See the not so lovely before:
The more streamlined after (
my sweet husband cut those protruding nails for me with a metal cutting blade):
Then, all that was left to do to
really erase all southwestern signs was cover up a piece in front with some leftover molding. Measure twice (
or thrice),
cut once.
So here she is, all ready to be stained. At this point she has been stripped, given a mineral spirits wipe down, sanded, and streamlined.
Doesn't she already look much better?
Then I got busy spray painting some old knobs I already had with
ORB.
Because the wood was old and had some wear and tear, I prepped before staining with a pre-stain wood conditioner, then after two coats of stain that I also already had,
there she is. It's hard to believe that it's the same piece, huh?
The first step was taking off those outdated pulls. Originally I was thinking I may keep them and reuse them for something else down the road, but after taking about 15 minutes to remove just one, I decided it wasn't worth it and once I finally got them all off, into the trash they went.
Then I couldn't wait to use some stripper to take off all the finish. After she was stripped down to her birthday suit, it was time to tackle those southwestern style boards along the bottom. I used a hand saw and cut along the sides where the boards joined the table legs, then I took my hammer and hit it till it popped off; I 
So here she is, all ready to be stained. At this point she has been stripped, given a mineral spirits wipe down, sanded, and streamlined. Doesn't she already look much better?
Because the wood was old and had some wear and tear, I prepped before staining with a pre-stain wood conditioner, then after two coats of stain that I also already had, there she is. It's hard to believe that it's the same piece, huh? 