job, Erica!
Thank you so much Allyson! I had great plans to put wall decor up above it this weekend, but we have crashed and been lazy! Ha! I think last weekend took it’s toll! XOXO, Erica
Congratulations on being so close to the end of the process! I’m so happy for you and whatever child is lucky enough to stay with you. The hutch is beautiful! You did a great job on it.
Thank you so much Karen!! We are so excited to being this far in the process! XOXO, Erica
I love what you’ve done to the piece! How wonderful that you’re so close to becoming foster parents.
Thank you so much Dottie! We are so excited! XOXO, Erica
So excited to hear you’re almost certified! Someday I really want to sit down with you and hear about that process. (Coffee sometime?) 🙂
Kelly! How am I just now seeing this!?! Cause I am horrible with returning comments…and trying to get better! A coffee date with you!? YES!!!!! I’m in! We need to get this on the calendar! XOXO, Erica
Congrats on the last step to becoming foster parents- the children will be blessed to have you. I like both versions of the chest of drawers, though very different in style.
Thank you so much Sheila! I agree with you. The old dresser wouldn’t have bothered me as much if it matched our new room better. Can you believe I have never used chalk paint!? This would have been a piece to try that out on. SO much sanding! XOXO, Erica
It’s beautiful and a labor of love, Erica!! So thrilled for you all… God Bless!
xo Heidi
Thank you Heidi! Love you sweet friend! XOXO, Erica
Truth be told, I like the makeover a lot more than the first time around! Granted, you did an amazing job at it…but you’re right…the second one is more refined… 🙂
I’m really excited for you guys and your foster care journey! That’s something I had wanted to do with my future husband (whoever that was to be) while I was in college, but it takes amazing, special people for a role like that. I think I’m too sensitive for it–I take the weight of the world on my shoulders and wouldn’t be able to let go when it was time to. (I also have four brother and have that “get even” gene in me and wouldn’t be able to let previous things that happened to the child go, either!!!) That being said, I’m always thankful when I see other people answer that call. I can’t wait to hear more in the future! 🙂
Thank you Brooke! What a sweet and encouraging comment! I still have moments where I question, if we can really do this. I’m just praying that God continues to grant us what we need in the minute by minute situation! WE had our first call for a placement last week. When I called back to say “yes” they had already found her another placement. It’s crazy we are finally at this place, but we are so excited! Thank you for following along and caring about our journey! XOXO, Erica
Yep, changing tastes is definitely life. Weird how that happens! The makeover looks great!