You're not the only one. I painted an oak antique wash stand green, then stripped it down to re-finished it to
match our bedroom furniture.
It looks better than it looked before I painted it green.

Wait until spring, bring it outside and sand it down with a sander. You can also use furniture stripper in the hard to reach corners.

I'm so glad to hear someone else has done this! I have a bowl and pitcher that belonged to my grandmother and wish I had a wash stand to put it on. Did you stain the wash stand after stripping it? How much trouble was it to get all the paint out of the wood?

Do you mean sand all of the paint off the cabinet and then repaint it the original green and ivory colors?

While I was looking for the washstand pics, I came across
my walnut kitchen table. We made this table a few years ago
and it got several scratches, plus some crazy glue and a little spray paint. We carried it outside on a mild day in December and sanded it down. There is no stain on this (this is the natural black walnut) It just has
several coats of Poly rubbed on.

A sander is an essential tool, at least at our house it is.:)
BTW, can you show us the hoiser cabinet? I love those cabinets.

washstand...
painted green :(

Your table is gorgeous and I really do like the green color on the wash stand. I would love to see it after you refinished it.

This is the only photo I have of the cabinet before I painted it. I think the photo was Christmas 2007.

This is how it looks now.

sanded and stained

Wow, your wash stand is beautiful with the stain! Is that antlers on top holding a tealight?

We posted at the same time. I love your cabinet. Do you want to stain it to match your wood countertop?

THis is another table I painted green and sanded it down
and re-finished it to match my old furniture.

BTW. Hubby made this little table in 6th grade shop and won Best in show{{gwi:807}}.
I also have the antique pitcher and wash basin that goes with the wash stand. I currently have in on top of this little table under the back window in our bedroom.

Think about sanding down your hoiser and re-finishing it.
It's all wood right? Do you know what kind of wood it is?
It is mahogony.
Correction, I mean hubby's table is mahogany.

This post was edited by cliff_and_joann on Sun, Jan 27, 13 at 14:34

It does not look like that would be too hard to correct. Yes, I did paint a rice four-poster bed and the matching dresser, nightstand and gentleman armoire once upon a time and I have regretted it ever since. I cannot sand because of asthma and the price to have it redone would be like trying to pay down the national debt. C'est la vie.

Yes, antlers. Your kitchen wall color is gorgeous.

I purchased 2 vintage bedside tables for DD1 when she moved to San Francisco for college. They had to be white. Not only were they a PITA to paint, but she only kept them for 6 months. I've had them ever since, and oh what I would give to have them back to the chalky light green they were!!

You have a photo of how it used to look and a nice white canvas, if I were you I'd get busy finding paints to match the original colors and then get started taking it back in time. :)

I found a nice sturdy little bookcase at a used furniture store. It has always been a useful little piece. Unfortunately, I painted it green and then spritzed little brown dots of paint on it. The method was popular st the time, the 1970's. Was it called antiquing? It should have been called a crime. One day I may paint it white since I don't think I have the energy to sand and stain.

Oh, brother! I hate to think about a couple of ill-advised projects I did for my apartment in the '70s.

The worst thing I ever did was to decoupage something onto an authentic Charles Eames child's stool made at Evans Products in the '40s. The print is long gone, but the finish will never be the same.

cliff_and_joann, I have no idea what kind of wood the cabinet is made of. I really hadn't thought about staining it, but I have seen oak hoosiers that are beautiful. I bet it would take a ton of work to get all the paint off.

The table your husband made is so pretty and I'm amazed that he made it in the 6th grade!

Thank you for the sweet words on my wall color. It is called Tanglewood. When I chose that color, my husband said I would hate it because it was brown. I love it though because it doesn't really look brown to me, but more of a dusty grape.

Patricia43, yikes on the rice bed! I think they are so gorgeous and would love to have one. It really wouldn't be hard to change my cabinet, but I just remember how time consuming it was to paint it in the first place.

Allison, isn't that the way it usually is with our children! Maybe we should have a paint party!

Ghostlyvision, I think that's exactly what I'm going to do as soon as it warms up a bit here so I can take it outside. There is not one speck of green paint left on it to try to match to, so I may just have to try matching the enamel on the pull-out shelf. The doors just need to be painted a deeper ivory color (they are a light cream now).

Dedtired, I would love to see a photo of your bookcase. I don't think I remember this kind of antiquing.

Bronwynsmom, I went through a period during the 80's where I decoupaged a lot of stuff. I cringe when I think of it now, but I loved it back then.

Why don't we stop and think before we do things that we'll later regret? I can console myself that the cabinet isn't a fine antique, but still I wish I hadn't painted it.

Dreamgoddess, I wouldn't even consider bringing your cabinet down to bare wood. My guess is that you won't be happy.
Original painted kitchen cabinets (yours may be a Sellers-there were quite a few manufacturers) were built out of a "cheaper" wood not designed to be finished naturally.
As kitchens evolved and white or paint was the "in" thing for cleanliness, the manufacturers could produce them less expensively making them available for more consumers. What I see missing from your cabinets are the side brackets that allow the top to slide in and out for more counter space. I pull mine out all the time in my small kitchen. Once you do some research and find out who manufactured your cabinet, you can buy the correct brackets. I know VanDyke's Restorers used to carry several different brackets. I think if you painted it back to the original colors and added the brackets you'd have a real show piece for your lovely kitchen.

jaysmom49, I did wonder about the wood not being good enough to stain since it was originally painted. Thank you for the "Sellers" tip - I'll see what I can find online. I do know there is nothing on the cabinet to indicate who made it. The only thing on the back of the cabinet are the words "green and ivory".

I do have the side brackets that were on the cabinet. When I painted it, I even spray painted the brackets a cream color. They were originally a silver color metal. Wonder how in the world I could get the spray paint off of them? For some unknown reason, I just never put them back on after I finished painting.

I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get the exact shade of green that was on it as I don't have a sample of it - only the photo.

Dreamgodess, paint remover will remove the paint from the hinges.
I was under the impression that you wanted to stain the cabinet.
In either case a sanding of the cabinet (with a block of wood and sandpaper) will smooth out all the old bumps and defects and give you
a nice paint job. good luck.

Thank you for the tip on the paint remover! I'll pick some up before I start on the cabinet.

I did wonder if it would be possible to stain the cabinet instead of painting it. A couple of years ago, I found an oak hoosier cabinet at an antique shop in town and it was gorgeous. When I saw it, I was really wishing mine was oak instead of painted.

Just as soon as work slows down (tax season!), I'm going to get started on it. I may take it down to the bare wood just to see what it looks like.

Dreamgoddess, here's a photo of your cabinet in original colors. Print it out, bring it to the paint shop and they can match it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hoosier cabinet

Dreamgoddess, look on the back and sand or remove with stripper a
a small patch to see if it's oak.
If it is, it would look gorgeous stained. I think of my daughters kitchen,
she has creamy white cabs with black soapstone counters and a cherry topped island...Her table, chairs, and jelly cabinet are all cherry.
My point being the furniture is stained and the contrast with the white
cabs is lovely.

No, because I have never painted anything! However, I have seen PLENTY on CL for sale that I wish people have left alone.

Cliff and Joan, wow, wow, wow to what your DH made!!!!! I can't believe it-- what talent!

Yayagal, thank you! I do believe that is the exact color. I had no idea that the color could be matched from a photo. That's really cool!

Cliff and Joann, I had my husband look at the back, which isn't painted, and he believes it it made from poplar. Your daughter's kitchen sounds beautiful. I love how rich cherry furniture looks.

Is the cabinet maybe just too white for you? What about painting out part of it in the green you liked before? Or even another color, if that suits you better. I have a dresser we picked up for $10 at a yard sale about 45 years ago & it was painted white. My husband finally stripped it, at my request, and stained it, etc. & guess what....it's painted cream again! I tell you this because the wood was not nice enough to look good stained....much better painted.

Good luck with your project!