Bring abundant storage and charm to your home with a dining room hutch.
For far too many years, I had dreamed of owning a large, gorgeous cabinet with a hutch in my dining room. It felt like grown-up furniture…. I always thought I would get one when I became an adult.
Well, guess what?!? It seems I am finally grown up because I now have the perfect dining room hutch.
And I teamed up with Kreg Tools and their new project plan website, dopten.com, to offer the building instructions for this incredible hutch at no cost!
A buffet paired with a hutch is an excellent way to showcase (or store) all the lovely baking and entertaining dishes. I feel as though I gather them the way some people collect figurines.
And although I adore seeing them finally arranged in our new blue & white two-tone kitchen, I really hoped to have somewhere else to showcase them.
Create a Dining Room Buffet with Hutch
The area in our dining room beside the built in bench is just wide enough for a 4′ hutch. Since I could not find any hutches I loved that would fit the spot, I decided it was time to build one myself.
That is the greatest benefit of building: you can create precisely what you need for your own space! This large project was also simpler with the help of the Kreg Jig and cabinetry jigs for shelf pin holes, cabinet hardware, and my favorite: the concealed hinge jig.
One of the main difficulties I encountered while searching for a contemporary dining room hutch for our room was an air return vent on the wall that could not be blocked.
Our coffee center console was open, making it suitable for the area, but everything kept on the shelf quickly became dusty. I promise it seemed to get covered the moment I set something down.
So I knew I needed doors that would ideally shield everything from the extra dust. However, that required raising the buffet portion of the hutch higher off the floor so the air return would remain clear. As an added benefit, the Roomba can glide beneath the hutch and help remove the dust!
What I created has honestly become one of my favorite pieces. I know I say that whenever I make something new, but this project had nearly a year of planning behind it.
I loved it so much that, when I built our new entryway storage lockers, I designed them to coordinate with this beautiful hutch.
I wanted a piece that could display attractive items while keeping them safe from dust. I believe I accomplished that with a buffet featuring lovely shaker style cabinet doors and a spacious storage cabinet.
Along with a smaller open section at the top for showing off platters.
The hutch provides additional room for display and storage. To preserve an open, airy feel at the top, I wanted doors with glass panels. I chose plexiglass to reduce the chance of breaking, while still creating the bright, open appearance I wanted.
The construction of these doors also turned out wonderfully. They are very simple to assemble, with an uncomplicated routed channel for the glass.
The glass is secured with straightforward 1/4″ trim, which makes it possible to paint the entire door before installing the glass. There is no need to mask anything off or worry about paint reaching the transparent surface.
One detail I especially enjoy about the hutch is its natural wood interior paired with a painted exterior. I love the finished result, which gives the whole piece a modern farmhouse style.
The hutch was constructed entirely from knotty alder, an excellent hardwood choice that is friendly to the budget.
The wood and plywood knots remain visible beneath the paint and stand out beautifully against the natural wood center. It looks incredibly upscale and stunning!
Since I used solid hardwood and sturdy alder plywood for this project, the finished hutch was not the most inexpensive piece I have built. Including the hardware and paint, the overall cost was just below $500.
Still, this is a piece I expect to hand down to my children, and hopefully they will one day pass it on to theirs.
Making memories of baking and hosting in the kitchen, just as their mother did!
DIY Hutch Construction Plans
If you are prepared to build a dining room hutch of your own, I am providing the free building plans at Kregtool.com. Click here for the full instructions.
Alternatively, find the plans for the 48″ or 60″ sideboard cabinet here.
It includes the same fantastic serving-dish display shelf for entertaining.
Enjoy building!