This DIY apothecary cabinet with hutch (using repurposed furniture) could quite possibly be one of my favorite furniture makeovers to date! This upcycle is loaded with some of my favorite furniture refinishing hacks all designed to keep this low budget project on track. The final result is a custom DIY apothecary cabinet with hutch top that mimics a beautiful Restoration Hardware piece.
The Idea
From Dresser to Apothecary
If you’ve been following along on Instagram then you know we’ve been busy creating a guest bedroom. The vision is to provide our guests a comfy, cozy place to stay with a true Bed & Breakfast feel. In doing so I’ve been repurposing some of our old furniture and scouring the Facebook Marketplace for deals. This dresser was purchased years ago and has made its way through all our kids. It sits perfectly in this alcove in the guest bedroom and instead of getting rid of it I decided I’d just give it a makeover. My plan was to create a faux apothecary cabinet by sectioning off the 6 large drawers to make 18 faux smaller drawers. In this blog post I’ll share how this faux apothecary and the accompanying hutch top came to life.
Second Project: From Dining room hutch to linen cabinet
In addition to the apothecary project, I wanted a cabinet to store extra linens, towels and blankets for our guests. I love the look of a beautifully curated glass door cabinet for this purpose.
With plenty of space in this alcove and not a lot of floor space left in the guest bedroom, I decided to take an old Facebook Marketplace dining room hutch top and repurpose it as a linen cabinet.
Since this furniture makeover is essentially two separate projects, in the blog post I am going to share the process for refinishing both pieces – starting with the dresser.
Project 1: The Dresser
The first step was to figure out the best way to create the look of little apothecary drawers. We had two options – the first would be to use a table saw and cut groves into the existing drawer fronts. The second would be to take a thin piece of wood and cut squares to make faux drawer fronts. These would be added to the front of the drawers. This second option would give the look of raised panels masquerading as little drawers. Ultimately we decided to go with option A – create grooves to to the dresser drawer fronts to give the appearance of faux apothecary drawers.
Supplies for the DIY Apothecary
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- Long dresser (similar option: Ikea Malm dresser)
- White Chalk paint (I used a 32oz jar of Dixie Belle Chalk Paint in the color “Cotton”)
- Clear Wax (I used Annie Sloan Clear Wax)
- Black paint
- 18 Drawer pulls
- Screws
Tools for the DIY Apothecary
- Table saw
- Tape measure
- Paint brush
- Waxing brush
- Rags
- Screw driver
- Drill
- Pencil
Steps to turning a dresser into a faux apothecary cabinet
Step 1: Making grooves in the drawer fronts
First step – using a screwdriver remove the existing drawer pulls. Next using a tape measure determine the length of the drawer fronts and divide that number by 3. With a pencil mark where the two groves are going to be (making 3 separate sections). The goal is to have each section the same width. Then determine how wide you want the groove to be. We decided that both the width and depth of each groove would be 3/16″. This thickness took two “pass throughs” on the table saw. While we had the drawers off there was a little bit of repair work to be done to the drawer bottoms and drawer slides so we took care of that.
Step 2: Painting and Waxing
After the grooves are made, it’s time for paint. I used 2 coats of Dixie Belle Chalk Paint in the color “Cotton.” I love this bright white paint and Dixie Belle has such a wonderful texture with great coverage that makes painting a pleasure. For the first coat I used a roller and a paint brush for the second coat. After the paint dried I used Annie Sloan Clear Wax to seal the chalk paint. The wax is applied with a round waxing brush and then lightly wiped down with cut up pieces of t-shirts for a smooth look. Waxing protects the painted piece and makes cleaning easier.
I finished the drawers by placing scented drawer liners inside of the drawers.
Step 3: Adding the drawer pulls
The last step is adding the drawer pulls. After much consideration I decided to go with these drawer rings from Hobby Lobby. They were 50% off so I scored them for just $1.99/ea. They did not come with screws so we bought some from Lowes. With a tape measure we measured the exact center to each section of the faux drawers and drilled holes to add the drawer pulls. The screws were gold so I painted them black after they were on the drawer fronts.
Note: We did not need to use wood filler in the old drawer pull holes since the new pulls covered the hole.
Variations and Special Considerations
The finish: While I love a distressed look I wanted a fresh clean crisp finish to this piece. You can follow up the chalk paint by sanding the drawer front edges (typically using a 220-grit sandpaper) and then adding dark wax to the clear wax. You can see how this distressing technique is done in my DIY Card catalog post.
The pulls: The options are endless! I know because I searched and searched for the right ones! For this piece I went with these ring pulls from Hobby Lobby. You could also go with cup pulls or if you prefer the look of card catalogs you could go with card catalog pulls.
Uses: This piece is for storage in our guest bedroom however it would be a beautiful living room media console or entryway apothecary console.
Project 2: The Hutch
I have wanted to do a project like this for a long time! Years ago when couples bought a dining room set it would often be sold as a set to include a matching buffet with a glass hutch (china cabinet) on top. These sometime monster-size pieces come in two separate pieces for easy delivery. Well years later these outdated furniture pieces are a plenty on the Facebook Marketplace – usually for short money. Just search china hutch and they are a dime a dozen! For this piece I began my search a few weeks ago with the following goals and criteria:
- To buy just the top china hutch (without the buffet – they are usually sold as a set)
- To spend under $60
- I wanted it to be a bit smaller than the top of the dresser
- I wanted it to be squared (meaning no arches)
Here’s a quick round up of some of the ones I was considering.
The Right Hutch:
I found this one just a couple of towns over, it was the perfect size and I paid $50 for just the top piece. One of the glass door inserts was missing so we had a glass store cut a new one for us. I couldn’t wait to give this old dated hutch a new life!
Supplies for the Linen hutch
- China cabinet/hutch
- BIN Primer
- White Chalk paint (I used a 32oz jar of Dixie Belle Chalk Paint in the color “Cotton”)
- Clear Wax (I used Annie Sloan Clear Wax)
- Cremone bolt
- 1/2 wood trim
- Black paint
- Window film
- E6000
Tools for the DIY Apothecary
- Tape measure
- Paint brush
- Small roller brush/tray
- Waxing brush
- Rags
- Screw driver
- Drill
- Pencil
Steps to refinishing a china hutch top to a linen cabinet
Step 1: Prepare the hutch
The main door of this hutch opens and the two thinner ones on the sides are stationery. The shelves inside are wood with glass inserts, they are not adjustable shelves. I removed the glass inserts from the doors and the shelves and put those aside. I then removed the hinges and door knob from the door and took the door off the hutch.
Step 2: Prime:
These older dark pieces of furniture are notorious for the stain bleeding through paint. Been there, done that – not fun! I find that sanding them can make the bleed-through worse leaving just three options:
- Paint it a dark color
- Strip the finish
- Prime before painting
with white paint in mind, I choose to prime and the best primer for this problem is BIN Shellac primer. Two coats of this primer and the stain bleeding through should not be a problem. If it is, go for a third coat. BIN primer is dry to touch after 15 minutes and ready for another coat after 45 minutes. It goes on very wet so you have to watch for dripping. It also dries fast and can “pull” or “drag” on your paint brush so I try to work fast. I used a paint brush for the first coat to get in all the nooks and crannies and then a small roller for a smoother finish on the second coat.
Step 3: Paint and wax:
I followed the same steps as the steps listed above for the dresser.
Step 4: Adding the Hardware:
I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to use a cremone bolt. I love the look of this heavy, detailed hardware and knew this would make this project Restoration Hardware worthy! A cremone bolt is type of decorative hardware used to lock or clasp together a pair of windows, french doors or cabinet doors. I found this bolt set on Amazon for just $33.99. At just 2 feet long I knew it would be too short for the hutch door but as I went searching for larger ones the prices jumped up quite a bit. I decided to ordered the reasonably priced 2′ bolt knowing I could more than likely finagle it one way or another. I wasn’t planning to have the cremone bolt function like a traditional one, I just wanted it to look the part, that made “finagling” it much easier.
The bolt comes with two iron arms each measuring 12″ – we needed those arm to be 18″ for the iron arm to reach the bottom and top of the door. We took a quick trip to our local hardware store to pick up a piece of 1/2″ half round wood molding. This trim cost us a whopping $1.13! We cut the trim to size, painted it black and using E6000 (which I prefer over wood glue) glued it to the door. Have a look….you would never know…(shhhhh!)
While I had the black paint out I decided to paint the door hinges black as well.
Step 5 – Applying the Window film:
To cover or not – that was the question for days! My original vision showed beautiful, perfectly curated linens draped on the glass shelves with other guest accoutrements packaged beautifully – like shelves in a well manicured apothecary store. But then I found this window film…and I loved how it looked! It peels off as easily as it goes on, so I can always change up the look down the road, but for now I’m loving it!
I simply followed the instructions on the packaging which included cleaning the glass surface and apply the product to a wet glass then using a squeegee work the bubbles out.
The Cost of this furniture makeover:
Drum Roll Please…
- Hutch – $50
- Glass insert for hutch $15
- Bin Primer – $18.05
- Dixie Belle Paint – $40
- Wood trim – $1.13
- 18 drawer pulls – $37.61
- Screws – $2.98
- Cremone bolt $33.99
- Window film – $10.99
The Total (of the whole piece) – $209.75
Items we already had – dresser, table saw, paint brushes, clear wax, black paint, tools (tape measure, pencil, etc) and scented drawer liners.
Pin It For Later:
To style I added a few decor pieces to the top of the cabinet and loaded the inside with extra bedding, towels and other items for pour guests. You can certainly style it a variety of ways according to where you place your own apothecary cabinet.
Thanks for visiting the blog today for DIY apothecary cabinet with hutch. Upcyling old furniture is the easiest way to save money and customize to your liking – not to mention getting a great piece of furniture that you created! For more fun furniture projects designed to save you loads of money visit my how to make a wood grain table top post as well as my DIY Card Catalog using green chalk paint post.
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