Microwave Hutch

Project date: 02/01/2006

Project: Fix up a microwave hutch

Project Time Duration: approx. 20 hours

Personal Satisfaction: Sweeet!

Remember to click on the images to see a larger image of that picture

So I decide I want the microwave off the kitchen counter top. I find that the simplest of microwave stands are butt expensive, and I always say, why buy expensive when you can do better for cheaper.

So I find a 250 - 300 dollar microwave hutch on Craig's list for 20 smackers, I get and find its not in the best of shape, but can be repaired and painted up nicely. I want the hutch to fit in with the kitchen, so blue and white are the colors to go with, and because its basically winter time its too cold outside to do any painting, I put up a paint tent in the house and go to work.

Here is the hutch with the doors and drawer and hardware taken off. The wood look just doesn't go with the kitchen. The picture doesn't show the nicks and scratches.

The other parts, the doors and trim has been removed and cleaned up, in the larger picture you can see the trim is nicked pretty bad, enough to see.

So the hutch is sanded and deep scratches filled, and the whole thing primed for painting. I had some red primer so used that up as well on the trim work. The top three pictures also show the paint tent to some degree. It worked great, I used drop clothes, six of them at a dollar for each. Also duct tape, and taped the drop clothes to the walls, the floor. I opened the sliding glass door and placed a fan in it pointing outward to blow the paint spray out of the house. Word of warning, wear something that covers ALL of you, and DO NOT paint without a paint respirator. You will poison yourself to death if you try without it. The paint fumes are just crazy, my paint tent was something like 10 feet by 10 feet, and after one can of paint I had a fog of paint in the tent. A better fan might have helped, but its all I had, a standard house fan.

These are the hinges to the hutch, the painted parts are plastic and were sanded and primed before painted.

Here you see the hutch starting to take shape. No trim on it yet, but its getting there.

Here you see the hutch with trim, looking gooood.

Here you see the hutch finished and in place, I also created a 5 LED light that sits on top towards the back so you can't see it. It's hooked up to a timer and comes on at night of course and lights up the kitchen nicely.

Here is the hutch from another angle in the kitchen, matches nicely huh ;-)