A key feature of the Rustic Hutch is the texturing on the doors and drawer front, providing contrast and adding visual interest to the project. To get the look, I first used an angle grinder to gouge channels into the pieces. After painting the hutch, I used sandpaper to reveal the bare wood beneath.
Using a wood shaping disc, I cut into the faces of the doors and drawer front. I shaped the channels randomly, following the grain while varying the angle and depth, as in Figure 1 and detail ‘b.’ Working back and forth over the piece, I slowly moved across. My goal here was to imitate natural weathering and wear, so I made sure to avoid working in any kind of pattern.
The second step came after painting the hutch. Once the paint had dried, I sanded over the textured faces to reach some of the pine beneath. As with the initial texturing, I sanded in a random fashion, revealing smatterings of bare wood across the pieces. Then I applied lacquer for an even sheen. What I was left with was an eye-catching pair of contrasts: the distressed faces against the smooth face frames, and the subtle lines of yellow pine peeking out from behind the matte red paint.
