Fluffing a China Hutch

Back in March, I found this china hutch tossed out in an alley. I dragged it home and then it sat in my kitchen area for several months. It needed a good cleaning and a little TLC:

It was pretty filthy, and this was the only knob it had:

I thought I would paint it a different color, but after hanging out with it, I realized the soft foggy gray color, with an undertone of blue-green, is just perfect. (It helped that a photographer neighbor with an impeccable eye saw it and said, "I wouldn't change a thing!")

Yesterday the handyman came and bolted it to the studs in the wall (we live in Earthquake Country). He also installed these classic knobs I bought at Anthropologie. I love 'em:

I used a hand-held vacuum to pull up most of the dust and dirt hiding in the corners. Then a cotton-tipped swab. Then a dampened rag. Finally, I broke out the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers, and there was STILL plenty of grime clinging to the surfaces:

Eeeuw! Those magic little sponges really work, people.

The inside of the open cabinet door (photo above) has different shades of paint swabbed on it. Maybe the former owner was thinking about painting and gave up? I will probably paint the interior a beautiful turquoise.

Here's a closeup of the grimy sponge:

Then I began "fluffing." What should I put on all those surfaces? This was what I did last March, just as an experiment, when I first dragged the hutch home:

 Except if I keep a cake plate with meringues on top, I'm going to way 340 pounds very soon. So I tried thisaway:

And thataway, but it ended up looking just the same:

And one-more-time-away, and clearly I am not making headway:

*Sigh.* I stink at fluffing.

I'm going to consult my decorating magazines and slavishly reproduce something I find in them.

Interior Decorating Self Confidence: I gots it.

Somewhere.