Stain is a Pain - I'd Rather Paint!

After my staining disaster, I've decided that painting is more my forte. Deciding that the staining project simply was not going to happen, I went back to Menard's and did what I should have done from the beginning - asked for help. After explaining to the employee my problem (the oil-based stain not soaking into the laminate wood siding), he agreed that no matter how many coats of stain I put on it would still be streaky.

So he suggested finding a paint that mimicked the look of the dark stain that I was going for. So I started my hunt. It's surprising how many medium to light colors there are available and how few dark colors. Apparently, America, we are not as daring as we believe. Finally, I settled on Pittsburg Paints' Grand Distinction in Dark Granite (we chose a semi-gloss finish because it's reccommended for bathrooms; we also only bought a quart of paint and it was more than enough). I also picked up some more foam roller brushes because they're SO perfect for streak-free painting. Below are pictures of how the bathroom cabinet doors before (in their sorry-stained-state) and after the first coat of paint.

Much better! In my opinion anyways. I waited about 30 minutes between coats so I started on the cabinet structure itself. It was still taped off from my staining disaster so all I had to do was hold my breath and hope it worked. And WAH-LA! Below you can see a picture after one coat on the laminate siding. SO MUCH BETTER.

Overall, I applied 2 coats since this paint had good coverage and I didn't want it any darker. You can't really tell in the pictures, but in person you can still see the wood grain making the color even seem like stain instead of paint! So here is my finished product:

I'm so proud! I wish I would have thought about painting it sooner, but you live and you learn (especially when you're me - meaning that I'm overly-ambitious at times). I also would like to mention this was a completely Mike-free project (except of course for the hanging the doors - I'm not suppose to use power tools......) which is quite amazing (if I do say so myself)! Eventually we'll add on handles (the same as our kitchen since they're free and we love free) - so I'll post a picture when that happens!

UPDATE: Here's the official Before & After pictures!
ANOTHER UPDATE: Here's another "After" with our new sink!