HGTV'd!!

If I've learned anything during the 4th year of medical school, it's that HGTV is amazing. I'm eager to start decorating my new Chicago apartment- but I can't start buying most of the stuff that I want yet since it doesn't make sense to buy it here and then move it.

But I decided to makeover our ugly dining room hutch today, since a pretty hutch doesn't take up any more space than am ugly one.

Here's the BEFORE picture:

Did you notice the 1970's gold-leafed design on the outermost 2 glass panels? And the ugly hardware? And the overall depressing feel? It had to go.

First step was taking off the paint from the side panels. After quickly googling "How to Remove Paint From Glass", it seemed like the most universal element was just taking a razor to the glass and chipping away at the paint. That was exactly as fun as it sounds.

Next, I went to Home Depot to find pretty new hardware for the cabinets. I was greeting by this ridiculous amount of selection...

... only to be informed that the handles I was replacing were a VERY old style that didn't fit any conventional sizing. Bummer!! So none of the pretty handles would fit what I needed. So instead, a nice man told me that I could spraypaint the existing hardware for MUCH cheaper than buying new ones anyway.

My last big change was to wallpaper the back of the hutch.  This is something that I've seen done on HGTV a lot on bookshelves and cabinets to add color, and I always thought it was such a cool idea.  So here is the final product!!  Well, almost final.  I ordered some stemware racks online, which I'm going to hang on the inside of the ceiling, so that I can hang my pretty wineglasses in my pretty new hutch!!

I'm SO excited to fill it with all kinds of goodies once I get settled in Chicago.  I really like that it'll provide a mix of storage for pretty things (behind the glass) and not-so-pretty things (in the fabric bins and the cabinets underneath).  I also found some cheap recessed lights that I might buy to put inside.  That will depend partially on how much lighting there is already in our dining room, so I'll probably hold off on that.

Here's the total cost for the project
-Ugly Hutch from Salvation Army -$40
-Can of metallic spray paint -$5
-Patterned white wallpaper- $12
-Stemware rack- $13

Total: $60.  Not bad, eh?