Ever have a big idea and then realize you actually have no idea what you’re doing? When we were doing our master bath & bedroom renovations, I realized that with the removal of the gun safe, I would actually have room for a nice big piece of furniture by the bed that could serve the multi purpose of being a nightstand/dresser/vanity (and even a desk if I needed it one day). And the perfect piece is sitting in my old room at my parents’ house. A beautiful oak vanity that my grandfather refinished (he refinished furniture as a hobby so I guess it runs in the family!). Except it’s not the color I need – the rest of our furniture is all dark walnut and this piece is a honey color. I figured that I would strip it and re-stain it (and remove that clear nail polish that someone may have spilled on it in their teens…). One little problem – I’ve never stained anything before.
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Figured I should get in some practice before I try to stain a family heirloom! That led to me thinking about what I could stain. I’ve been looking for a utensil caddy for awhile to use at parties, but hadn’t found anything I really loved. I finally saw this one online and then I got my vision. Off to Hobby Lobby, Michael’s and Home Depot I went. I picked up a few wide-mouth mason jars from Hobby Lobby, but they didn’t have the basket/tray I was looking for. I ran by Michael’s and found a cute carrier with wire sides and also a wooden basket that would make a great paper napkin holder for the kitchen island. At Home Depot, I bought some Kona stain, Minwax Poly and a poly brush.
Napkin Holder:
From there, I got started. For the napkin holder, I wanted to try using the stain as an overlay, like this recent post from Bower Power. I did a light sanding and then sprayed with two coats of Rust-oleum white spray paint (I pretty much only buy the Rust-Oleum brand with the spray nozzles after I bought the kind without once and the feeling in my index finger was gone for a month!). I didn’t worry about getting the inside too perfect since napkins will be in it and I wanted it to look a little rustic in the end. After letting it dry a little bit, I swiped some Kona stain on it with some paper towels, and then wiped off with a wet rag. It was a little darker than I thought it’d be, but I love that you can see the wood grain come through. It still needs some poly, but not bad for my first try!
Utensil Caddie:
For this one, I used only the stain. After lightly sanding, I applied with a paper towel and wiped off. I knew this stuff was dark, but I didn’t really realize how dark. And it dries quickly – which was a challenge for a novice like me. I did two coats of stain, and two coats of poly. The hardest part of this one was all the nooks and crannies – I ended up getting some on the wire, but decided that was fine. In addition to using it as a utensil caddy, I plan to use it for low centerpieces and flowers too!
Overall, my first staining experience went fairly well, but not sure I’m ready to try it out on a piece of furniture that’s important to me. I do think I’ll use the dark walnut stain instead of Kona – while I love the look of Kona, there’s not much room for error and I’d rather it be too light and have to apply another coat than too dark and be SOL. I’ve been wanting a new TV stand for the living room as the one that’s in there is too small, so I may be look for a thrifty dresser I can refinish and continue to learn some staining skills!
Any tips out there for novice wood stainers like me?
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[…] but there were too many to fill some of the smaller vases and bowls I had. I finally landed on the stained utensil caddie basket – now it has 3 uses! I placed these on our console table in the living room. As pine cones […]