Cabinet Door = Smooth Like Buttah

Two weeks ago I blogged about a cabinet that I bought from Craigslist that I was attempting to refinish. I've had some issues with it so far, which were frustrating me (I'm not the most patient person...) so I thought I'd blog about them and show you an after shot that makes me very happy!

Here are some photos of the cabinet as I bought it:

It is a heavy, solid piece, but there was a lot of damage to the top, as you can see in the photo above. I felt confident that the stains could be sanded away, making restaining possible.  So I got my equipment ready 

and sanded down the tops and sides. I was surprised at how many of the marks came out with a little sanding! But no matter how much I sanded, I couldn't get out the red stain.

I tried restaining the top and sides anyway, even though I knew the wood wasn't even. The red stain was still visible, as demonstrated below :( 

I thought about getting a darker stain, but then decided that painting would be the way to go... but what colour?? It's so hard to choose! I was stuck between black and white (I know, they're not really colours at all, are they?) but I finally decided on white. The door to this cabinet was a pain in the arse to sand. I don't know why I thought sanding lattice would be even remotely fun. The first run with sanding and then spray painting didn't work so well. I let the door sit for a while before I took a second stab at it. The process went as follows:

• Sand down the whole door - focus especially on the rough areas where the paint cracked in my first painting attempt
• Spray a light coat of white primer, let it dry, then lightly sand it
• Spray a second coat of white primer, let it dry, then lightly sand it
• Spray a light coat of white glossy spray paint, let it dry, then lightly sand it
• Spray a second coat of white glossy paint and let it dry for a full day
• Jump up and down with joy because your lattice door is so PUUUURTY now!!

I just started painting the body of the cabinet. I'm hoping to have a full before and after reveal for y'all by the weekend.