It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted! This last week has filled so quickly with end of school activities, and activities with church! I feel like I’m finally getting back into the groove and it’s already Wednesday! Anyway, I wanted to hop on and do a quick post since I’ve been saying forever that I was going to give you the recipe for the custom stain we’ve been using to make all things look weathered!
I absolutely love the weathered barn wood on our kitchen table! It’s so beautiful and I want that same look all throughout my house! If it’s wood, it must look weathered! So I went on the hunt to find a stain that would somehow give me at least similar coloring to our table. Welp…. it doesn’t exist. I tried several different stains that couldn’t give me the depth and coloring that’s in our table, so coming up with a custom stain was my only option. Luckily for me my father in-law, who I’ve mentioned before has an amazing eye for design, found the perfect combo after a little bit of mixing! Or as my daughter would say: chemistry! Or I think she yells biology, but she really has no idea what either are about!
I just want to point out that most of my home design is accomplished by delegating the hard stuff to my husband and his dad! I come up with the crazy ideas and leave them to figure out how to do it! Now that’s a good way to DIY! Or more like Do It Hubs and Dad! DIHD! Anyways here it is! Our custom weathered barn wood stain!
Custom Weathered Wood Stain
We use a combination of Minwax Golden Oak, Minwax Pickled Oak, and Varathane Briarsmoke.
First we covered the wood with the Golden Oak. I let the stain sit while I added the next color so they would blend well together to make a cohesive color.
Then cover the wood with the Pickled Oak. You could choose to leave the wood this stain and not add the next color. It is a very pretty white washed golden color. I was looking to add a little more grey tones and that’s where the third stain color comes in.
I wiped the first to stains with a clean rag before adding the third stain. I used the Varathane Briarsmoke more to add dimension than an overall color so I painted it on in streaks. I made sure to really cover the knots in the wood because they took a very golden tone from the first two stains. I let this sit for a couple of minutes before wiping it all over with a clean dry rag.
I did have to play a little bit with how long I let the stains sit on the wood before I wiped them off. You will have to play with it as well so that you get the look you are going for. What I love about it is the fact that you get all three colors in different ways. Certain areas of the wood take on more grey and other areas more golden. It is a perfect match to our dining table.
Make sure that you distress your wood before you stain as well. This will help add to the weathered look. I took a wire brush to ours, as well as a hammer. Let me know if you decide to try it!
