25!

I'd like to start this on a good note since I am so completely annoyed with how today went. Before I start complaining/ whining, I'd like to congratulate my parents on 25 years of marriage! So proud of them and so grateful for the amazing example they have always set of a healthy, loving relationship.

And congratulations on the new family member. S, my human sister, and I are officially outnumbered by our 4-legged siblings as my parents just adopted their third rottweiler, Zona. She has no idea how completely spoiled she is going to be. Unfortunately this is all of the pleasant news I have to share today.














B and I decided to get started on the staining project. Knowing it is a huge undertaking we decided to start in the guest bathroom, it is a smaller area and if it isn't perfect at least it isn't in plain view in the kitchen or the master bathroom where I'd have to see it everyday. Part of this is probably because we were lazy and, instead of sanding, bought a deglosser that we were told would do the trick. Can you see where this story is going?

Bathroom prepped and ready to go. It is hard to see but the stain we picked out was dark walnut, so gorgeous as pictured. I all but rubbed my arm off going over the front and back of all the drawer and cabinet fronts and then B got to work with the stain. We waited, removed the excess, applied a second coat, waited, removed the excess, and then cried. Alright, we didn't actually cry, although I wanted to-- hours of work, completely wasted, because you can't see a difference. Or at least it isn't noticeable enough to have been worth all of the effort.

This shows what we "accomplished" on one of the drawer fronts. It is leaning against the kitchen cabinets as a frame of reference, since they started the same color. We're not giving up, but we're definitely taking some time off to regroup. When we re-attempt this down the road I am 1) insisting that we actually sand, based on our results I think the extra effort will be worth it. And 2) going with a stain gel. Everything I've been reading since this fiasco recommends General Finishes gel stain in java. The color looks like exactly what I want for the kitchen and bathrooms so I'm going to take the time to get it right. I think B would rather just throw in the towel, he has no issues with the cabinet color, but he says he wants me to get my beautiful kitchen so we'll make it happen :)

Until next time