Monogram Letter Displays and a Craigslist Treasure

I have been on the hunt for a dining room hutch or sideboard for a couple years now. After years of scouring catalogs, trolling furniture stores, and combing Craigslist I finally found it!! And you wont believe what I paid for it... really! Well, now that I have it I needed some display art for the top. If you haven't guessed by now, I my newest obsession is decorating with monograms. I love it! Read on to find out about my good deal and how to make some lettered display art for yourself!

So, back to the sideboard story, I had been seriously looking for a hutch for a long time. I finally found one I absolutely LOVED at Ashley Homestore over President's Day. But alas, I just couldn't swallow its $1800 price tag! OUCH! The letdown set my search on fire! I went to a couple antique and thrift stores but returned empty-handed. After my couches that we bought from Ashley were delivered on Friday, I was so sad that they weren't bringing me the hutch as well. So sad, that I immediately opened my Craigslist app, and looky looky what I found! My eyes bugged out cartoon style when I saw it and its price tag of $50!!! I contacted the seller and brought that baby home! Here's a good shot of it...

Don't you just love the hardware? Its distressed but I find it charming! We have big plans for this big guy. My husband is excited to have a woodworking project and plans to give it a new top and possibly convert some of the bottom 2 drawers into cabinet doors so I can store my stem and barware. I also plan to line the top drawers with velvet. Oh how I love this piece! It reminds me of a couple styles I have admired from Pottery Barn like this one...

and this one...

Alright, so how did I make the Lettered Display? Easy peasy! I bought the paper mache letters on sale at JoAnn Fabrics, $2 for the smaller ones, and $3 for the large one. I had a coupon... there's an app for that! Haha, for reals, JoAnn has an app now that stores all their coupons. Just show your mobile coupon to the cashier. Cool huh?

Once, I got them home I began to paint them with my acrylics. I blended three colors to get a rich gold effect. After I had a deep base coat, I went back over with the "luminous gold" and gave it a dry brush treatment. It was pretty with just the base coat but the dry brushing gave it depth and texture reminiscent of brushed metal.

And this is the finished product...

I love how it looks on my new sideboard...

And in my dining room. This is what I have going on in there so far...

So, what do ya think? Any other accessory suggestions? I think I want some kind of mossy-like greenery and I definitely need to decide on drapery...STAT! I know I want some drapes with texture like a linen or tweed. Maybe a chalkboard menu somewhere too. Hmm.... decisions, decisions... at least these are my favorite kind of decisions!

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