You have done a wonderful job! Love your kitchen! I'm in the middle of using milk paint now to paint my cabinets and I can say that I just love it. This is my first experience with it and I want to paint everything in my house with it....but I will restrain myself! I didn't have to prime at all, but you do need to get all the stain and any polyurethane off the cabinet first. Milk paint does the best on wood that has never been painted. There is an adhesive promoter that I bought and added to mine just to make sure it stayed on since my cabinets were stained previously. I have no idea how it will hold up, but so far, so good. I'm not finished with them yet however, so time will tell. Milk paint soaks into the wood, so whatever you do, make sure you will not want it to be stained again, since I think it takes a nuclear bomb to get it off. The company I ordered it from does have a milk paint remover however, but have no idea how that works. I ordered mine from The Real Milk Paint Co. (www.realmilkpaint.com) which is a different place than the link steff_1 gave you, but you can check out both places.

Okay- let's talk bedding. I have spent hours searching (online and in stores) and I keep coming back to the RH bedding. So I went back to my store today. They were out of about half of what I needed and wanted so I ordered it (w/ free shipping) and I should have it ALL by the end of the week. Here is what I decided on. 1 King Duvet Cover in the 18th Century Medallion (in link above.) Pacific, so it does have a hint of blue. 2 Matelasse King Euro Shams in Fog (also linked above) 2 Lumbar "accent pillows" in cashmere.. one for each sham. I brought home 2 colors- a gray and an icy blue and need to choose. 1 Matelasse coverlet to act as a blanket- will be between the duvet cover and sheets. ***bought in Eucalyptus which is an icy blue color. The salesman talked me into this and I an really second guessing this for 2 reasons. #1- $179 is a LOT of money for a blanket that might not been seen. I could find a blanket at HomeGoods for $39 that would be fine. #2- *if* I stick w/ it, should I exchange it for Fog (color) so it matches the shams?? I really like the pop of color, but let's say, in the summer time, I decide to let the coverlet show more... wouldn't I want it to match the shams? Or am I trying to be too matchy-matchy??? (a problem of mine.) Wdyt??? Solid choices? I do need to get a king, light weight duvet on order. Any recs? I will go ahead and link the Matelasse coverlet again... *if* I keep the coverlet, should I switch to Fog? wdyt? thanks! Here is a link that might be useful: RH Matelasse

oceanna: If that piece were mine, and I was willing to do a strip/refinish if nothing else worked, I'd start with RAF and Super Fine steel wool. (You'll need the steel wool to work on the goobered up existing finish.) You can apply a little more pressure with the Super Fine Steel Wool and still get results without going into the wood. I wouldn't go lower in grade to coarser steel wool because it could easily gouge the wood. (BTDT) Then you'll have that issue to contend with. (SWool will act like sandpaper, coarser grade is like very rough sandpaper, used in stripping.) Try in an inconspicuous part, perhaps rear, or rear bottom? Never go in circles or against the grain. When using any product (sandpaper, steel wool, stain, poly) always work in smooth even lines going with the grain. Steel Wool grade info One more, with charts and uses for SW Before you dive in and do anything, check the Antique forum here. There's a home made formula kicking around for cleaning up very old pieces that have issues. Have not tried it myself, cannot vouch for it. It gets debated a lot, too ;) There are some excellent photos of pieces iasheff found in a shed that were in sad shape and came out beautifully! I think she used the homemade concoction, but am not positive on that. Original Post First Piece Done Pie Safe Done I prefer to be conservative with antiques if at all possible, saving a full strip/refinish when it's just beyond hope. If the RAF didn't work, you could move onto another method. If I had the piece you have, and the RAF or home concoction didn't work, I'd do a full strip/refinish and using lots of photos as a guide, match it to the finish on there now. It really is a very pretty piece of furniture, nice lines, and what I can see of the wood on the side is beautiful! Here's a knowledge base article on RAF and different finishes. And then a general FAQ. Here's an article about various clear coatings.

Original formula Briwax is a carnuba furniture wax with color added so it conceals scratches, and a solvent called Toluene added so it cleans the furniture at the same time, of old polishes and oil treatments, and of course old wax. Since the smell is so pervasive, they now sell a second version w/o the toluene. I like waxes because they leave no oiliness (which could trap dirt) and tend not to affect the original finish too much, which again is the risk with oils, that they will soften and degrade an old finish. Casey