My neighbor has the typical 50s kitchen with birch cabinets and birch ply doors. The original color I think was a kind of blonde. Someone has replaced a door and stained it darker for some unknown reason. She has asked if I can make a new door that would be closer to the rest. Qusetion is how do I get that color of the blonde with 50year old yellowing varnish? Help!
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You are going to have to make some test panels along with your replacement door. First choose a top coat. One of the darker varnishes--Behlen Rockhard, or Waterlox, may be your starting place. See what those alone do to your birch sample. Then think about how the color is wrong--does it need more yellow, or orange, etc.. Choose a dye color or two that, combined with the varnish test move toward the right color direction. Remember you have to do the tests with the dye as dye first and then add the top coat. Trial and error, and a good eye are what is required. Look at a color wheel to help you see what happens when you add two colors together--ie. the dye color and the varnish color. It probably won't take a very concentrated dye mixture to get the aged effect.
Remember that the birch is also going to yellow overtime as will the new varnish, so you might want to aim just slightly on the light side so that in a year the match will be even more exact. .
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