Did you ever start a new project
full of hope and high expectation?
Even your lack of experience didn't stop you
from believing the challenge could be conquered.
It happened to me in the last week.
I present to you the kitchen cabinets.....
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| Here is where we started. The house came with plain, stock cabinets from the local building supply. They were badly stained and not lacquered. I had something else in mind.....new cabinets! Alas, new cabinets were not in the budget, so I decided refinishing would be the next best thing. Armed with a lovely stain....
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Cabinet doors were removed and set aside.
The cabinets themselves got a good scrubbing, stuff got covered, and I applied the stain.
The uppers took the stain beautifully!
Love the color!
The lowers were very particular.
The stain rested on
the surface and I had a very difficult time getting
the color to stay on. The end result?
Not only were they splotchy, but they were a
different color than the uppers!
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| This is definitely NOT what I had in mind! I worked on this Wednesday and Thursday last week. There were other things (FUN things) to do over the weekend, so after shedding a few tears I walked away for a few days. |
This week it was time to get ready
for the new countertops, so now I'm on deadline!
I decided to strip the lowers and start over!
I've never stripped wood in my life,
so this was a risky endeavor to me.
After researching I gathered my supplies.
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| Did you notice the lovely tile countertop is missing? Looky here.... |
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| Brian removed the countertop and backsplash during my cooling off period. |
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| The tile wouldn't chip off the wall. He had to cut away the sheetrock and replace it. |
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| The remains. Anyone want some fruity ceramic tile? |
Moving on.
After practicing on a door we aren't going to use....
...I started in. Thankfully, it went smoothly.
The stripped wood took the stain better
and the colors look pretty good.
I got the new coat of stain on the lowers
the night before the countertops were installed.
Here's how it looks....
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The next step? I'm going to tackle those doors.
The lazy susan door still looks alittle splotchy.
Hopefully the rest of the doors will behave!
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| I'm lovin' the pretty new countertop! |
In all honesty, if I had known ahead of time
how much time and frustration I would encounter
with this project, I would have done something else.
Now that I'm in the middle of it, I have to keep going.
As they say, ignorance is bliss.
(At least until the stain turns out splotchy....)
The next update?
The baseboard trim, rounded corners,
and bay window finishing.
My dad has been hard at work!
Stay tuned, Friends!
Maybe you could paint just the bottoms if you don't like them. I see that all over blog land and its really pretty! I'm sure you will make it look lovely!
ReplyDeleteYes, painting the lower part is a strong possibility if the doors don't work out. As long as the upper doors are good! The lack of control I have over the outcome is alittle maddening. We will know by tomorrow. Thanks for the encouragement! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat work looking gorgeous.
ReplyDelete