Cabinet Makeover

I have this little display cabinet in the kitchen that holds mixing bowls and dishes.  Years ago, His Lordship replaced the antique glass with plexiglass so our little baby M would not fall through and slice her jugular vein. I had decided it was time for a makeover - how hard can it be?

Well months later, I can answer that question - fucking hard.  The varnish over the stain was thick and I used a gel stripper.  That took ages and was a mess.  Then the sanding lasted forever.  I was hoping to leave it a light color like lots of my other furniture, but alas, I could not remove all the remnants of the old dark stain which kept bleeding pink every time I cleaned it. Hence, I had to stain dark again.  It had to hang in the garage because it was off-gassing and it stunk.
 

Also, I discovered the back was cheapo veneered wood so that had to be painted as it could not be sanded and re-stained.

 I had the brilliant idea to do stained glass in the doors and designed two bespoke spider webs, each around 90 pieces of glass.  After a dozen glass cuts on my fingers and a lot of blobby soldering, I have finished my doors.

Time for some assembly and to get this bad boy back in the kitchen!