Lord help me.

I'll try to keep this as short as possible.

I'm trying to strip the white paint off this built in cabinet in my dining room. I started in a more "hidden" cubby, before I got to the very visible areas.

So far I've: 1) used EZ Strip (similar to citrustrip here in Canada) 2) realized the heat gun was taking the majority the paint off just as easy. 3) switched to the heat gun for the initial strip and then the citrustrip afterwards 4) went against all advice and tried to lightly sand with the orbital sander, and sanded through the veneer in some spots 5) used some teak oil on the bottom of the cubby just to see if I would even get the look I want before I spent the next 6 months on this project.

So now my questions are -

1) what is the correct way to do this 2) how do I get the paint out of the grain and little crevasses 3) how do I deal with the uneven blotchy wood 5) what is my finishing steps once all the paint is gone. Wood conditioner? Stain? Teak oil? Poly?

Pictures 1&2 - the full cabinet Picture 3 - starting Picture 4 - majority of paint gone Picture 5 - sanded through the veneer on what appears to be different? veneer than the rest of the cabinet? Picture 6 - blotchiness after cleaning up Picture 7 - after applying teak oil Picture 8 - the look I'm trying to achieve once finished.

Help.