Project Progress: Kitchen Update Week 2

This was supposed to be a simple task.

I was just going to update the hardware on my cabinets. Easy, right? Just take off the old ugly ones and pop in the new, shinny, updated ones. Easy-peasy, right?

Hahahahaha. Ha. Ha.

Let me laugh some more. Hahahahaha.

I was so young and naive back then. Because, when I took off the old hardware, I got this:

Oops.

Oops X 23.

See the grooves made by the old hardware? The build up of gook? The now uneven finish?

I want new hardware. I must have new hardware. So, that means this:

To all 11 of my drawers and 12 of my cupboard doors. I'm staining them dark, but I couldn't resist putting on the new knob to see how it looked.

Luckily, it looks like I can match the stain. So, I won't have to redo the insets on my doors. And the drawers are nice and flat, so they are pretty easy. And even if they are in decent shape, they are going to look a lot better and fresh with new stain. The drawers especially are looking pretty beat up.

To recap, before:

After:

Two drawers down, only an insane amount left. At least I have an orbital sander, so I'm not doing it all by hand. Do you think there's any beauty-enhancing value in a sawdust facial?