Bring that Birch back

Sometime between 1953 and 2007, previous owners of our home thought it would be a good idea to paint over the built in birch cabinetry that is (was) a focus point in our rancho. This restoration was quite a long process, but it's pretty much back. I used Peel-Away 6 (2 coats), then rubbed it with mineral spirits, then a fine and superfine grit sandpaper via random orbit sander. The only finish on it now is a couple coats of tung oil. I'll add more in the future to build it up a bit.

For the large sliding doors, I had to flip them over and finish the backs. This is because a previous owner also decided to route out the original pocket pulls for something far larger and gaudier. For some reason, these came out darker than everything else... so for now, I am on the hunt for original slider doors.

The brass pulls are very close to the originals (from Lowe's). The only hinges I could find that exactly matched the geometry of the originals were from Ace. Luckily they look fairly close to the originals too.

Before we moved in:


Here we go:


Water damaged board discovered... guess there used to be a leaky roof:


Bad board removed:


New birch board goes in... might take some time for it to blend in.


I love the orbit sander.


Someday this will be the den. Right now it's the shop.


Bling.