schoolhouse are you talking about my bookcases? We have painted blue ones and stained blue ones:

Painted:

If you are talking about me, we aren't done yet :) Closing date is sometime at the end of Jan/early Feb but we probably won't actually move in fully and get furniture until April because I am in Florida for the winter.

If you are not talking about me, disregard!

Yep, I'm talking about you. Cant' wait until April for updates. Thanks!

No problem. I'll post the updates as soon as they are available :)

Hey beagle .. That stained piece is so interesting. Is paint *stain* a watered-down paint? .. or something you actually buy that says *paint stain* on the can? .. probably a dumb question, but I honestly don't know .....

Most vivid stains like Beagles bookcases are aniline dyes, which aren't technically stains. Stains have solid pigments. Dyes do not.

lefleur1, I don't know a ton about this because our wonderful cabinet makers did it for us, but I know that the guy went into the back room and somehow mixed up some kind of stain. We picked from a whole bunch of different color variations that he made for us. I guess he was adding different amounts of pigment or something.

I am pretty sure, but not sure sure, that it is actually a stain and not a dye since the cabinet makers always refer to it as a stain and since he did mix it up while we waited out front, so it's not like he was ordering different dyes (maybe he was mixing dye in, I don't know). If you want me to, I can email the cabinet makers and ask them what they did, just let me know.

I do know that they wet the wood first, applied the stain and then wiped off the excess stain. If that helps anything at all, which it likely does not.

We also have gray stained (dyed?) cabinets and yellow stained cabinets in various other places in the house. More pics here if anyone is interested :)

There's also a significant difference between the paint and the stain as well. With the paint, you cannot see the grains of the wood. With the stain, they really come through, which was what we wanted. So I definitely don't think it is just watered down paint. Although I think some have achieved a similar look with milk paint

A close up:

>>with paint you can't see the grain of the wood.[LOL]
I guess you've never painted oak!?!

I love your blue.
I want to do a gray brown similar to this: Ikea Hemnes gray-brown or a last year's Pottery Barn catalogue that was all, fabulous, grey-brown, antiqued furniture.

I am visiting a shop that specializes in stain next week. Can't wait!
Christine

beaglesdoitbetter,
I just looked at your site with all your progress pictures. What work you're doing!!

I was wondering if the stonework pattern on your back patio has a name? I just love it. I'm collecting those concrete type pavers (at least they look like that on my monitor!) and blue slate for my back patio. I've been looking for a pattern that speaks to me and now... I've found it!!

Thanks

CEFreeman It appears to be "Dublin Pattern A" but I'm not sure what the heck that means. I took a picture of the sheet they gave us when we selected patterns, I am not sure if this will help you at all? If you want me to email you the original pic so you can zoom in more, just let me know.

Beagle, is there a picture of your patio? I too am doing a stone patio next summer and cannot settle on a pattern.