Other posts on this topic: I Have a Card Catalog Cabinet, Refinishing a Card Catalog Pt. 1, Refinishing a Card Catalog Pt. 2.

Seven coats of stain later, and I think this is finally ready to be varnished. I can’t believe how long I’ve been working on this (and how long we’ve been parking in the driveway).

Here’s the cabinet and drawers after coat #4.

This was after coat #5.

And these 2 photos are after coat #7. I didn’t want to get it jet black, just a really dark brownish black to match the rest of the furniture in the dining room.

Now I get to go through the process of coating and waiting 3 more times with the polyurethane. I also need to polish the brass hardware and put the whole thing back together again. Almost there!