DIY STAINING TUTORIAL

Embrace the wood grain and stain instead of painting your dresser! Especially with vintage pieces, there is so much history that can be preserved through a simple stain. Joe and I have always loved being able to see the grain and imperfections of a piece. If you're going for the same look, watch our step-by-step video and read along below! 

Some Items You'll Need:

- Stained wood desk

- Clean Slate - Click HERE to shop

- Stain - Click HERE to shop

- Satin Finish Wax - Click HERE to shop our Mind Your Own Beeswax 

- Natural Bristle Brush - Click HERE to shop

Step One: Find The Perfect Unfinished Piece

This seems obvious, but find the perfect piece that you want to re-stain. I love restaining pieces that have a really unique wood grain. The stain really makes the grain pop, which will then be the focal point of your dresser. 

Step Two: Clean Your Piece

You'll want to make sure to clean all the grease and grime off the piece in order to make sure the stain sticks to the original wood. We used Amy Howard's furniture cleaner, Clean Slate (click HERE to shop). 

Step Three: Start Your Stain

Next up, start your stain! For this video, I used Amy Howard's Auburn Mahogany Gel Stain. Click HERE to shop! To start the staining, I have a few products I would recommend rounding up before you start. Grab two paint brushes and a rag to use as a negative tool to feather the stain out. I usually apply pretty liberally and come back to any problem areas that may need some extra love. Once you cover an area with stain, go back and use the other dry brush to even out the brush strokes. It's important to try to imitate the wood grain for a more seamless finish. 

Step Four: Focus On Problem Areas

Once you're pretty much done with the staining, go back to your problem areas and apply the stain heavily. Let it sit for a second or two, and then feather the excess off from the top. 

Step Five: Add Your Finish 

Lastly, you'll want to add something to the top to seal the stain in and any water, grease, and/or grime out.  I applied a matte finish from Amy Howard's paint line called Mind Your Own Beeswax. Click HERE to shop! I applied with a clean rag and feathered the wax out throughout the piece. You definitely want to apply enough to cover the entire area of the piece, but doing a thin layer is fine!

I hope this helped inspired you to do your next DIY project! I would love to see how your finished stained piece turned out! Tag us on Instagram and Facebook @MegMade and use our hashtag #findthegold to show us how you found the gold in an old vintage piece that you made look brand new. Of course, if DIYing is not your style, but you love the look or idea of taking an old piece and making it brand new, we have a ton in stock that we can do for you. Check out our unfinished inventory of desks HERE or click HERE for our inventory of dressers!