The Mantle Stain Project

Our family room has come a LONG way.  See the "before" pictures below.

Since September we have painted the knotty pine wood walls and ripped out the awkward built ins on the right side of the room.

We also took out the glass fireplace guard, reworked the curtains and built a mantle.

The knotty pine walls were primed and painted in Farrow and Ball's Peignoir paint color #286 and we chose the Modern Eggshell.   My husband built a floating mantle out of white pine and we tried our "go to" wood stain solution of vinegar and steel wool to stain the mantle. 

We have used the DIY vinegar solution in the past to "weather" other woods but it was not working this time. After multiple failed attempts, we were tired of the vinegar burning eyes stench, we decided to try a professional stain!

We picked three Weatherwood stain options, at Thomas Mach Interiors workshop, and tested them on our sample wood. The samples dried quickly and went on easily.

We wanted a driftwood look- these are the sample wood pieces at Thomas Mach Interiors Shop  so we went with the stain "Reclamation" By Leatherwood Stains. 

Why a boutique brand stain? Because Weatherwood Stains has wood stain colors you can not find from other brands. Also, the stain penetrates the wood versus other stains that merely apply a top coat color. This one reacts with the tannins in the wood producing a natural aged look based on the wood you are using.

Plus, it's easy- Sand the wood, Wipe the stain on and Wait for it to dry. Voila! 100 years of age in less then 10 minutes! DONE! 

 STEP ONE- SAND

The mantle was removed from the fireplace (since we are also painting the brick) and sanded. Otherwise, we would have left the mantle attached to the fireplace while staining.

STEP TWO: STAIN

The Weatherwood stain was wiped onto the wood

STEP THREE: DRY

Now we wait for it to dry! Like the workshop/ playroom ha ha! We will most likely apply two coats.

HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED:

Stay tuned for the results!