I’ve read several posts but couldn’t find clear advice as to how I might best stain my pine door and window to attempt to match the color of my oak kitchen cabinets (Medallion, Oak Park finish).
The rest of the house is trimmed out in oak, but I figured I should trim this door and window in pine for a uniform finish. This gives me great pain (should have sprung for an oak door?) but I’m very worried about the contrast between the pine door/window and trim in oak. If it can be done, I’d appreciate the encouragement and advice on how to do it. The “contrast” between pine and and oak on the window isn’t as big a concern, since there isn’t as large an expanse of pine (Kolbe & Kolbe double hung, with no muntins)
I’m a complete newbie to staining, and am finding the information overwhelming, and in some cases conflicting.
it sounds like I should avoid water based stains.
I’m also reading that I might want to do a dye of the wood before applying the stain (one post indicated a orange dye would bring out the grain of the wood, and photos confirmed that it looked gorgeous).
Any pointers or redirects are appreciated…
Replies
I'm not sure I understand exactly what's going on here. My assumption is: oak trim throughout the house, oak kitchen cabinets, but a pine door and casings in the kitchen. Is that right?
Save switching out the pine for oak, there is not perfect solution. The best you can hope for is a reasonable color match between the oak and pine.
A combination of shellac sealer and glazing stains can almost always bring you to an exact match -- but the process requires a lot of futzing, special materials, time, and a certain amount of experience helps a lot. You also need a good eye for color, so you can figure out which glaze to use to move the color in the direction you need.
I would suggest a much simpler solution -- a gelled stain, such as Woodkote. Take one of the oak cabinet doors to the best paint store in your area, and get them to do a stain match. The gelled stain will obscure the grain of the pine, and you'll not have a problem with blotchiness.
Given your admitted inexperience with stain, I think this might well be the best solution.
Another option, though probably not for a beginner, is spray toner. The problem with this is it takes a good amount of practice, and one color of toner will not do it. I do refinishing and repair work for a furniture chain, and I would say I have no less than 60 different shades. A mixture of two or three different ones would probably do it, and you could achieve that same color with several different combinations.
All that said, color is one thing, the grain is entirely different. Grain can be applied with a graining pencil or Blendal, but to do the entire door is not practical.
I know this wasn't much help for your specific problem, just a couple more things to consider.
At the risk of raining one someones parade...Paint the door to match the kitchen..Less brain damage that will haunt you every time you look at it for the next 25 years...
Without a decent color sample of the finish color that's on your oak cabinets, it's impossible to suggest a finish that will match well. But there are some general guidlelines for coloring pine.
Pine blotches badly with penetrating stains and many dyes. Stain conditioners and stain controllers can work adequately if used properly, but the color of the stain will be a number of shades lighter than the color represented on the can. Good quality gel stains, like Bartley or WoodKote are less prones to blotching but not perfect.
Paul
Thanks all for the advice. I already purchased some wood conditioner and stain which I originally thought was a pretty good match (I had a piece of oak filler from the cabinet project with me to do the matching).
BUT, I have no problem putting in on the shelf for a less visible project. I plan to look into the quality gel stain advice, and will probably take the cabinet filler piece into a good paint store (no idea where yet, in Chicago, just know it probably won't be home depot, my first mistake)
I'm not averse to trying out the more complicated sounding dyes and shellacs, but I wouldn't honestly know the first place to get started for this, and I think you all have convinced me not to try too much first time out. Too bad my first project is so darn visible. I'll do some practice on a scrap piece of pine to get the hang of it.
Should I use a wood conditioner (like the one I already bought) before using the gelled stain?
everyone recommended Woodkote stain, so I'll try and find it, and a helpful salesperson.
Thanks again for the helpful advice!
Comments on your questions:
Not necessary to use the stain conditioner with a gelled stain, which itself will prevent blotchiness -- because it justs lays on the surface, and does not soak into the wood in the same way a penetrating oil stain will.
Woodkote. Good quality brand, but not the only one --- Bartleys is another.
Paint store. Important to stay away from home center paint departments. I would guess Chicago would have at least half a dozen really first rate paint stores that cater to paint/finish pros and decorators. All of the employees in such a store will know how to mix stuff up, but more often than not, there is one "whiz" that is really great at matching colors. I have walked in a store and looked for the youngest sales person, and then asked who's the resident genius when it comes to color matching. Usuually, it's some old guy who has been doing it for 40 years.
Once you find a store, use whatever brand (gelled stain) that store sells.
Good luck.
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