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How do I achieve a lighter wood stain colour without the orange tones? I don't want to go too light, just a nice light walnut colour. All the colour charts for pine I feel still have the yellow/orange tones.
Do I need to paint wash first?
First photo is kind of the colour I want to achieve. Second and third photos are my items I want to re stain. I think it is pine wood.
Thank you.
I see and note your prefered color I like your choice there
I will need your opinion on this i found Feast watson " color VICTORIAN ASH
You will need to completly resand those furniture back to bare wood to prepare for a new color sorry for that bad news.
Re color you are correct @Bigdogwelding its harder to find those grayer color stains.
I am not a full on paint guy so hang in there on your stain search I am with you in spirit.
Talk to the paint people hopefully they can help you more directly and more importantly put a can of stain in your hands you like.
Merry xmas
Thank you for your reply
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Bigdogwelding. It's sensational to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about timber staining.
It's great to see you've already received a helpful reply from @Jewelleryrescue.
The raw Pine colour of your timber is much closer to what you'd like to achieve than the current stain on the Pine. So, by sanding back the units, you'll have much better luck matching your inspiration picture. Once the darker stain has been sanded back, you can apply a product similar to what @Jewelleryrescue has suggested. You might also like to check out this helpful step-by-step guide: How to upcycle a chest of drawers.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
Hi, thanks for your reply. I have an updated picture of the colour I want.
Also, it's not pine like I thought it was. It's antique oak.
How do I match this colour? Once sanded back, how will I know whether to paint wash or use water based stain ( I don't want to use oil based) or use a wax? And I really want to avoid red/orange/yellow tones.
Any helpful tips would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Hello @Bigdogwelding,
Thank you for providing that updated photo - helps our members get a better idea of what you're after. It's a busy time on the site and our Bunnings D.I.Y. resident expert @MitchellMc will try his best to respond as soon as possible when he's back online.
In the meantime, let me tag our ever-helpful members in @Renowayoflife, @Jewelleryrescue and @JoeAzza to see if they have any thoughts.
Akanksha
Hi @Bigdogwelding welcome to the community! It sounds like you have had some great advice in this feed.
I’ve lightened a couple of pieces of furniture.
the first step is to sand it right back to the wood and that will give you an idea of the wood colour.
from there you can either go straight to a stain or you can bleach the wood.
I recently upcycled our bathroom vanity and bleached the cabinet before applying the Feast Watson Liming white stain and varnish.
the other piece I lightened were drawers and once sanded I applied the feast Watson liming white stain and varnish.
https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/t5/How-To/How-to-upcycle-a-chest-of-drawers/ba-p/176655
hopefully this is helpful and best of luck
thanks Claire
you have received many great ideas, I had a similar colour chest of drawers, you will have to sand back to bare timber before attempting to the colour you want to achieve, I ended up sanding mine and painted the drawers with a water based paint, the top was painted with clear water based varnish.
Some great responses there, @Bigdogwelding. I'd agree with @Renowayoflife that you first need to sand the furniture and remove the orange-tinted stain. Once you can see the colour of the timber, you'll be much better placed to decide the next steps and what colour stain you'd like to go for. Currently, with the orange stain in place, it's impossible to give great guidance on what stain to choose for your desired result.
If your unit is Oak, you might find it's a similar colour under that stain to your new inspiration image. If that's the case, you might only need a sealing wax.
Mitchell
Thank you for your reply, much appreciated 🙏
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