April 15, 2015

Weatherwood Stained Laundry Room Oak Table


I (virtually) met this wonderful faux painter- Kari Caldwell when she first used Weatherwood's Reclamation color on some cherry cabinets several months ago. Since then, she also used it on this little DIY project and I thought what better way to display this post than to share it with you- my blog friends. I think there are many of us without laundry rooms that lack shelving and room to fold, stack and store. 
Materials


That's exactly what happened here. The home owner wanted a surface that made her space more  functional. So she used Reclamation on oak. Now the funny thing about Weatherwood is that this one stain can do many colors. Of course, the species of wood dictates the color. I was so pleased to see this custom made oak table-top. Of course, this could also be done with an old table or a pre-made table top like Lowe's sells. 


I think the thickness of the wood really grounds both sets of washers and dryers. ;) I know many of us wish we had two of each-- or even just the extra space to have four appliances in our laundry rooms! 


Kari taped off the surface around the wood, since the laundry room is in a finished space. Weatherwood can stain your painted walls if you splatter, so be sure to wipe it up with a wet rag while the stain is wet. If it dries, it will permanently stain your walls.  Here you can see the drastic color difference as Kari worked. What's happening here is the stain is getting inside the tannins of the wood and aging them. This is probably a good time to reiterate that the color of your shelf will be contingent on the type of wood you use. If you want this steel blue, you have to use oak. If you want to get a soft gray, use alder or maple. If you want your furniture to have a rustic look, then use cherry. If you want a wavy gray, use hickory. The stain does not actually have any pigments or dyes in it, color consistency will be uniform throughout the tannins. 


 Look at the wood turn color as it dries. Most hardwoods will be dry within 15 minutes. That's because oak is so super tannin rich- especially freshly cut oak. However, be aware that aged oak tannins will recede over time. If you are working with aged oak, the tannins will turn gray.


Kari used a water based poly to topcoat- just to make sure the wood would be extra protected around the soiled or wet objects/surfaces that occur in laundry rooms. You can see that the top coat makes the wood look wet again. Now the grain is super visible- if you LIKE that look, use a topcoat with sheen, if NOT then use a matte or low sheen topcoat.


If you're wanting to take your painting skills to the next level, then you should follow Kari. She gives amazing tips on how to create hers and other designers looks. I follow her on all her social channels, but my fav is her youtube. I've learned so much about layering paint and painting difficult items- like your kitchen cabinets!