Formal dining rooms aren’t as common anymore, and those spaces are often converted into more useful rooms like a home office, kids playroom, crafting space, or homeschooling room. Many of the traditional hutches and vintage china cabinets that you used to find in those dining rooms are being donated to thrift stores or sold for a bargain.
Sometimes people will just keep the bottom part of a 2-piece hutch to use as a buffet or TV cabinet. But did you realize that there are so many amazing ways to repurpose an old hutch top? Before you donate yours, take a look at the creative DIY ideas below to breathe new life into old hutch pieces.
Click any of the photos or links below to learn more about the project. Many even provide a full tutorial and step-by-step photos so you can try the makeover yourself.
This post may contain some affiliate links to products I use and recommend. Discover all my favorite brands and tools for doing DIY makeovers here.
This old hutch top was repurposed into an adorable dollhouse – project from the book Amazing Furniture Makeovers: Easy DIY Projects to Transform Thrifted Finds into Beautiful Custom Pieces by Jen, Girl in the Garage.
This narrow hutch top was upcycled into a freestanding bookcase and then painted and stenciled on the back wall for a feminine look. Makeover by Girl in the Garage.
Here’s a painted repurposed hutch top with a decoupage fabric back and new bun feet – project by Just the Woods.
For this makeover, a hutch top was painted green and then stained wood planks were used for the back of the cabinet – transformed by UTurn Design.
A yard sale hutch top was updated with paint, chicken wire, and an added bottom shelf for a wall cabinet – farmhouse style makeover by Bless This Nest.
Here is a mid-century hutch top painted with Chalk Paint, new hardware, and hairpin legs added for height – by Kristin Lia.
This vintage hutch was repurposed into two pieces with the glass doors removed on the top of the hutch, and painted with Fusion Mineral Paint – shared by Reddit user HereForCuteDogs.
This hutch top was paired with legs from a Queen Anne table and given a shabby chic makeover – by Little Shabby History.
This $5 hutch top was painted black, with striped wallpaper added inside of the cabinet and new legs – makeover by Sunny Side Design.
This china cabinet was separated into two pieces. Both were given a makeover and they were sold for a nice profit. The original glass shelves and doors were kept intact. Image via Pinterest, original artist unknown.
A vintage hutch top was flipped upside down for this makeover – with faux scrap wood backing, chicken wire door panels, and bun feet. Repurposed hutch top by Oh My Sander.
Change of Hart Designs split this cabinet into two separate mid-century modern pieces with a bold paint technique and hairpin furniture legs.
An old china cabinet was split and repurposed 4 different ways – the top was updated into a shelving unit for the front entryway. See all the updates for this thrifted cabinet via The Homes I Have Made.
Here’s a clever idea where someone used old cabinet pieces as built-ins for their kitchen cabinets. Original source unknown, image via Pinterest.
An outdated hutch was given a farmhouse style makeover with distressed white paint and chicken wire instead of glass doors. Original source unknown, image via Pinterest.
This furniture artist says they “took this old hutch top, added legs, wallpaper for the back, and painted in Dixie Belle Stormy Seas” – hutch makeover idea via Harpermorlands Furniture on Pinterest.
This painter says, “this bookshelf started out as the top of a China Hutch. By adding a bottom board and some bun feet it’s the perfect size. Stained the top and feet and painted a custom gray” – old china cabinet makeover with stained wood top via Vintage Therapy by Lynn on Pinterest.
This old china hutch top was free, and repurposed into wall storage with chalkboard doors. It’s a unique custom piece for this blogger’s laundry room. Project tutorial by Joyfully Treasured.
Even if you don’t already have a dusty old 2-piece china cabinet in your garage, you can find one easily on Facebook Marketplace for free or cheap, as a thrift store find, or from an estate sale. Then you can decide how to repurpose the hutch top or bottom into a chic new piece for your home using any of the above ideas as your DIY project inspiration.
Maybe you want to repurpose the hutch top into a convenient bookcase or storage cabinet. Perhaps you’d like to paint it and add wallpaper or wood planks to the back. Maybe it would look better by removing glass doors and adding new hardware and furniture feet. There are so many creative ideas like transforming it into a dollhouse, bar cabinet, or wall storage in your laundry room or kitchen. I hope the projects featured here today have given you some thoughtful inspiration.
Mary Loveland says
Great posting! Love all the ideas.
Sue says
Thank you for the ideas!!
I have come across a card catalogue cupboard and excited to redo. Thanx for the inspiration;))))
Happy Birthday to you la la laalaaa la la
Lori says
Thanks for this wonderful post. The pieces were great and so many ideas. I’m inspired!