HELP! I think I got scammed from this piece of furniture.... what a nightmare! #restoration #diy

I thought I won the lottery, but it turns out I just got scammed. When I saw these Martin Gershon American and Martinsville nightstands listed for free, I thought I struck gold. I knew the blue paint would be a real pain to get off, but if it's free, it's for me. I got straight to stripping, and wow, was it a satisfying strip, no pun intended. Look how that paint was sliding right off. This actually might not be so bad, but I immediately revoked that thought once I got to the fluted drawers. I stripped, I scraped, I scrubbed. Each drawer took me a week, because not only

were they fluted for a faux bamboo look, but they also had a bajillion decorative wormhole things on the fluting. I used a sharp-tip screwdriver to remove the paint from each putty. I attempted to remove some of the dark stains with several rounds of oxalic acid, but unfortunately I didn't have much success, but I still continued on. I sanded everything down with 120 grit, working my way up to 180. I couldn't believe it, I was finally getting to the end stages of this flip, or so I thought. I applied an oil-based conditioner, and then it was finally time for stain. I went with a walnut gel stain in hopes that it would cover some of the remaining dark marks, and as you can see, that was an

immediate mistake. Now here's where we started, and here's where we are now. So I need your help immediate mistake. Now here's where we started, and here's where we are now. So I need your help on what to do next, because I've already spent two months working on these. I'd like to avoid