Well, Hello there!

Sigh.  After a long weekend of fun, isn’t Monday just… sooooo Monday-ish??  It’s hot up in this mug, too!!  It’s over a 100 in my neck of the woods and it’s just adding to the joy of working on The Mother.  Another long sigh… I’m getting my intake of the AC before heading out again.  Mantra in my head,  You can do THIS.  Pause, while I get some H2O… can you feel my motivation at the moment?!?  Ha!

Well, some progress has been made.  First off, I’ve picked which cabinets will have the honor of a makeover and I’ve already started the fun process of getting the shiny off.

Since there is quite a bit of detail in the doors and trim, I invested in a paint stripper.  I was recommended this brand at the store and it worked pretty well, so I’ll pass on the recommendation to you.

Here are the doors, removed, with the original treatment.

You will need special chemical gloves to do this and time, of course.  I used a cheapy paint brush to get the goop in all the crevices and let it sit for 25 mins.  The directions say 10-15, but I found that it was better to leave it on longer… it definitely came off easier, which is the point, right?!

And I would recommend safety glasses and throw-away clothes.  I did try to scrap it off in shorts and flip-flops, but I swear I could feel my skin burning in areas from the debris flying off.  You will also need a scrapper tool and metal brushes to get it all off.  A wood cleaner is the final step to really clean the chemical off.  But look at that rope detail?!?  So perfect… it’s going to be a shame to paint it up.

Here are the newly stripped doors!  Whoo-hoo!!  All purdy and naked!  These 8 doors took me about a week in all, maybe 30 minutes a day (not including the wait time, which was used for internet surfing work).

Next step, I’m dreading… Oh, The Mother.  Why did you enter my life in the middle of summer?!?

Any projects you’re fighting through the heat with??

Tootles!