DIY China Hutch Turned Sewing Cabinet

I think I have a new hobby.

I found this semi-old china cabinet at an estate sale for cheap.

And, I got to thinking...I need a place to put all my sewing stuff.  It was beginning to take over one of the guest room closets - hard to keep organized and hard to get to.  So, where to put it, where to put it?  Aha!  I have a niche in the room we sort of use as an office that this would be perfect for.  So, I brought it home and organized all my sewing stuff in it and it worked out great.

But, I was itching for another project (even though, ahem, Chester Field is still in the barn awaiting attention and I'm ashamed) and I couldn't just leave this alone.

Extra can of chalk paint in the closet, meet sewing hutch.

All white.  I'm thinking...not enough bling.

And, I do so love to paint birds.

And, one here on this side.

Another one here. 

One on the door

One on the drawer.

On another drawer.

Just one more on the other door for good measure.

All done.

Ye Olde Singer gets a place of honor.

I figured, why hide that little work of art in it's box when I have room to put it on display?

A word about chalk paint.

I used Annie Sloan.  I've used it before and I like how it looks.  But, eh, I think I'm over it.  I've seen lots of websites, videos, blog posts, etc. that claim that a can (a very expensive can) of AS chalk paint will do, like, five pieces of good sized furniture.  I have not found that to be the case.  I thought, for sure, that I'd be able to easily do this project with one can of paint with some to spare for another project.  But no, I had to drive an hour away to find a "stockist" (that's what they call their distributors) and pay the big bucks for another can, which I used about half of.

I asked the stockist about it and she told me I needed an Annie Sloan brush and that will make the paint go further.  Uh.  Not buying that one or the bridge they also wanted to sell.

Then, there's the waxing.  Man, what a pain.  It's fine if it's a small piece of furniture with only flat surfaces.  But, I'm exhausted from applying the wax.  My plan was to put a dark wax over the clear wax, sort of as a glaze.  But, I barely made it through the first coat of clear.  I'll still probably get around to doing the dark wax, but I've gotta rest a while first.

And, a word about Blogger.  They've changed some things and I must apologize for my pictures appearing blurry.  They are not blurry until I put them on Blogger.  My videos also don't work, so there's that.