Maybe a gel stain would work. I'm not too familiar with them, but have heard a lot of good things about how easy they are to use. I plan on using a walnut gel stain to refinish on our living room table sometime soon.

I have had great luck spray painting furniture black and then going over it with light spritzing with brown spray paint giving it a dark brown/ oil rubbed bronze look. Very easy DIY for us lazy furniture finishers. I have done this to accent tables, light fixtures, picture frames,old brass lamps, curtain rods, rocking chair anything can be spray painted!

The prep is usually a good cleaning and maybe a light sanding if it is a wood item. I have also gel stained oak bathroom cabinets but I always paint them first with brown paint then a coat or 2 of the java or mahogany gel stain.

When we where prepping our house to sell I wanted to get rid of all the old brass lights so I just spray painted it all with the above technique and it looked great! I even painted the exterior lighting and it held up nicely.

Picture below: painted and gel stained bath vanity in house we sold.

{{!gwi}}

Thanks lukkiirish, I didn't think of gel stain. I have read much on gel stains on these forums so maybe that is the way to go.

Wow rtwilliams! That vanity looks great. I have spray painted some items in the past but you have done alot! Gotta love the power of the spray paint and how quick it gets the job done. Thanks for the pic!

Apologies to all those who have seen these photos before. I used Minwax Polyshades to darken these counter stools. No stripping, just minimal sanding and then light coats of the color. Very easy.

Original finish and after one coat of Polyshades.

Finished stools.

How can one tire of seeing such a lovely transformation Sis?
I must add that using Polyshades is not something everyone can do well. Multiple light coats, as Sis mentioned, works best.

That is fabulous sis3! I have never seen your pics before so thank you! You may have given me the inspiration to try my chair this weekend. What did you use to apply the Polyshades?

justgotabme, I agree that staining can be tricky. Years ago, I tried to stain a bookcase and it turned out terrible. In the end, I painted it.

I used a reasonably good quality paint brush. I gave the stools a very light sanding, just enough to provide a key for the Polyshades. It is tempting to apply a thicker coat than required for instant gratification but the way to be successful is to apply multiple very light coats. I think my stools had 3 or 4 coats.

Thanks for the compliments justgotabme and kitchenkelly!

You're welcome Sis. And you are right, you'll never get instant gratification with Polyshades if you try to hurry it up and do thicker coats. All that happens is blotches and streaks. One of these days I'm going to try using my sprayer.