Bathroom Face Lift - the mess

This is one of the those posts that isn't pretty.  I wanted to show you some of the behind the scenes, not just the pretty finished outcome.  Take a look at my mess.

The "used to be cute" cabinet.

This weekend I took on a huge job, well technically a couple big jobs.  The kids/guest bathroom was in desperate need of a face lift.  We hadn't painted it since we moved in almost 9 years ago.  In the room we have a tall, used to be cute, cabinet that provides much needed storage.  The cabinet had seen better days.  It's a piece of laminate furniture, and with water damage from messy kids, it was pretty dang ugly.

Ugly, peeling, water damaged laminate.

Remembering that we are on one teacher's salary, I knew I needed to be thrifty with this makeover.  So, I decided to paint the cabinet.  I did a lot of research on what products to use.  And I'm really quite happy with the results (I will share my how-to this week).

A lot of sanding and painting this weekend.

I also knew the room had to be painted.  I took a huge risk (well risk for me) and considered painting all the bead board and chair railing the same color as the walls.  I love wainscoting painted white, but I felt it looked a little more country and cottagey for my taste right now.  I think painting everything the same color will give the space a more modern look.  I decided to use the paint left over from Dylan's room (Benjamin Moore - smoke embers).  I had just enough paint, I was definitely scraping every last drip of paint out of the can though.

Had to take out some trim and patch the wall, not so fun with lath and plaster.

Lots of mudding and then lot's of sanding.

Should I do it, paint the wainscoting and chair rail?

Have you ever painted a piece of laminate furniture?  What do you think about me painting all my wainscoting and chair rail grey as well?  Are you attempting any thrifty makeovers?  Please share.