I Restored It…

Now I Don’t Know What to Do With It

When I moved out of my house last year, I hauled ten trailers' worth of debris to the dump. One of the last remaining items in my basement was this old, dusty kitchen hutch. It should have gone too — but I just couldn’t bring myself to let it go

.

Here’s why:

I purchased this hutch in 1999 as part of the host station for my restaurant, Portofino Restaurant and World Market. It sat at the front of the house holding rolled silverware, menus, and table settings — a workhorse in a busy dining room.

When Portofino closed in 2003, the hutch followed me to an apartment in St. Paul, then to a home, then another home — until it was eventually replaced by a built-in and exiled to the basement. There it sat for ten years, doing nothing but gathering dust.

When I moved again, I still couldn’t let it go. Instead of hauling it to the dump, I brought it to a storage unit, where it sat for another year… until I had to clear that out, too. From there, it landed in my garage — still not in use, but still not ready to be discarded.

This summer, when the weather finally warmed up enough to work with the garage doors open, I decided it was time to restore it.

And restore it I did. I repaired the structure, applied three coats of spar varnish, and replaced the old wooden drawer runners with new mechanical slides. One challenge: the original cabinet pulls were hand-turned wood — and two were missing. I searched everywhere online and couldn’t find a match.

So I made my own

.

After watching a few YouTube videos, I built a makeshift lathe using a power drill and some basic hardware. This past weekend, I turned out two new wooden pulls to match the originals. Once they’re stained and varnished, the entire project will be complete.

Here’s the rub: I don’t know what to do with it.

It doesn’t fit the aesthetic of my contemporary home. And my adult children, understandably, don’t have space for it either. So here I am, with a fully restored piece of furniture — rich with personal and professional history — and no place to put it.

One fun discovery during this process: the piece was made by LC Lennox Craftsmen of Hewlett, NY. The company’s trademark was active from the mid-1900s until 1987, and they were known for producing quality handcrafted wood furniture — often in the Colonial Revival style popular in mid-century America. This hutch was likely made sometime in the 1950s or early 1960s, which means it was already a classic when I gave it a second life at Portofino.

So now the hutch has a new lease on life… but no place to live.