Gallery Buff and Wythe Blue Painted Vintage Secretary Hutch
Hello friends! I thought it was time to reveal a finished project that’s been several months in the making. Not because it was a really big project, but because I’ve got the speed of a turtle sometimes.
I FINALLY finished giving a makeover to the secretary desk that I bought from a local customer waaaay back in February. And I kinda like the way it turned out.
Here’s the “before” shot. It’s in great shape and has all the fretwork and hardware and the drawers all work great. But the 1970’s antiqued green finish just wasn’t going to work. And it also had a couple of spots where it had bumped into something and the paint was missing, so it was ready for a makeover.
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I finished it in Benjamin Moore Gallery Buff and then did some distressing and gave it a coat of Minwax Dark Wax. I also repainted the hardware with Modern Masters metallic paint.
The Minwax paste wax gave it just the right antiqued look that it needed, nestling down into the ridges and grooves of the piece.
I thought about painting the drawer pulls in the same color as the drawers, but decided to do a metallic finish for some contrast. You can see the 70’s antique green peeking through the Gallery Buff color.
The inside got a coat of Wythe Blue for a refreshing burst of color. It’s one of my favorite colors.
I staged the piece at the shop with some small items I have for sale, and a few things from my personal collection.
Some of my favorites are some old books that I found at a yard sale. They belonged to “Bess”. Apparently Bess liked Robert. I hope that worked out for her.
Bess’s high school composition handbook. I love that she wrote in it and left her permanent mark on the world, well, at least on this book!
Here’s the closed view of the piece. And a chair I recovered to go with it.
I put the secretary out for sale in the shop and sold it within two weeks. I would have loved to just bring it home, but since it sold already, that gives me funds for the next makeover and another 6 months of putting things off!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend!
XOXOX,
Angie
Sharing this project here:
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Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture Feature Friday
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how did you do the fret work on secretary? i have a piece with similar and not sure how to do it?
Hi Vicky. For this piece I was able to remove the glass. I carefully took out the rubber/plastic piece that was holding it in place, removed the glass, painted the fretwork, then put it all back once the paint had dried. I hope that helps!
How much did you sell this for? I have a similar piece and want to refinish and possibly sell. I get attached too with most of the items I do!
It's been several years and I don't remember exactly but I'm pretty sure it was $595. It sold really quick so it makes me think I had it underpriced!
I think it would've come home with me too! LOVE it! I have a beautiful, old secretary I love (it even has wavy glass), and I would love to paint it, but I'm so scared to! 🙂 Love it! ~Zuni
I remember seeing this piece over the summer and absolutely loving it. (I can't believe I don't already have a comment on here about it!) Ever since I first saw this I've been wanting to do a piece like it – I saw one on Craigslist awhile back and they wanted way more than I was willing to pay. But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for finding another! Thank you for sharing this at Throwback Thursday. 🙂 (Pinning)
Thank you so much for sharing at Redoux, I am featuring tomorrow. This is just Gorgeous!!! No surprise it sold so fast!
Hooray! Thanks so much for the feature and the comments! I always love your transformations and it's a real honor to be featured on your blog! Have a great weekend. ~ Angie
Angie thanx for sharing at THT!! Have a great weekend.
Angie the piece turned out great and hey, you are not the only one who moves as slow as a turtle!;) I have a secretary out in the garage I bought a few months back just waiting to be loved. It needs some work and thus will have to wait till it cools off some. Thanx for the inspiration!
Thanks Pamela! I'm glad to know I'm not the only slow poke! Good luck on your secretary. I can't wait to see how it turns out! Thanks for stopping by. ~ Angie
Thanks, Holly! I love the Wythe Blue too!
Gorgeous Angie! I absolutely love it… especially the Wythe Blue!
Angie, I absolutely love this piece and you did a great job with the staging.
Thanks Kathy! That really means a lot coming from a pro like you! Thanks for stopping by!
gorgeous!
Thank you And thanks for stopping by!