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Help me pick a stain for my bedroom furniture

12 years ago

I posted a week or so ago about buying some bedroom pieces from the 50's with a MCM/Regency vibe. I decided to have the pieces refinished because I wasn't feeling the blonde 50's color.

The pieces are very well made mahogany with beautiful heavy chinoiserie pulls. The refinisher told me to start thinking about what color I would like to have it refished in, and to bring in any pictures or samples (drawers of something I want to match, for example). This will probably be in a few days, so I don't have that much time to decide.

Here are the pieces as they currently are:

Vanity with bench:

Dresser:

To stay in the MCM vibe, I was thinking of a teak-y sort of medium brown with just a touch of gold and red for richness. I hate really orange or red wood, and I really like something like maybe a light walnut.

Here is an example of a piece from the same line that has been done in a dark finish from 1st dibs. I like it and it really makes the hardware pop, but it's too dark for me:

I really like the color of this piece from Michael Taylor's Far East collection for Baker from the 60's. Maybe it's a tad too orange-y? BTW, I would kill to have this piece!:

Any recommendations for colors you think would look good? These will probably be the only 2 pieces of wood furniture in the room as the bed is upholstered. I tend to like cool colors, lots of blues, grays and greens.

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Comments (8)

yayagal
12 years ago
I'd prefer the dark, it's timeless.
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homeagain
12 years ago
Mitchell gold shows a collection of stain choices on their site that are in the medium to dark tone and not orangey.

Here is a link that might be useful: stain finishes
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User
12 years ago
Wow what awesome pieces Jockewing! I'm drooling all over my keyboard.
Since you don't want a dark walnut, which would have been my first choice, I see your floors are already dark, I'd have to agree with you on a light walnut.
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suero
12 years ago
I'd pick a color that looks like the piece has aged over time. A grayed reddish-yellow, like the second picture, only grayer in tone.
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palimpsest
12 years ago
I think it depends upon what the mahogany looks like with the current semi-opaque finish removed. My stairs are mahogany and once we stripped them we decided that no stain was needed, just a protective finish. They are a medium tone slightly less orange than the Michael Taylor piece with no stain at all.

If not, I would go no darker than light walnut or special walnut. The 1st dibs piece looks nice, but to me it looks like newer furniture with vintage hardware on it in that finish--to me it has lost something.

I tend to be a purist of sorts though, and I think this piece, much like Heywood Wakefield, puts its best foot forward in the original finishes, even if refinished to duplicate the original.
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jockewing
Original Author
12 years ago
Pal,

The furniture man has stripped one of the drawers already and it is a very light wood almost devoid of color. The mahogany was probably bleached. He said it's like a blank canvas and we can go with just about any color. What is the difference between light walnut and special walnut?

Normally I would agree with you on preserving the original finish, but the blonde look is so specific and limiting in terms of decorating schemes. Also, you really don't get to see the beauty of the wood because of the opacity of the original finish.
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palimpsest
12 years ago
I think Special Walnut is pretty light so I was saying light as a generic term.
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roarah
12 years ago
I have all most all dark stained furniture but for some reason I do not like the first dibs piece as much as I like the blonde finish or the Michael taylor piece. If you do not like the blonde I say go maybe for a natural finish or the teak like stain. The pieces are lovely, nice score!!!
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