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Just the Woods, LLC | a Colorful Home & Healthy Lifestyle Blog

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How to Build a Curio Cabinet from the Top of a China Hutch

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Build a Curio Cabinet from the Top of a China Hutch. Repurpose the top of a china cabinet by adding feet to make your own curio cabinet or bookcase.

DIY Curio Cabinet – Just Add Feet

Make your own DIY chic curio cabinet? Who knew? Can you believe that I was going to throw the top half of this china cabinet in the trash? I admit it, I’m embarrassed by it, but I admit it. When this china cabinet came into the shop I was only interested in the bottom part. I hadn’t considered transforming it into anything, no less a curio cabinet. The piece as a whole is vintage, solid wood (Spanish oak according to the label) and has great details and hardware, not to mention its in really nice shape. Then I remembered seeing what my friend Carrie, over at Thirty-Eighth Street had done.
china cabinet turned into a curio cabinet, vintage china cabinet, unfinished china cabinet

I decided to transform the top half into a modern chic curio cabinet!curio cabinet, decoupage, china cabinet, hutch, vintage furniture, painted furniture

The Project – Adding Feet

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Click here for my full disclosure policy.

Let’s rewind and I’ll show you how I did this.

  • The first step was to flip the piece over and add a new wood base as well as cute feet. The feet were added using attachment plates, you can find them here. how to add feet to furniture
  • This worked out well, because having the cabinet upside down gave me the opportunity to paint the undersides of everything thoroughly.  The curves on the feet work nicely with the curves of the glass panel doors.

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Adding Decoupage Fabric to the Back of a Curio Cabinet

Once the feet and underside are finished you can flip it back over onto its feet. Next, go ahead and pop the back panel off and decoupage a pretty print. This print is full of neutral grays, creams, gold/brown, whites, and black.  I have been holding on to this waiting for the perfect piece to use it on.  I love that the colors are all neutral but not boring, making it easy to work with a room in both the grays tones or brown tones.   If you love this pattern you can find it or maybe something like it HERE through my affiliate link. Click here for more decoupage projects: DECOUPAGEchic curio cabinet, Modern Curio, decoupage, china cabinet, curio, hutch, vintage, nyc, painted furniture

 

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Paint & Hardware

Keeping with a neutral color palette the inside of this chic curio cabinet is painted in a creamy off-white and the outside in a mushroom gray.  The original hardware is cleaned and refreshed to a vintage pewter. You can find great paint color options HERE.

painted hardware, vintage hardware, chic curio cabinet, china cabinet, hutch, painted furniture

A chic curio cabinet is a perfect place to store your trinkets and your most beloved treasures! I’m sure glad I decided to keep this from the trash. 

Not ready to DIY your own modern chic curio cabinet? That’s ok, you can find so many available online HERE

repurposed-curio-cabinet, chic curio cabinet

If you would like to see what I did with the bottom portion of the china cabinet you can see that makeover project here:  Vintage Painted Blue Buffet.

Vintage Painted Blue Buffet

Staging Props / Home Decor
  • Small potted boxwood
  • Ceramic distressed owl
  • Cast iron keys
  • Flying pig

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If you like these paint colors you can get this look with Stone & White Linen

Feel free to pin:

china cabinet to curio cabinet, diy, add feet to furniture, vintage furniture


More from my site

  • How to Decoupage Painted Furniture with Gorgeous Floral PaperHow to Decoupage Painted Furniture with Gorgeous Floral Paper
  • The Ultimate Guide for Stunning Painted Furniture IdeasThe Ultimate Guide for Stunning Painted Furniture Ideas
  • How to Make a DIY Bench from ChairsHow to Make a DIY Bench from Chairs
  • The Best Decoupage Paper & How to Apply it to Painted FurnitureThe Best Decoupage Paper & How to Apply it to Painted Furniture
  • Decoupage Furniture Tutorial: How to Add Floral Paper to Painted FurnitureDecoupage Furniture Tutorial: How to Add Floral Paper to Painted Furniture
  • How to Make Easy DIY Wooden Christmas OrnamentsHow to Make Easy DIY Wooden Christmas Ornaments

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Comments

  1. Suzanne says

    October 23, 2015 at 12:45 am

    Love it! Sharing tonight on The Painted Drawer Link Party!

    Reply
    • Kandice says

      October 23, 2015 at 12:51 am

      thank you so much!!

      Reply
  2. Kelly T says

    October 24, 2015 at 4:18 am

    Saw this on facebook and loved it so wanted to check out your blog. You have a new fan! Have a cabinet like this but not really wanting the top part so trying to figure out what to do with it…now I’m inspired to use it like yours! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kandice says

      October 24, 2015 at 6:27 pm

      Thank you so much! Glad you decided to keep yours too. We’re often so quick to ditch the top piece (I almost did!) πŸ™‚

      Reply
  3. Queen Patina, aka Rachel says

    October 25, 2015 at 2:30 am

    Hi! This is a lovely interpretation of a curio cabinet top and the pattern/fabric/paper works so well. Nicely done! πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Kandice says

      October 25, 2015 at 7:18 pm

      thank you so much!

      Reply
  4. Cindy says

    October 26, 2015 at 1:35 am

    You are clever. Such a treat idea and so very pretty!
    Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY.
    Blessings,
    Cindy

    Reply
    • Kandice says

      October 26, 2015 at 1:57 am

      thank you!!!

      Reply
  5. amanda says

    October 26, 2015 at 11:55 am

    How were you able to remove the top part of the cabinet?

    Reply
    • Kandice says

      October 29, 2015 at 1:03 am

      I lifted it off… it wasnt attached πŸ˜‰

      Reply
  6. Audra @ Renewed Projects says

    October 27, 2015 at 1:42 am

    What a cute upcycle! I love that you removed it from the base. It looks great as a stand alone.

    Reply
  7. DIY Furniture Makeovers says

    October 31, 2015 at 7:21 pm

    What a fantastic makeover! Thank you for submitting it to DIY Furniture Makeovers. I will email you and let you know when it will be featured. πŸ™‚ Have a wonderful weekend!

    Reply
    • Kandice says

      October 31, 2015 at 9:49 pm

      Awesome!! thank you so much! you too πŸ™‚

      Reply
  8. Wanda Reece says

    April 19, 2016 at 1:52 pm

    Love your vision for this hutch. I would love to do something like this with a hutch I have in my basement. I would like to know how you put the material on the back . Thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
    • Kandice says

      April 19, 2016 at 8:50 pm

      thank you Wanda, I used Mod Podge to attach the backing πŸ˜‰

      Reply
  9. Talexander says

    April 26, 2016 at 5:09 pm

    Where did you purchase the feet for your cabinet and how did you attach them? I’m repurposing mine as well. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Kandice says

      April 26, 2016 at 7:31 pm

      I bought the ones with the screws in them already and also bought the attachment plates. (the feet were around $10 each) You should be able to find them at a local hardware store. They also have them online here (Aff link: http://amzn.to/1rfQudY )

      Reply
  10. Marie says

    August 16, 2017 at 11:00 am

    Oh wow, Kandice what a stunning cabinet! Such a gorgeous way to repurpose the top a china cabinet The large but curvy feet add so much class, the color is gorgeous and the pretty papered back gives it the Wow factor – just lovely! Pinned and sharing

    Reply
  11. Kate says

    June 8, 2019 at 2:17 pm

    Great work – beautiful upcycle! I’m just wondering about the very top of it. Was this a solid piece and you painted it as well? I’m upcycling a china cabinet top as well but the top isn’t a solid piece there’s bumps and holes and wondering if you had the same issue and how you tackled it? Thanks in advance!

    Reply
    • kandice kullmann says

      June 9, 2019 at 3:47 pm

      thanks Kate. The top of this one was a solid piece actually and painted. But there’s also a molding along the top which also helps. Maybe add a solid piece of wood just like the bottom to the top?

      Reply
  12. Tanya V. says

    October 29, 2019 at 11:38 pm

    I was wondering about the top also. Is there a big drop from the top of the crown molding to the top of the cabinet? You suggested putting on a piece of wood to give it a solid top. I think I may do that, but have seen others without it. Also, did you sand the cabinet at all? I love the idea of the fabric back. I have a very similar piece that I got for free. It is 46.5″ tall including the crown molding. If I took it off and put on a solid top it would be about 43″. How tall is your piece? I’m in love!

    Reply
    • kandice kullmann says

      November 4, 2019 at 12:22 pm

      Hi! This project is a few years old so I dont remember the measurements. I do always sand and prep all pieces first πŸ™‚

      Reply
  13. Lori Hoddinott says

    January 28, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    Lovely DIY Did you replace the glass in the doors with tempered glass for safety now that its ‘on the floor’ ?

    Reply
    • kandice kullmann says

      February 1, 2020 at 3:30 pm

      I did not. I kept the original glass πŸ™‚

      Reply
  14. Mary Murphy says

    September 29, 2021 at 11:06 pm

    Love it! I just bought one but can’t figure out what to do about the very top that is unfinished. It’s not completely flat and has a sort of β€œgutter” around the edges. Ideas?

    Reply

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