Kitchen Edition: Strippin' it

Aaaand .... here we go again: stripping and prepping and priming and painting. Those are the steps you just won't get around when refinishing a window ...or a door ...or baseboards ...or any kind of molding, built-ins and yes, even stairs.

From a distance the kitchen window frame didn't look so bad (no, really, it's just my crappy photography and bad timing in regard to light) but up close you were always sorely reminded of generations of wannabe-painters: thick layering of paint, dried up drops, dings and divots. You name it, our window frame sported it like a zit on a debutante's pert little nose.

There were a few areas were I expected to unveil serious termite damage haphazardly 'fixed' by copious amounts of glompy wood filler (or caulk ...or tissue paper or ...something. If you talk to my neighbors, people in the past were awfully creative when it came to quick and cheap ...ahem, fixes).

Armed with my trusted heat gun and scraper I went to work. You know, I'm tempted to blame the fumes from cooking up that old paint but this time I actually enjoyed stripping off paint.

No kidding.

I mean, how could you not when your scraper slices through thick layers of dirty uneven paint to reveal glossy chocolate-colored pine wood with the most beautiful grain?
It also boost morale that the area was straight so zipping up and down with the heatgun and scraper was like flying down an empty highway with a sexy car.

Those areas I expected to be the remains of a termite's snack bar?
Just a bad paint built-up where people had painted over half-removed pitted layers of more paint.
Seriously ... ugh!

Sure, there are a few dings and divots, scratches and some holes from nails and curtain hardware and God knows what, but overall, the trim is in good enough shape to refinish it with a clean-up, some stain and a dash of poly.

I'm, however, not a dark wood trim kind of gal (and I'm not going down that road of refinishing all trim in the house to its original wood, nuh-uh) and love my trim all crisp and white and clean, but if any owners after us decide to go back to the original, all they'll have to remove on this window is one single layer of paint.

When I was done stripping off all of the old crusty paint, I had to call it a day. Dinner was calling - the dog had been reminding me for the past hour by sticking in his head, watching me scrape and oooh and ahhh over the window, and giving me a quick yip - and it was getting late.

More tomorrow!