1) dry cleaning is getting expensive and sometimes I have to iron to look presentable at work 2) I like to iron in front of the tv 3) if anyone sews at all, its nice to have an ironing board 4) if you don't have much closet space or place to keep a regular free standing ironing board it would be nice to have a built in one 5) built ins are just cool, I personally would love it unless you are really short of cabinet space in the kitchen, cabinet space or counter space trumps ironing board if either are in short supply Not sure how any of that helps you but those are my thoughts

It's probably a safe assumption that there will be lead in the lower layers given the age of the house, I think---not even sure I'd bother to test it. (They do test for free here, though---I wouldn't be surprised if Portland does too.) Lead was in virtually all enamel/cabinet/trim paint before the late 60s. But you can still sand with the sponges---that's what they're designed for, in part. When they're wet, they'll contain the dust so that it's not all over the place; a mask will also help to make sure you're not breathing it, and then afterwards you wet mop to get up any bits of dust on the floor. We did the whole lead testing and education bit with our county last year, and it was super helpful. One of the more important things I learned was that while lead is icky stuff, it's largely a concern if it's eaten or inhaled in quantities, so you can do a lot to prevent that and to let older kids know to avoid chipping paint and wash hands after touching it. It's also less of a concern if it's a one-time project than if it's ongoing chipping, like with a window where someone's painted the sash so every time it opens or closes, fine dust comes down. Projects can be more easily secured so toddlers and pets are away from the work. The really important thing they drilled into us was that the surface of the paint needs to be intact---you don't need to remove lead paint, but you do need to have it covered with a good layer of new paint on top. It's worse to take some of it off and open up lower layers to chipping/flaking than just to leave them alone and paint over with good quality paint, unless you have the resources (time, energy and/or money!) to strip down to the bare wood. In your case, I'd only touch it enough to get it into paintable shape. The biggest problem we had was our dog---lead paint chips apparently smell/taste sweet, which is what attracts babies too. So we would constantly catch him snuffling in an area where work was going on, trying to find the chips. Finally just gave up on that and shut him out of the room all together till we were done!

Using just the face frames(fronts) and building new boxes would be the best way to utilize those. However, you will be hard pressed to match the finish or extend it to the edges on the front. Seems to me building all new cabinets/shelves with period correct wood(same variety as the rest of the house and getting the stain/finish close would be better, easier, and safer. The only gotcha will be the grain of the new wood will probably be different(old growth versus new growth). And, if the present wood is chestnut, I doubt you will find any, much less enough. It very well may be mahogany, walnut, white oak, or a variety of pine. And the finish is probably shellac. Which is good, because there are still easily found colors of shellac, which means approximating the finish color will be easier.

I appreciate the responses. There are no mouse droppings anywhere in the house -- not even the basement. The only insects found have been the Asian Ladybugs that come inside when weather turns cold, but I've not found any of them in these drawers. I've seen no bed bugs anywhere, as that was my first concern in a drawer. The walls of the bedroom are plaster, but I've found no moisture/mold accumulation in the drawers. It's really odd because some of the drawers are fine, but three emit the odor. Until I can take these outside to remove the contact paper and air out, I've used Clorox wipes in the drawers and that's helped. If I can't get all the goo off the drawers, I'll line them with something, but not repeat the problem by using more contact paper.