Antique Hutch Styling
We finally found our hutch! I’d been FB Marketplace hunting for the perfect hutch for years now. It definitely took patience–because as you know FB Marketplace is an interesting place. Lots of trial and error, searching at odd hours and keywords.
That said, I’m so excited to get into the good stuff…the styling details! I wanted to share a post featuring how I styled our hutch, my thought process and general things to think about along with a curated list of similar products that I know and love.
I started with establishing an overarching vibe for the hutch. I wanted to give this piece a playful, eclectic and collected stylistic theme. This helped guide my decor and object choices.
Once I established the overall vibe I wanted to go for, I then began gathering pieces that I knew I wanted to showcase. I chose a hutch with a glass cabinet mainly because I wanted a home for my beloved crystal glassware collection. So it was really important to me for this to have a focal point, while still feeling playful and eclectic. I find that if you only use a cabinet to showcase one singular thing, for example let’s say crystal–it looks a little stiff and dated. This practice makes me think of how my grandma used to have rows and rows of wine glasses within hers and it just felt suffocated and one note. I personally prefer injecting moments of charm and diversity within my cabinet to create more depth and visual interest.
Next is one of my favorite stages, the tinkering stage. This is where you get to play, swap things in and out and have fun with where pieces live.
I always think in rules of three when it comes to styling shelves and objects. This just means literally grouping objects in groups of three–for example, a book, vase and candle–and that’s your group of three. I then take these clusters and place one cluster on each shelf, so that each shelf feels grounded.
Once I felt like I had a solid “outline” of objects throughout the shelves, I then glittered in smaller objects to help accent and round out the hutch as a whole.
Playing with color is another fun element–I wanted to contrast the warm undertones of the woods with cooler accents such as my green splatterware bowl, green books and living elements just as florals and fruits.
Color is something you can play up or down seasonally. For example, as we get into spring I’ll play up brighter tones and inject more tones within the pieces via playful book spines, lemons/limes, and candles.
This might be too niche, but I also wanted to give this piece a “scent”. When you have a closed storage piece that acts as a display, you can adorn it with a beloved scented candle.
I love this part, because I used one of my favorite Trudon candles and every time I open the glass doors I’m flooded with one of my favorite scents. It’s such a lovely sensory experience that lives only within the hutch and makes me so happy. So not only do you get to see you favorite candle on display, but each time you open the cabinet to get something during the day–you’re surprised by a delicious fragrance.
My favorite objects to display
vintage bowls
crystal glassware
design books/cookbooks
vases and pitchers
coasters
platters, leaning on the back wall of the hutch
small-scale art
candles
olive oil, spices, teas
fresh limes or lemons
My favorite rule of thumb when it comes to styling pieces in your home, is to use beloved objects that you’ve collected over time.
I cannot tell you the pure joy that overcame me when I found our hutch to display objects that I’ve been collecting for years. Each time we travel I pop into local shops and often find one or two one-of-a-kind pieces that I’ll cherish forever.
Here are a few of my favorites lately!
