weathered oak stain

A LONG while back, I made a farmhouse table for our kitchen and then spent an equally ridiculous amount of time mixing stains trying to find the perfect weathered gray for it.  I finally got the perfect mix and the table has been a beautiful addition to our kitchen ever since; it looks especially fabulous next to our white built-in hutch, but it’s been without chairs this entire time because I couldn’t make a decision on chairs to save my life! Well, right before Christmas, I ended up ordering four Madeleine chairs from Restoration Hardware in their “weathered” finish and when they arrived, I about had a heart attack from excitement when I realized they are pretty much an EXACT MATCH!!!  I posted a picture on Instagram a couple weeks back and got a TON of emails asking me for the combination, so I thought I’d post it here and kill two birds with one stone.

There are surprisingly quite a few stains on the market that claim to yield the same look I was going for, but I found that they were either way too gray (some almost paint-like) or way too light. Right about the time I built my table, Minwax came out with a new color, Weathered Oak.  It’s beautiful, but it’s pretty light, so I added a little Minwax Natural and Minwax Golden Oak to give it a little depth and some warmth.  The result was perfect! 

I absolutely LOVE how the table turned out and I love how the chairs look with it even more!

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kelly-stivers

Hello and welcome to Bungalow Blue Interiors!

I'm Kelly, interior designer, stylist, hostess with the mostest and editor of my blog, where I share pics of my work, my own home, décor projects, entertaining hacks, where to find the best decorating deals and all the beautiful things that are currently inspiring me!

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20 Comments

  1. Kate on February 2, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    Woooooow! So much depth, really lovely!

  2. Erin on February 2, 2015 at 2:43 pm

    Awesome – thank you for this! Your table looks amazing! I'm refinishing our dining table soon and always feel like the weathered stain are too blue. What proportions of each stain did you use?

  3. Kelly Stivers on February 2, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    Thank you so much, Kate! It definitely turned out better than I had hoped!

  4. Kelly Stivers on February 2, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    Thank you, Erin! I would actually suggest doing it in coats instead of trying to mix them together. Three coats Weathered Oak, then one coat natural and one very light coat Golden Oak. You might even need a coat or two more of Weathered Oak, depending on the type of wood. Make sure you leave enough time in between to dry. Good luck and make sure you post pictures! Can't wait to see 🙂

  5. Teri Russell on February 2, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    I love the chairs you picked. Stunning!

  6. Kelly Stivers on February 2, 2015 at 4:54 pm

    Thank you, Teri! You made my morning!

  7. Anne W on February 2, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    Your table and chairs look great! I can't believe you made that table?! I'm new to your blog and will have to search your archives to read about that project! 🙂 We found a great old parsons style farmhouse table years ago on Craigslist. It was raw pine, and while I loved it in its original state, I wanted to seal it to protect it against food stains. Unfortunately, the product I used (can't recall the brand but it was one that claimed not to have the chemicals of a standard retail brand like minwax) did not seal the table well at all, and now my precious table is covered in olive oil stains 🙁 I dream of taking it outside and sanding it down and re-doing it all…any tips? have you been happy with how your stain choices have protected the wood?

  8. Kelly Stivers on February 2, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    Hi Anne! That stinks about your table! The good thing with wood, though, is that if you sand it, re-staining and sealing is a breeze! While polyurethane is the most durable top coat choice, I always have a hard time with brush strokes! I used Wipe-On Poly in a satin finish with my table and used blue auto paper towels (in the paint aisle at Lowe's!) instead of a brush. It took about seven coats, but it was so worth it! Best of luck to you!

  9. Jo Ann DiGiacinto on February 2, 2015 at 8:51 pm

    Kelly, your table came out so great! And, the Restoration Hardware chairs go perfectly. You really inspire me. I'm dying to find the time to work on a project like this. You have my wheels in motion (lol).

  10. Kelly Stivers on February 3, 2015 at 12:52 am

    Thank you so much, Jo Ann! You're always so generous with your kind words!!

  11. Looks fab! on March 27, 2015 at 10:48 pm

    Hi, thanks for the great tip! I absolutely LOVE how your table turned out. I am staining a coffe table my husband built and when I first started to brush it on, it was so sheer but then my brush accidently fell all the way into the can and I felt color residue at the bottom, so I mixed and scraped with the brush and then the color came out so opaque! So then I had to re-stain the rest of my table with that. Just wondering if the coats you used came out a thick gray-blue when you did it. Because mine did. Just trying to find out wether or not I have to do 3 coats still.

  12. Kelly Stivers on March 28, 2015 at 12:44 am

    Hi Silvia! I scraped everything up from the bottom of the can because, like you said, all the color falls to the bottom and if you don't mix, you can barely see a thing! I brushed a generous coat on, let it sit for ten minutes then wiped it back off with the grain of the wood. I found that wiping it back took some of the intensity of the color away, which was why I did another two coats. Hope this helps you! Good luck with your coffee table!

  13. Carolyn on August 10, 2016 at 10:03 pm

    Hi, I was researching stains and saw your blog. I have several pieces of Acacia wood. Since it is expensive I have had several other pieces made from pine. Now I need to match them. I am wondering what type of wood your table was to start?

  14. Kelly Stivers on August 11, 2016 at 1:11 am

    Carolyn-my table is made of white pine, so, the mix above should yield pretty much the same result for you!! Best of luck!

  15. Catherine on April 14, 2018 at 4:22 am

    OK I love the table you did, but I also love that fiddle leaf fig tree. Where did you get it ?! 🙂

  16. Kelly Stivers on June 8, 2018 at 2:27 am

    Thank you, Catherine! I actually found that one at Home Depot for $60 a few years back! Only managed to keep it alive for six months, but it was magnificent while it lasted! xx

  17. Caroline on June 22, 2018 at 2:27 am

    Beautiful! Do you remember what order you applied the stains? Equal parts of each?

    Thank you!

  18. Kelly Stivers on July 5, 2018 at 3:33 am

    Hi, Caroline! I didn't apply them separately, I mixed them together, equal parts of each stain, and then applied. Hope this helps! xx

  19. Blueprint Joinery on July 17, 2019 at 9:21 pm

    Thanks for the inspo. This would look great on my interior stairs!

  20. Kelly Stivers on July 26, 2019 at 3:23 am

    Very welcome, Nathan!

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