Take a walk down this Bologna restaurant alley with us!! It’s packed with tourists, fresh food, people eating, & rad details. I’m crazy obsessed with these colorful buildings- they’re all shades of red, orange and yellow. It’s looks so warm and inviting. Bologna was such a wonderful surprise. We did an overnight here and toured the famous spots!
Materials
- Alder Door- like this one from Home Depot, but there's many more styles
- Denatured Alcohol
- Weatherwood's Reclamation Stain
- Sponge Brush or Spray Gun
- Weatherwood's White Maintenance Oil Topcoat
- Rags
Directions
1.] SAND (SORT OF): Normally, I'd say you should sand wood and with 80 grit sandpaper, but for projects that have intricate carving you'll want to use something else. You can purchase denatured alcohol, it's inexpensive and faster than sanding. Apply it like you would stain, with a spray gun or paint brush. Make sure to the wood the day before you plan to stain, so it can completely dry.
2.] STAIN: If you want a pure driftwood gray, you should use Reclamation. If you want a brown with brown in it, use Salvage. Using a wide brush, roller, or sponge brush, apply heavy coat of stain. Like in the above video, the wood will absorb the stain as it dries. The color will change from raw wood to stained.
Once you're wood is dry, which takes about 30 minutes, you're ready to move to the next step. You will see the before and after transformation of raw alder to Reclamation stained below.
Then you want to decide if you like the color as is, in which case just seal it with Weatherwood Varnish.
If you want to lighten it, you'll want to use Weatherwood's WHITE Maintenance Oil Topcoat, RIGHT. However, if you want to darken it, and enhance the warmth of the wood tone, then use Weatherwood's CLEAR Maintenance Oil Topcoat (LEFT).
If you want to lighten it, White Maintenance Oil Topcoat. This will lock in that light driftwood look and protect the wood.
3.] LIGHTEN / DARKEN: We decided to lighten the wood, so we used wipe on application, brushing is faster but a rag will make the product go further. It's a brush or rag it on.
Allow the oil to penetrate for 5-10 minutes. The longer it sits, the whiter the effect. The use a clean rag to wipe off. If it gets too pale, just buff the finish back down. The White Maintenance Oil will provide light to medium wood protection.
4.] SEAL: Depending on your project! If you need heavy duty wood protection, you will want to use Weatherwood Varnish over the cured oils. If it's a cabinet or something, that will need the varnish!
If you're really loving this color and you'd like another project idea, check out this:
1-2-3 that was so easy! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out!
Lots of love!
