V found 3 sets of french doors on segundamano.es with stained glass inserts for the openings to the bedrooms and between the living room and the kitchen. There are 2 matching sets and one that is slightly less fancy.
Unfortunately, they´ve been painted several times and have had some mysterious plaster substance dripped on them so they have to be stripped and refinished. We are now in posession of a heat gun, some paint stripper and lots and lots of scrapers and putty knives.
Difficult to know where the line is between sanded enough and retaining ¨character¨.
Patience is a virtue.
Beautiful - what a find...
ReplyDeleteThey are gorgeous, I love stained glass, well done for finding them.
ReplyDeleteWe hope they will be gorgeous. The paint is pretty stubborn. We figure that three icky plastic new doors would have cost about the same or more - so we´re pleased. :)
ReplyDeleteIs there anywhere that could strip them for you? This is normally done by placing the object in a caustic bath, I had a pine dresser and wardrobe done this way years ago, one the item is striped it's an easy job to wax with natural bees wax, it brings out all the colours and feeds the wood.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I´ve read, a caustic bath can weaken the joinery and would be complicated by having to remove the windows. We were also worried about the additional expense, and the transportation. So we´ve opted to do it ourselves. No rest for the wicked. :)
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