staining a pine bookcase as dark as possible

ali-t

I bought an untreated pine bookcase the other day and built it and varnished it last night. I used rosewood colour varnish which was the darkest in B&Q but it just looks dirty rather than dark and I don't think it will ever go to the colour I want.

I want it to be a similar colour to the dark mangowood furniture I have in the room but the woodstains didn't go very dark and I have used the darkest varnish in stock - any ideas?

This was my attempt at moneysaving, buying a £25 bookcase and a £5 tin of varnish rather than buying the £200 bookcase that matches my furniture. Foiled again in my attempts to be moneysaving

keystone

Go for Sikkens Cetol TS Interior Woodstain they have a large range of colours and you should find something to get close.

The BUT is that you won't get this stuff in the sheds. You'll have to go to a specialist decorators merchant and if you are lucky they'll have the colour mixing kit on site. The colour cards are no longer available so you'll have to go to the merchant to see what they can provide. If you are anywhere near Epsom "Trade Paints" on the Kiln Lane Industrial Estate have a machine.

The second BUT is that the stain will prolly cost you more than the bookcase if you are sticking a basecoat on as well as the topcoat.

The third BUT is that your B&Q varnish will have to come off so get stripping or buy another £25 bookcase!

HTH

Cheers

ali-t

Oh Keystone, that was so not the answer I was looking for. I was hoping there was a simple effortless solution. I think I may end up getting the original £200 bookcase at this rate as I hate an unmatching look but don't have the skills (or inclination) to put the effort in to get the perfect finish. Grrrr. Thanks for the advice though, you have saved me putting endless coats of varnish on when it is never going to look anything other than dirty pine

jonnysparks

out of intrest what brand of woodstain did you use
did you use exterior or interior
how many coats did you give it

carefullycautious

Oh no dont discard your bookcase. If this was mine I would paint it to match existing colour in room/or to blend in with wall colour. You can get some wonderful colours.

Red_Cat

When I want to colour new pine furniture, I use Colron wood DYE. With that you can really control the colour depth, by the amount you use and/or wipe off immediately after application. They do a wide choice of colours (12):
http://www.colron.co.uk/colours.asp?prodid=79

I let this soak right in for a day or two and then finish off with varnish to seal, satin or gloss.

If it's flat pack, I will do this before i even think about putting it together (check all parts are there first). This way there are no bits which remain uncovered.

ali-t

jonnysparks wrote: »

out of intrest what brand of woodstain did you use
did you use exterior or interior
how many coats did you give it

It was coloured varnish and b&q's own brand for interior use and has had 2 coats. It still just looks like dirty pine.

ormus

i dont like the colored varnishes at all. i prefer to use wood stain and then a final clear varnish (if required).
that way i can control the color much better. ie more coats as required.

AGBAGB

I'll second what other have said. Use wood dye, Colron, wickes, etc. not keen on the wilcos stuff though.

I've done my pine stair case recently pics and method here

Unfortunately, now you've already varnished it the wood dye won't work. You would have to strip it all off and sand it down.

gabyjane

ali-t i am no use other than to say i am exactly the same as you and always try and do the right/cheaoer thing and regret it! we have lovely untreated drawers in our bedroom and a chocolate leather bed..decided i would stain them to match the bed instead of buying the expensive ones but have decided now not to as know i will ruin them! will sell as they are nice and save for the others!
Good luck with yours

jcb208

like others have said should of used wood dye first,you cant use that now as you have sealed the wood so unless you want to strip it all off just apply more coats of varnish stain,this will stil lnot look as good as if you dyed the wood first