I am not sure that black is the way to go. I don't see much black in the room. I love your hutch and the antique in the last pic! Great pieces you have!!!

I agree with aktillery, that black isn't the way to go.

I love the room as it is now, It's bright and airy. With everything else on the perimeter of the room, light and bright, a black hutch would stick out and not in a good way.

I woud paint the hutch the same white you have througout the room. The dishes, etc that you put in the hutch will draw the perfect amount of attention to the hutch area.

The focal point of the room is the dining room table and chandelier and it's best to keep it that way. Adding an additional focal point will distract from the room.

It's all coming together nicely for you.

The woodstove and all accessories are black (though a bit dusty in the picture). I can't get a picture that shows both ends of the room at one time. When I had the bookcase in there, having the black on both ends seemed to "anchor" the room. I would not have even considered black if not for having seen the black bookcase there. My husband has attached them to the library wall, so I can't easily talk him into moving one to the dining room to get a picture.

He's agreed to be patient with my current redecorating projects, but I don't want to push my luck too far LOL!

We have a lot of black furniture/fixtures in the rest of the house, so that ties in too.

The hutch color has to change, or the hutch has to go. I want something in that room to display my china, and that wall works best. It has to be something that does not stick out far or it's hard to walk around. We lived with this piece in that location for over a year so we know it's ok physically. The cats like it, they go through the vent and sit on top of it.

Nooo...I wouldn't go black either, but you could do a fun rustic farmhouse red or another fun color and it would look fabulous with the white trimming you have. You could even put a base coat of black under the red and distress it so hints of the black come through. I love a lot of the features you have in your home, lots of character!

I agree, no black. What color is your china? I can see a light, vintage green for the hutch. Very light. It also goes well with yellow.

Yes -- a vote to paint the china cabinet black -- along with the dining table and chairs.

BUT a vote to paint the new buffet (the one that sits back into the pretty alcove) in white.

I am regretting painting some of my furniture black. If only because it feels like I'm a copy of so much of it advertised.

Just bought a small hutch like yours for one side of my kitchen which will be unfitted adding shelves. My kitchen though is probably smaller than your dining room. Am going with a teal green furniture pieces along the wall. My dishes are many solid colors of pottery ware.

I would suggest as others to look at colors in your china and find something that will bring them together. A lighter color or rustic if painting the dining set too. You have already decided the built-in and there is a lot of white going on. Which I really like. Love the other antiques too. Your room has so many possibilities.

Perhaps go to the Cottage thread in Galleries and stroll through. Even if a pic isn't a dining room, will give you some feeling of colors which can be forgotten or not given a chance normally.

I think all black would be a bit too much. What if you painted the top of the lower half in black? Is that making sense? I'm assuming this is a 2 piece unit, since you mentioned adding a piece to raise it. A touch of black would be good, especially if you end up painting the table and chairs (yes!). Or, can you add some black accessories amongst the china? Cheap knickknacks and spray paint work well!!

I think it does need some black on that end, but that hutch would be too much.

Agree w/others - not black. Why not pick a color from your rug, chair seat or if you put up drapery - pick the primary color. Maybe do the inside a coordinating color to the outside of what you pick.

I'm not seeing black either. Maybe as the top of the deck, but looking at your first photo and thinking of paint, I was thinking a color to compliment what you have. I know the wood stove is black and presumably always will be, but they are too removed from one another to and too different in nature for that to seem to make sense.

Green is what came to my mind as a compliment to your golds. The idea of pulling something from your china to be displayed is also good. You could do green with the black undercoat with distressing/rubbing to show through, the top of the lower part left balck, a black glaze over a color or possibly the back of the interior of the hutch painted black to really set off the china would work (this last one could be great or could be too much -- take a sheet of black poster board or some black paper or fabric and look at that inside before painting).

What I'd really like to see is a wider piece. Is the one you took upstairs wider? Could that one work in the dining room with a mirrors and/or open shelves above for china display?

I chuckled as I hit submit thinking yeah -- it's easier to say move someone else's furniture up and down stairs. But don't worry. I have some new furniture being delivered Saturday and need to disassemble and move a media cabinet, a desk with hutch, an air hockey table, a dresser and a bookcase -- all going either up or down stairs too.

Perhaps you should consider scrapping the hutch and looking for a piece in proper proportion to the room. You could even buy a stock cabinet for the wall for your china and have a narrow sideboard under it. Think outside the box. For me, the hutch is just not working no matter what color you do. Sorry.

The scale of the hutch is just too small for that wall and when I first saw that wall, all I saw was that vent above the hutch. I don't think black will solve the problem. So I agree with yayagal, get something larger. Can you paint out that vent?
Diane

ok - no black - though I wonder if black would work better if the counterop on the built in hutch was also black.

I don't want to pick out a color to go with the china. Once my daughter gets settled it's going to her and I'll purchase something I like better - something with gold trim and yellow/brown/orange colors. I'm not a blue/silver type of gal.

I don't think painting it white will work. Though it does not look it in the pictures, the room is very light and "white" looking. I'm worried anogther big white piece is going to be over the top, or that it will blend in and look like another door opening, which there are already four of in the room. But maybe that would look better than a differnt color. I can always put accent peices in with my boring blue flowered white china.

Here are some pictures of the kitchen. Maybe something that would tie into the soapstone. The tile has the same colors as the wall/stencil. The accent is almost black.

and showing the soapstone colors better

The colors in the soapstone work well with the colors in the stairwell that is right of the diningroom door that the hutch sits next to. There is light green carpet on the stairs now. These are the exact colors as in the picture of the upstairs - with my old hutch.

The second sideboard going in the alcove will be painted white with filler strips and a countertop added to make it look built in. I plan on going with a synthetic product for that countertop, so that can bring some color into the room too.

I know I could bring in a lot more color with either a rug or curtains. However because of the wood stove, both DH and I want to keep the fabric in the room to a minimum. We are OK with the chair cushions, but that is about it.

The other thing with this room, while I have the black chair in the room, we don't own a chair to put there right now, so I can go with something a differnt color. My husband loves that style of chair and it fits well so he really wants me to get another just like it, but I could get something a different color.

I know I can't acheive a magazine look, I'm going for functional, and something that does not make you lose your appetite.

BTW - sometimes I may seem confrontational in my response, but I've found if I find myself getting rather defensive in my response, that indicates I feel strongly about an element in the room, and I should pay attention to it. Sort of like when just about eveyrone said the chandlier should go, and I realized that was one of the few things in the room I wanted to keep LOL!

The deal is sometimes I don't realize I feel strongly until I go back and read what I wrote. Even if I don't go with what most people suggest, the process helps me understand my own likes and dislikes.

So far I'm ending up with a room I enjoy, and that is not something I had before I started. Drives my husband nuts though, he wants me to make a decision and stick with it and get things done and then forget about them. He thought the old dining room was just fine - as long as he could sit at the table and eat, that was all he really cared about.

If it were my hutch, I'd probably paint the outside a light green and the inside top of it the darker green on the stairway trim, your white with blue floral china would look really nice against that darker green.

I love your room and now that I see you have green in your house, I really think painting the hutch green would be perfect. You have yellow and green already, a perfect color combo, so bring green to the dining room too. To make the hutch not stand out because of its small size, add a plant on each side of it.

Once the room is accessorized with some color..if that's what you want, it will be beautiful!

I think the hutch should go near the wood stove where the secretary used to be. The sideboard can go where the hutch is now after you get the rest of the built-in together. I don't think you should paint it until you get the built-in pieces. I'm leaning towards white (I'm not sure why but the built-in will be white) or maybe another color, but I'm not sure what.

I still say it would look adorable in a rustic red color.

I don't think black is the way to go...it might look out of place. You mentioned that your china has a blue pattern in it? Why not paint it a blue that coordinates well with the china. It would give a punch of color.

I'm leaning towards light green. I think that would bring in more color, but not get it more colorful then I'm comfortable with.

This is the hutch from the kitchen.

There is not room for a bigger piece here. I would have loved to put my other sideboard here, but I'd never get between the sideboard and the dining room table.

I had the hutch over by the wood stove for about two weeks and I could not get to liking it in that location. I think it's mostly because when you come into the kitchen all you see is the wood stove with the hutch next to it, and it looks out of place. Once you are in the dining room it looks fine, but I could not get over that "first impression" it was giving me.

The chair seat fabric has the same green color in it as the walls in the hallway. Hard to tell in the picture but there are leaves around the flowers with the same shade of green.

Then I remembered the back side to the small comforter I have on the daybed upstairs was near the same color as the wall, so I brought that down and wrapped the hutch (DH is thinking I've gone off the deep end now).

From the kitchen (flash made the dining room look yellow again).

And in the room - cats thought I was crazy too.

I asked my husband what he thought, he said it looked OK, but wanted to know why I wanted to paint it grey. Sometimes I forget how colorblind he is when it comes to pastel shades. At least he agrees the yellow has to go.

I won't have time to paint it for a while, but this way I can think about it a good long time and make sure I'm not making a snap decision that I'm going to regret.

LOL @ him asking about grey. I like the comforter color for the hutch.

I like the hutch in the green too. Black would have been too dark for that space.

I "get it" when you say you don't want to do white - it would mimic another doorway.

I am loving the idea of a sage green - maybe with a glaze.
Have you seen the hutch that Juddgirl painted Baby Turtle with a glaze? I think something like that would look great in your area.
I also like Lukkiirish's suggestion of red - perhaps a brown red/barn red.

Tuesday

Tuesday just beat me to it....I was going to suggest looking at Juddgirl's painted Baby Turtle hutch!

You're right, the two pieces do not look like they were originally together. The bottom piece would make a bedside table. Try just the top piece there by itself and see if the proportions are better to your eye.

Is your sideboard you moved upstairs too deep? It would look good there.
Another suggestion, put your treadle sewing machine there and see how it looks. I think something in line with the wood color of the table and chairs would look good there, though I do like green as the next best choice.

I love your cats, and was that a power caulk gun I saw in your kitchen picture? If so, I'm jealous of that!

Get rid of the hutch. No matter what color you paint it, it's the wrong proportions for that location. Looking at the spot from the kitchen, it's too shallow to really place any type of good storage on. (What would really be ideal there would be a nice window to get some natural light into the room.) And now that you have wainscoating there taking up visual space, the only thing else that could realistically happen are some extremely shallow floating shelves above it or several long plate rails that you can display china on. Anything too deep would be a headbanger.

What are you using as china if the china that was there is going to your daughter? Everyday stoneware? Stored in the kitchen? If so, then why do you feel the need to replace the soon to be gifted unused china with more china that will live it's life in permanent storage too? Just make your everyday china be simple and white and it will "go" with anything you want and you can jazz it up with chargers or placemats when you have a more formal occasion and not have to worry about storing "good" china that never gets used. Then you don't need china storage at all and can put a nice large landscape (or a window to the real landscape) painting there!

Well -- I do like the size and shape of the china cabinet -- and it works so well with your dining set -- and in the whole shape of the room. It has the same visual lines and feeling as in the look of the dining set.

Painting the cabinet white would make it blend into the wall -- and your china would stand out very nicely!

Painting the cabinet black would indeed visually balance the heavier weight of the black stove and chair. And would work very nicely with your china too! And bring that deeper color from the kitchen into the dining room too! :)

IF you wanted to expand the size of the dining cabinet -- simple hang a couple of plates from the china set on each side of the cabinet.

Just some thoughts ....

Paint it whatever color you like. I would add a floor plant next to it and that should fix the problem of the emptiness of the wall!

I love the hutch but think it is dwarfed by the new paneling. I agree with those that say move it to another wall or not use it at all. Show off the new wainscoting Your house remodeling looks beautiful!

Adding a window? Seriously? As if money grows on trees?

Hanging a picture on each side of the hutch would really balance the wall.

I'm not sure about putting china in it though, but I can see it filled with colorful glassware or pottery.

I would not use the hutch at all...while I like it, I don't think you need anything there because of the narrow space. How about a pretty mirror to reflect the light? Are you going to put some kind of window treatments on the windows? If so, I would wait till those are done before deciding anything. Love your material for your chair seats but I would like to see something more colorful...maybe a pretty sage green or even a coral color. Or use something colorful for your window treatments. Love what you have done so far.

I am with oakley. Art is a wonderful idea!

what about using just the bottom of the hutch by the door as sort of a "window" seat (it maybe a little too high)? Or put ball feet on the top of the hutch to use as by itself, it's not too tall to compete with the wainscoting, and you can choose whatever color you want because the piece is so much smaller.

I think it would be really mean to remove the only access to the perch for the kitties...:)

If I use this hutch, I plan on adding a middle section to give it more balance with the room. It would be sort of like this.

To answer a few questions - the upstairs sideboard is too wide for this spot. It's much wider than the one that I'm going to use in the alcove. I'm not worried about having a place to put food with this hutch, the sideboard could be used for that when needed. Though I've never entertained since we moved here 9 years ago, and not sure if I ever will. Don't have any family close enough to stop in for a visit (nearest is over 400 miles away).

I use the dining room table way more for large projects than for eating on, so I really like having the space. Our main dishes are multi colored fiestaware that lives in the glass front cabinets in the kitchen, and I love how they look there. Does not bother me to own china I'm only going to look at, I own lots of stuff that serves no purpose other than it makes me smile when I look at it.

I won't use it for everyday because my husband is a klutz when it comes to hand washing, or insists on putting everything in the dishwasher. He's gotten near death threats for taking the scrub pad to my china.

It's been a long standing joke about faucets with dents in them, every place he has lived, that has been the result, until we got the high arch faucet and enamel sink. He's too afraid to "shake" the water out of a pan in case he let go and broke the sink. His Dad use to say that he was coming to our house to dent the faucet as DH had dented everyone they had while he was growing up. I would respond that he didn't need to, as mine ended up with dents shortly after installing them anyway.

But back to the hutch - I've given up on any plants in the house - since I have a 6,000 sq foot garden, that's enough growing stuff, and the cats mess with the plants any. This is Oliver( the mask faced Siamese) and his sister when they were little - in our previous house. I had my last indoor plant die about three years after moving here, and I've not had one since.

Could not do any windows there - here is the door from the other side - there is a stairway behind the hutch. We have moved and replace every window and door in the house, so I'd have to really sweet talk DH if I wanted to change one now. Or wait until he's gone for a week and do it without him!

We moved the door to the side and ran the roof across the two story section so we could create a small front porch. I think all farmhouses should have a porch. Actually the whole dining room use to be the front porch at one time, then it got enclosed, but that was long before we bought it.

I won't be rushing into anything with this, I would love to be able to use it instead of sending it to the goodwill or dump.

Thanks to all you for the ideas, lots to think about, but that is why I bring my sticky problem areas here.

Your last pic is what I am doing with my hutch like yours. Although mine is in the kitchen and there is little room to go wider.

I like the idea Macy suggested. It would be easy to do. The problem I see is the small size of the hutch. Perhaps another piece could marry with it if you don't want to separate the pieces. A side board of like design.

Wow, I love what you've done, been following all your posts! You have so much energy...love the kitties too.

What a difference in your dining room! I was wondering if I had missed the reveal but maybe it hasn't happened yet? I like the idea of painting the hutch in something from the sage/light green (definitely not black) which will coordinate with your soapstone and maybe the rest of the green. Can you put soapstone on your new buffet if you can find a remnant. Perhaps consider some stacked artwork on one side of the hutch at about the same height to help broaden the width of the hutch.

The iron railing on your stairs is gorgeous.

I think black would look a bit stark in your room with all of its subtle warm colors. Also, every bit of dust shows on black painted furniture!

I painted my hutch BM Baby Turtle w/espresso glaze without a real plan (was at a loss after unsuccessfully experimenting with different painting techniques and ended up using the Baby Turtle I already had).

It's a very subtle color but still offers a contrast to my ivory trim.