Usually I have a nice before and after to share, but that’s not the case today – I’ve got to show the bad too. I bought two mid century nightstands with awesome lines a few weeks ago and the plan was to stain the frame of them and the handles, but paint the drawers for contrast. Whoever refinished them before did not do a great job. The finish was different on each plane, and the two nightstands didn’t even match that well. It think it was some sort of gel stain or a stain with the poly built in, but it hid the wood grain more than showing it off. And whatever sealer was used was drippy and someone needed glasses, because they missed some spots. Pictures don’t show the real condition of these before.
I really wanted to do these justice, so I took on the job of sanding both nightstands down to raw wood in order to stain them and I am so thankful these were solid wood and didn’t have a veneer. 4 hours later, (don’t worry, I spaced this out over a few days) they were as good as I could get them with using an electric sander and sanding by hand. I ran home during my break between classes yesterday to give them each a coat of stain and I was excited that Spring showed up and it was almost 60 degrees.
Well, I really don’t know what happened, but when I stained them, they turned into these rustic looking pieces with the most uneven finish I have ever seen. I expected the top of one of them to look a bit odd because of the funky grain the wood has, but even the areas that were totally bare and looking mighty good have weird patterns and spots that showed up when I stained. Some areas soaked in the stain a lot more than others. So, not I am left with the dilemma of what to do. I still don’t want to paint them because they would be so pretty in a dark walnut stain if only the wood took the stain well. I’ve stained other mid century pieces, tops of dresser and drawer fronts without any problems, but this time these babies threw me for a loop.
I guess I am going to have some rustic, mid century nightstands when I’m finish only because I really don’t want to paint them. Normally I can run with these problems when I run into them. Weathered, rustic wood is awesome, I just always prefer nicely stained walnut on mid century pieces. They’re too nice to chuck to the curb (and I’ve put too much time into them), but I am tempted. Any advise or idea? I’d love to hear!
I think I'd have to give in and break out some paint!
I'm no expert, but your pictures don't look horrible at all. But I live in a house full of rustic wood, barnboards, etc. so I'm used to a little variability in wood colors, stains, etc.
I wouldn't mind the look on a different style piece as much, but even so, there are marks going the opposite direction of the wood grain (and I didn't even apply the stain that way) and it just doesn't look right. But I hear you, variation in wood is awesome and rustic wood is too 🙂
I don't know, I am avoiding that as much as I can! I like paint, but I think accenting Mid Century pieces with it is enough. It might come to that though 😉
Did you apply Minwax PreStain conditioner first? I find that it really helps to give the stain an even coat. It only takes a sec to apply and is water based so you can wash your brush after in the sink. Wait five minutes and wipe it with a soft cloth then wait at least a half hour and stain. See if it helps. I hate when I work my tail off on a piece and that happens. Very frustrating. Lovely little tables, though. Great lines!
They look like maple and I've been told that maple can be a nightmare because of the exact thing that's happened to you. My kitchen cabinets are maple and they are beautiful. A conditioner or sand sealer was used prior to staining. Apparently it allows the stain to penetrate evenly. Your nightstands are awesome pieces.
Thanks for showing that things don't go smoothly all the time, even for the most talented refinishers :). I agree about the pre-stain conditioner. I've used this before and it seems to help. It's worth a try. I'm sure they will look great, no matter what you decide to do with them.
I was going to suggest a Pre-Stain as well. It really does make a difference. I'm sorry that things did not work out the way you had hoped. Thank you so much for sharing your frustrations. We all have pieces that don't turn out the way we would like them to, but it has nothing to do with your ability. There have been several times when I have been really close to just throwing a piece on the burn pile and calling it quits. In fact I think I did that for at least one piece. You will figure this out and it will look great and you'll have learned something in the process.
I agree with the Conditioner! Give it a try. Or else you could use a stain poly mix to go over the top of it. Do not use Minwax Polyshades! But you'll get great results with General Finishes Gel Stain or Ace Stain and Finish.
This is where I cry for you – I feel your pain! All that work…and then this!
Like the others, I've heard of the pre stain conditioner. I've never used it on furniture (yet) but we recently used it on some oak stair treads we installed and stained and it seemed to help…especially compared to the oak floor we refinished in the rest of the house without using a pre stain conditioner.
But for you, in this case, I think this would mean sanding down AGAIN (?) to use the conditioner and then staining. Then….cross your fingers and hope it works. Sigh. Before giving in to that, I would probably go over with a couple of coats of darker walnut stain to see if it's more forgiving than the color you used. I recently applied Varathane's "Dark Walnut" on the top of that mid-century buffet I redid. With two coats …. it was quite beautiful. Good luck, Reeves. Can't wait to see the result.
Hi Reeves,
I've sanded many mid century pieces and stained them to a beautiful finish. But, I experienced the same problem with a credenza… all of the problems you described happened to me with this particular piece. I resolved to salvage it by painting it. It was a bummer … especially after having spent hours sanding! I'm sure they will be fantastic when you're done although maybe not look like you originally planned.
Don't sand these pieces unless absolutely necessary…and then ONLY after you have used chemical strippers. I am very partial to Formby's. The MC pieces are varnished and Formby's literally melts the old varnish off without harming the wood. Use a toothbrush in the nooks and crannies. Then ONLY use varnish on them…again I am partial to the tung oil finishes. Just wipe it on, rub it in and apply 3-4 coats…steel wool and tack between coats. You will NEVER go wrong if you use this process on pieces with varnish finish! It looks like you may have sanded "across" the grain in some places…use the chemical stripper (varnish remover) and then LIGHTLY sand WITH the grain to see if you can remove the "sanding marks." Also, most pieces have a multi-layer finish…or the finish was sprayed on with the finish and stain…in order to give the woods a "uniform" look…once you strip a piece, you are going to see ALL the wood grain at it's finest. If you have any questions, check out my site or email me! beckwithstreasures.com
I have had the same experience as Beck with mid-century finishes…just didn't know it when I started! I sanded and sanded and sanded some more. Then I finished up with the Formby's…and then sanded lightly one last time. I did find (and people look at me like an alien when I say this), but I used a damp cloth to 'pop' the grain right before staining. It helped the wood take in the stain very nicely.
Your piece looks as though they used several different kind of woods. I wonder if that's why you got so many variations? Good luck. You do gorgeous work. It WILL be worth it!
I would second…or third the suggestion to sand again and then use pre-stain wood conditioner. While it may not make them look perfect, my experience is that it really helps to even out the stain. If that doesn't work, I'd try staining with a darker stain and finally, if all else fails, I would tape a design in the part of the top that stained well and paint the rest – removing the tape after to get that great dual tone effect…in fact, I might go ahead and do that first and forget about restaining. I love that look!
I would use the Formby's, then the conditioner before staining. Just don't wait long between conditioning and staining, or it won't help.
Hey, sweet lady!! Did you get my instagram messages? I'm so sorry that this happened. It is so frustrating to encounter problems when making over furniture. I have a piece that will have to be redone for the third time, because it didn't quite work out how I had planned. In the end, the effort will be worth it. I believe you will have to strip these pieces, then redo the sanding, then apply two to three coats of water based wood conditioner (if you want to use a water based stain again) using a blue shop towel and then wait 10 minutes to wipe off the excess with a clean shop towel. You will need to apply the stain within 10-15 minutes of wiping off the excess conditioner. Send me an email if you want to chat, and I will send you my phone number. Chin up Butter Cup!!!! You got this!
What about a compromise? Like a milk paint wash, so you could still see some of the grain?
What do the drawers look like?
I love the look of MCM painted white with the drawers left natural.
I also like the idea of a milk paint wash.
I agree with the others who say use a conditioner first. These are darling pieces. I also like the mixing of Paint and Wood. I did it here http://www.nicerthannew.com/2013/12/mcm_side/ I had to paint the drawers because I repaired a piece of missing veneer with wood filler. Don't do any distressing… not on MCM. I would rather see a funky colour like bright yellow or orange. More in keeping with the style. Good luck. I look forward to seeing the result!
i love the shape of these, regardless of whatever color you paint/stain them!
They would look neat painted black or another very dark color
Hey girl. Nice nightstands. But I second what one person replied, you can't sand off old finishes. You must use a stripper to get down into the grain. There is a great forum with awesome tips and advice from a bunch of old woodworker guys,,,http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/ Everything you need to know about wood.
So if you are going to stain wood, you are supposed to use a stripper. (I like Soy Gel. cleans up with water, all natural, and works like a charm!) Also, maple is notorious for being blotchy. It's tricky to get an even stain, especially when going darker. And ditto on the wood conditioner. Although I just did a maple top and went by the numbers and it still came out blotchy. Thank god for paint! Maybe you can paint the body a nice color and keep the drawer fronts wood??