Adventures in Matching Stain

So I am assisting a client on a kitchen remodel.  The builders took out about half of the 100 year old woodwork and replaced it with new bare wood, and the juxtaposition was gruesome.  At this point I think most people would just give up and paint.

This is a perfect example of how handymanning is SO much different than regular building, because SO SO SO often you have to MATCH the color or look of something that has been out of stock or style for decades.

So I started my research, and first thing i learned is, the color of a given single can of wood stain VARIES ENORMOUSLY depending on the wood you are staining.   I did not know this of course, so I had to learn the hard way (Oh gosh, didnt we tell you??)

So after numerous not-matching at all failures ( here, they are sitting on a drawer from the original kitchen)

I finally got BOTH a sample of the existing woodwork ( a drawer) AND a piece of the wood the builders used.  wahoo.

So after a few more failures I tried one more stain and VIOLA  I got a nearly perfect match of the original color.

Of course the old woodwork is distressed with nicks and gouges and black smudges all over which is either oxidization or the oil of a thousand hands that once touched it or both . . .  but I can use the darker stain I bought to replicate that effect, so if you look DEAD CENTER on the test below you can see how that one section is a perfect match to the old finish.  Again, wahoo.   (on the right board, top right is the one color that closely matches original original, and bottom right is a previous test that was too brown and too dark.)

So I need to play with it and practice before diving in to the actual kitchen. . . .  and next, I need to test the satin poly I bought for a top coat and see if THAT matches adequately . . . .  And of course to get really nuts I will have to beat it up with nicks and scratches and gouges.

This is such a relief, for a while there nothing was working.  I am so clever I can’t stand myself 😉   — jl