Many people have dining room hutches/china cabinets that aren’t being used in the dining rooms anymore. And even if you are still using a hutch in your dining room, perhaps it needs a little pick-me-up. Mom has put her old dining room hutch to use as a bookcase in her great room. To add some color to it, she put removable wallpaper on the back. Here’s the post from last May that she wrote to describe the whole process. Enjoy the revisit.
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We have a piece of furniture in our great room that has lived many lives. It is a beautiful piece that started its life with us as a china cabinet in the formal dining rooms that we had in all of our past houses. When we moved into our townhouse, which will be five years ago this month, we gave up a formal dining room and gave the hutch a new purpose. It now is a bookcase in our great room and has adapted very well to its new role. This spring I decided to add some wallpaper to the back of the hutch to add some color. Jordan had great luck doing the very same thing to the bookshelves in the study of her Syracuse house. I loved the style and color of the wallpaper she chose, but the feature that I really liked was the fact that it peels right off.
The cabinet is made by Hinkel Harris and is two pieces. If we wanted to remove the top, it would take on a whole other function as just a sideboard or buffet. This piece of furniture will never be painted. It is a classic, and will stay untouched. This is a great way to refresh a dated piece of furniture that you need or want to hold on to.
Because of the glass and the glare, it’s really tough to get a good photo of the interior, but this gives you an idea of what it looks like when the doors are closed, which they usually are.
I used the same wallpaper pattern and color that Jordan used. We both bought it here. Yellow is my second favorite color (blue is number one), and the pattern is a classic design that looks great in the classic furniture. The whole process took only about an hour. Not having to deal with paste, water, etc. made it super simple. The most tediuous part was trying to keep the design lined up. It was a great way to make a change without permanently altering the cabinet.
Adding wallpaper to this hutch was a simple way to add a pop of color and more interest to an already interesting piece. Maybe you have a piece of furniture in your home that you would like to update without permanently changing it. Perhaps this is the answer for you, too.
Take care.
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Thank you. To make more room in my dining room…I moved my large hutch on to a main wall in our living room. The rooms are connected. I had a designer tell me it was a poor design decision…but her distaste was more vocal. I have been putting books and other momentos in it. Love the wallpaper idea…but the back wall of the hutch is a wide beadboard style. Do you think it would still work? I am also wont paint it…it is a beautiful Ethan Allen Country French piece.
June,
I have used that same wall paper on the bookshelves in my old office. It is nice because it is removable and I think it would work on the beadboard. I would continue to put some books and other things in front of it and it would help disguise if it is not perfect with the removable wallpaper. It is a quick fix you should give it a try.
Thanks Jordan…you should have seen my husbands eyes when I told him what I wanted to do…then I smirked and confessed it is not permanent.