Paint Color Ideas for an Antique Hutch

The Disappearing Hutch

• If your room is small and your hutch is enormous, you may want to downplay its bulk by painting it the same color as the walls. The hutch will blend right into the room, but you'll still have all that useful storage and display space.

Hutch as a Focal Point

• If you want your hutch to be the room's focal point, drawing all eyes as the most prominent feature, then choose a color that stands out from both the wall and the other furniture. If your walls are a light color and your other furniture is all white or light-colored wood, for example, then paint the hutch a bright or dark color. You might choose blue, green, gold, red or a dark wood stain, for example.

Hutch as China Display

• If you use your hutch to display antique china, then paint the shelves and interior a color that complements the china. A dark color will set off white or pale dishes, and a white or cream hutch will make bright dishes pop out. For a beautiful blend, choose a secondary color in the china pattern, such as the green of leaves or the soft rose or yellow of flowers in a floral design. The dishes will seem to glow against such a flattering backdrop. The white-on-white look of white china in a white cupboard can be stunning if the rest of the room is also blanketed in white.

Country Colors

• A hutch is a country-style piece, so it will look best painted either in a clear, bright country color or in a color that has a soft or grayed look, as if it were once clear and bright but have faded over time. But the choice is yours, and any color, even sharp or neon ones, which are usually considered more modern, can work. A lime green or brilliant raspberry hutch will certainly wake up a room.