Hutch - Before and After

I am a huge fan of Thrify Decor Chick , and she inspired me to refinish a piece of furniture that I was this close to giving away.  I thought I would refinish it before I decided if I wanted to keep it or not. 

Here is what it looked like before:

I always thought this was an eyesore, but it was so useful! I had nothing else to put in this spot and this piece was passed on to me from a family member that is no longer with us. I have a huge sentimental attachment to it, even though it was...well....u.g.l.y.  SO, I thought I would try to refinish it first to breath some new life into it. 

First, I removed the hardware and shined it up good. Then,  I primed the wood, then painted it with a quart of satin black paint and a sponge roller. 

In case I am the last one on earth to realize it, sponge rollers are THE BEST.  Zero brushstrokes and so easy!  I did have to use a small sponge brush for all the nooks and cranny's. 

The backing on the piece is just a piece of fiberboard...I think.  All I know is, it isn't real wood and I didn't know what to do with it. 

So, again, I referred to my lady, and her awesome idea of Paintable Wallpaper . 

I removed the backing, found some paintable wallpaper at Lowe's and covered the hideous fake wood backing.  I then painted it with the same satin black paint and reattached it.  Put the hardware back on annnnndddd.......

Here it is now:

Look away from the decor....I am still adjusting it!  In fact, I think I have rearranged it 10 times since I took this pic.  I am not even sure this piece is in the right room...but the point is that it looks SO much better! 

It took about 4 days ,with drying time, to get this done. 

Ok...I got un-lazy and took a close up pic of the painted wallpaper backing:

Then I rearranged the decor a bit:

Not sure I'm loving the decor....but the hutch looks WAY better!

Thanks for checking it out!

P.S.  Forgot to mention that I lightly distressed the edges...except I still have like 6 edges to go before its "done" !