Get your mind out of the gutter! Haha! I stripped and stained our guest bathroom cabinets!! My first major DIY project after moving into our new home was inspired by several blog tutorials I had found via Pinterest. My bathroom cabinet looked exactly like the ones in the before pictures and I have always been drawn towards furniture with a darker finish anyways. This project seemed like the perfect place to get started being a little Suzy Homemaker, or Bob Vila as I referred to myself on facebook. I had a week off for midwinter break and decided to give it a whirl. The tutorial made it sound super easy, do some light sanding, three coats of stain, the top coat and wha-la, beautiful espresso colored cabinets! That was my plan! I made my list of supplies and headed to the local woodworking shop to get the specific type of gel stain that was recommended. Little did I know, I was in for a major lesson on refinishing wood, courtesy of my new friend Vince at Rockler Woodworking. He told me that I couldn’t just sand the wood but that I had to strip it first. He made me watch a dvd about the stripper, made from soy beans, and then gave me lots and lots and lots more information about what to do. He made me write down the step by step and helped me find what I needed. I was super overwhelmed, but when it came down to actually doing the project, his information was so very helpful! It was a lot of work, my whole body hurt the next day after the first day of intense stripping, haha. But by the end of the week, I had it finished and was really happy with the way it turned out! I was/am really proud of myself for taking on such a big project, and successfully completing it! I have a horrible habit of starting things and not finishing them, so any time I break that habit I am extra proud! Here is the before and after photo I made with my cool new photo grid app (that I’m quickly becoming obsessed with). My trusty following on facebook even gave this puppy 43 “likes” so I must have really done good! (I don’t know why I get such a kick out of how many likes my posts get. It never gets old!)
Now that I’m an expert on stripping and staining, let me know if you need help with a task like this! Or I can give you Vince’s number too, I called him a couple times during my project. He provides great support during a big job like this! I can’t say I have committed myself to doing any more staining around the house, yet, but am toying with the idea of doing my dresser. But that might wait until summer! Alright, well, on to the next project for the day- bbq-ing some dinner in the sun with my handsome man!
Later!
L
lolavida 