Sunday, October 12, 2008

Finally done

The linen closet project took much longer than anticipated. I think I set a personal record for swearing on this one. Despite the frustration, I think it turned out well. The stain is original, touched up with a little bit of Watco Danish Oil in black walnut and finished with amber shellac. I am guessing that the wood itself is birch based on the grain pattern. In case anyone is wondering why the doors are stained but the trim is white, it turns out that was how it was originally. I started stripping the trim, only to realize there was just a coat of primer and many layers of white paint. Given my experience with the upstairs medicine cabinet, I decided that if it was originally white, than white it is. Here are the after pictures. Unfortunately, my camera was having some focusing issues.


My next project promises to be the project from hell. During the great popcorn ceiling craze in Minnesota, someone decided it was a great idea to popcorn over the crown molding in the dining room. We have matching (unpopcorned) molding in the living room, which is quartersawn oak. Also, we will be painting the room something other than the teal green shown in the picture.

6 comments:

Ranty said...

Wow, the linen closet looks great!

And don't get me started on popcorn texture... oy.

Domesticated said...

You brought them back to life! They look amazing!

Ken Bloggins said...

Thanks. It seemed to take forever. I started to pick at the popcorn texture on the dining room crown molding last weekend. Fortunately, popcorn texture came off with hot water, the 4 layers of paint I found underneath did not.

Domesticated said...

Time to make friends with a heat gun.

Ranty said...

Are you going to remove the molding and then strip it, or do it while it's up?

Ken Bloggins said...

I haven't decided. I think it would be easier to strip if I took it down, but I am worried about damaging the wood trying to get each piece of molding off. Have you done anything like this?