Sweeten up a pair of bookcases for showing off all those dishes that are too pretty to shut away behind cupboard doors.

• A pair of sturdy bookcases
• Primer
• Two colors of acrylic paint
• Wax candle stick
• Sander
• Polyurethane
• Swing-arm drapery rods
• Fabric
• Sewing machine

How to make a bookshelf hutch:
1. Prime two matching wood bookcases, then apply a base coat of one color acrylic paint. After the paint dries, rub a wax candle on the edges and sides of the bookcase frame. The wax will keep the top coat from sticking when sanded. Paint both bookcases the second color, using a dry brush and short, choppy strokes to create an imperfect finish. Let dry.

2. Sand the waxed portions to reveal the base coat and raw wood. Seal the whole hutch with a coat of polyurethane.

3. Measure the area you’ll be curtaining off and the diameter of the swing-arm rods. Allow an extra 1/2-inch on the sides and bottoms of the curtain panels for hems and a couple of inches at the top for the rod pocket. Sew a 1/4-inch hem along the sides and bottom of the panels. Fold the top over the rod so the fabric fits around it snugly, mark a line, then sew a seam along the line.

4. Attach swing-arm hardware (available through mail-order catalogs) to both sides of each bookcase, just below one of the lower shelves, and slide the fabric panels onto the swing arms.

Get how-to for adding fabric backing to a hutch.