Cabinet Refinishing Project

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Hope you are making it through the week with a huge smile!

Many of you have asked about our bathroom remodeling project, and when I would be sharing photos. I promise - I am going to do it! I'm one of those people that wants everything just so before I show it off. I guess it's because I see all these photos on blogs of people's home and decorating, and I might feel a little inferior. In general, design and creativity are not one of my skill sets. But I manage to make it look presentable around here. :-)

When we started our remodel, one of our first projects was the bathroom cabinets. They were covered in probably five coats of paint (pretty sure I saw pepto pink and yellow, and white was the top coat). We decided to attempt to strip all the old paint off the cabinets in preparation for sanding and staining. All this was to restore their natural wood finish and color. Mother and I went to the local Sherwin Williams store to purchase supplies. When the salesperson said "good luck" - like we were in for a huge challenge? - I felt like he was exaggerating. At the time I was naive enough to not understand; he was actually telling the truth!  

It took days just to get all the paint off the cabinets. Then close to a week to sand, condition and stain. It was very cold outside, which made the project even more challenging. 

This is the front of one of the cabinet doors - after all the paint was stripped off - or at least as much as we could get! There were still very small specks of paint on the cabinets - paint store dude warned me about that - but it created almost a "spackled" appeance once the stain was applied and dry. I actually liked the way it turned out.

 The same piece of wood after one coat of stain, we actually applied three coats.

To give a little perspective, see the cabinets on the right side for how they looked BEFORE we started to strip paint...(ignore construction zone, please)...

Another thing I learned - the inside of a cabinet door will always look better than the outside. See the next three photos for proof. First one is after sanding, second photo is after first coat of stain, and third photo is after second coat was applied.

I'm proud to say, we were very pleased with the results of the cabinet portion of our remodel. And I will admit - I actually enjoyed working with the wood and seeing it all come together. I can honestly understand how some people find projects like this very fulfulling and dare I say, a little relaxing. There is certainly an unexplained joy in seeing the fruits of your labor. If you'd have told me that before we started, I'd have called you crazy - for sure! :-)

No worries - I will be sharing more pictures of the finished project - the actual bathrooms! First, I must decide on the decor for one of them...

Have you ever done any wood working like sanding or refinishing? Were you pleased and surprised by the results? This was uncharted territory for me, and if I can do it - anyone can!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!