Design
It’s Been 5 Years – Finally Trying Out My “New” Vintage Hutch
It’s a real “give a mouse a cookie” situation. Here’s what happened – I added that incredible painting in the stair landing, which brought so much joy and happiness to the room (and to me) and reminded me that I love color! Gosh, I really go in and out thinking “I’m sophisticated and love neutrals,” to “GIVE ME ALL THE COLOR”, like my daughter when she was 6. It has to do with life phases (when my life is more chaotic, I need neutrals, but when things feel manageable, I can go bolder). Surely a therapist could diagnose this as something. I mean, I always love color, but sometimes I want more and other times less. Right now it’s clearly more.
So yes, first the painting. Then we had to hire movers because both Gretch and I had hurt our backs (moving furniture, obviously), so while we had two dudes here moving a bunch of other stuff (switching the kids’ beds, bringing the arch cabinet and piano into the garage, etc), I got quite the idea. We’d finally try the world’s heaviest hutch in the living room. And I have a lot of feelings about it (the verdict is in, but the jury was not clear in their sentencing).
As a reminder, this was what was there years ago when we first revealed the living room (obviously in a more neutral phase of life). I bought that piece from Round Top. I think it’s French, definitely primitive, farmhouse, etc. But honestly, because of the light here, it just looks like a beat-up gray piece. Not the pretty blueish gray that it felt in our house in LA (I’m blaming the light here).
So then we swapped the gray antique piece with the midcentury piece, and I like it better for sure. The teak piece is a lot richer, simpler, but if I’m being honest, it’s not my favorite piece either. It was a last-minute FBMP purchase the weekend before the big Real Simple shoot, and it checked the box (and has fantastic storage), but it’s not super special or anything. So when I had the opportunity to try out the hutch, I did.
Where Is This Vintage Hutch From?
So that hutch was bought on 1stDibs a year before we moved into the farm (so 5 years ago?). It’s from Sweden (I think, maybe Finland) and I fell in LOVE with the color and patina. I was originally going to put it in the sunroom (aka the formal dining room that I use as my office), which felt appropriate. But that was the only wall in the entire house that the Blimp art could hang (and it’s my favorite of all my vintage art). So the fancy Swedish hutch, weighing no less than 600 lbs, stood in the guest cottage, cluttered with stuff for almost 5 years now. It’s finally inside, and I have a lot of feelings.
Why Wait So Long To Try The Vintage Hutch Inside?
There really wasn’t a spot for it (remember, there was a sconce here), and it was so unbelievably heavy that I wasn’t going to torture Brian by “playing around” when even I was extremely doubtful. The night before it came inside, I told Brian that it’s time to try the hutch inside and that the movers were doing it. He said, “Are you sure?” and I was like, “Absolutely not. In fact, I think there is only a 45% chance that I’m going to like it in here”. Those are bad odds. But we wouldn’t know til it got in here. My doubts were high, but my hopes were higher, and with skilled movers, now was the time.
Blush 96″ Barb Sofa | Blue 84″ Barb Sofa
The second it came inside, I knew it wasn’t a “hell yes”. Let’s break down why it’s not a slam dunk (or even a layup):
- First off, the blue behind the blue sofa is not ideal (and we knew it, but wanted to see if I could make it work). It’s not balanced (which is why I brought the chaise to the foreground – the tones work better and the antique-ness of the two pieces talk to each other).
- For whatever reason, stylistically it feels off. Something about the patina on the wood with the luxe velvet and newness of the sofas, maybe? Gretch, Kaitlin, Marlee, and I stared at it, and we just couldn’t put our finger on why it’s not a “hell yes”.
- At first, it was centered between the sunroom and the window, and it was just really intense, dark, like a monolithic, big dark thing that pulled your eye in a really bad way and felt so abrupt. Once I offset it and softened the lines with the cherner chair and the art, we liked it so much more, but it’s still just fine.
- It’s too intense, and it competes with the white fireplace, and it wins, but it shouldn’t win – the fireplace should be the focal point.
It’s not the worst! Oh, and yes, I was going to replace the handles with unlacquered brass, obviously. I think you can see why I wanted to try it, but all of a sudden, the living room became busier, messier, and just off-balance.
Once we got that in, we had to move the vignette in the corner (the chaise lounge or the Soho home chair) because it felt like SO MUCH FURNITURE. So I brought the bench from my bedroom, which I actually really like, so I might either get a bench for here or a new one for our bedroom.
Originally, I was nervous that coming into the side of it would be bad/overwhelming, but that wasn’t really the problem.
Blush 96″ Barb Sofa | Blue 84″ Barb Sofa
I think if this room were darker in color, it wouldn’t feel like quite the monolith that it is. Color-wise, it’s good, it’s just the location, the size (huge) made my fresh, colorful Scandi room feel immediately crowded.
But I wanted to show you how the landing vignette looks from the living room – I LOVE IT. And here you can see the French piece from Round Top working better on this side of the room, where it gets more light (but it still looks drab). I think that both of these pieces are going to look way better in the 1850s guest cottage with rustic wood all over the walls.
It’s cozy. It’s eclectic, and it’s a room that is fun to be in. But just too much going on. So fun to try and see, but ultimately it’s a no.
What Piece Could Work??
So I asked Gretch to Photoshop in some alternatives to see what direction I should head.
At first I thought a lower, wider, and lighter wood cabinet would be the solve. And I like this one (from Lulu and Georgia), but then I realized it still felt heavy. So we tried another one…
This one is smaller in scale and would give more breathing room around it (and under the sconce). I don’t mind this – the lightness of it works more!
But then I realized that maybe we need to go back to a more counter-height table. Our wainscott is 31″, which is actually kinda low for a lot of sideboards. But I did find this one from Rejuvenation that is 29″ tall, so it would fit at the height of the molding (which sticks out). I love how this looks, for sure. It’s a more serious piece (more trad than Scandi). The room feels so much more open and less cluttered. BUT…
You have to remember that there is a sofa table behind the blue sofa that I love (and fits perfectly, and houses my cute mushroom stools), so I don’t really want to put two consoles so close to each other.
Then I Had An Idea…
Maybe it needs to be a lower chunky living room dresser, more of a “chest of drawers” than a bedroom dresser. I love the one above, and it is sadly a few inches above the wainscott, but otherwise it’s pretty perfect. The shape, size, and function of it are different than the sofa table, so it doesn’t feel weird that there are two surfaces so close to each other (and P.S., we use the sofa table for drinks when we are hanging out in the living room). I also love that this dresser gives a rounded vibe, versus the very linear sofa table.
Here’s another rounded-shaped cabinet that is so pretty (but admittedly hard to see in the render). It’s darker (and comes in different finishes), but I thought that the darker tone might go with the kitchen island in a nice way.
All in all, it was a fun experiment, and I figured even if trying the hutch here was a fail (which it turned out to be), I’d get to talk through why and maybe it would help me figure out what would work (which it did!). I probably could have just photoshopped it in (and we did), but living with it for a while has solidified that it’s too heavy, dark, and big for this room. I also want to say that those dog beds worked a lot better when the living room was more neutral. Now there are so many tones in here, and it doesn’t know if it wants to be bright and colorful or neutral and warm.
Style. Play. Every day, right??? And for the sake of democracy, I think a vote is in order. Which pieces would you replace the hutch with?
*Photos by Kaitlin Green
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