All Mixed Up
Monday, April 8, 2013 at 11:33AM
I never would've dreamed that picking a floor stain could be such a complicated process. I mean, sheesh! My vision for our floors was something rich, but neutral… deep, but not too dark, with a variation of high/lowlights to enhance the grain of our oak floors. To my dismay, not a single one of the testers I tried delivered exactly what I was looking for. Serious issues, I know.
Luckily, I recently stumbled across an article about mixing stains to create custom pigment cocktails. It sounded super risky yet fascinating at the same time, so I decided to put my money on a formula which consists of 50% Jacobean and 50% Ebony (both by Minwax).
Although these two stains didn't work for me on their own, their combined forces completely knocked it out of the ballpark!
The mix of hues intensified an array of tones in the red oak.
*Something to keep in mind – Make sure you use an orbital sander when sanding down parquet flooring (We have parquet in our living/dining room, and strip planking throughout the rest of the apartment). A regular drum sander works well on on straight beams, but its linear sanding belt could gouge cross-grain scratches and potentially rip out the intricate multi-directional wood panels.
The hybrid pigments also brought out the deeper walnut trim that borders each room.
We topped off the gorgeous new color with three clear coats of water-based polyurethane. (Oil-based poly tends to give off a yellowish tinge.) I went with a semi-gloss finish that shines without looking glossy, and does a beautiful job at sealing and preserving the natural texture of the floorboards.
I am sooo happy with this beautiful transformation. The new color wonderfully compliments and unifies all the different rooms in our home, and it also sets a lovely backdrop for Chris' new obsession: Rugs. More on that later!
Reader Comments (5)
HAHAHHAHAHHA i can't look at that animated gif!! "that's me when i can't decide on floor colorings" boo hooo LOLL.
On topic though - the floors turned out great! and better with a wonki on it. =)
I love it!!! Love love love it! It came out so beautiful!
LOL! the gif! THE GIF!!! LOLLLLL. that's me errrrrday for no reason. loveee the update. loveeee wonka!
Oh my god those floors are amazing!! And that rug is downright unbelievable! LOVE!!!!
It's a big accomplishment! We will need your ideas when we do our floor. I am so proud of you, Jenn.