I'm still trying to decide whether to stain and varnish the exterior sides of the cases. Except for the left side of the leftmost case, the exterior sides will either be butted up against the wall or against each other, with the face frame covering the joints between, so they will be impossible to see. OTOH, it doesn't take that long to do, and it'll bother me knowing they're unvarnished.
Went for a long walk afterwards. It was very foggy, so the long dark road I walk along was especially dark and creepy. I almost felt like I ought to be carrying a nice sharp stake. When I got back, BitTorrent had finished delivering the latest Buffy, so I watched it, then read a bit more of The Silmarillion and went to sleep.