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diylady14

Refinish old cherry wood chest

10 years ago

Hubby and I bought a chest knowing we wanted to strip it and refinish it (it was pretty dinged up) with a more unfinished rustic feel. After stripping it we found it was cherry wood (note the picture attached after we stripped and partially sanded the drawer), not good for what I was planning on doing with it!

I REALLLLLY wanted to oxidize the wood to achieve that unfinished rustic look I love. I bought this really great oxidized picture frame that would accent it well in our family room. However, after reading about cherry woods, oxidizing will only make it darker red, which is what I 100% DON'T want to happen.

My question is..what is the best method for keeping the rustic feel for cherry?

I was thinking of getting Briwax (tinted light brown to counter the redness of the cherry..*gasp!* "Why would you want to do that it's CHERRY?!"). I like the matte look of the wax finish and I read that using the brown tints would help tone down the red a bit. Is this the best method though? Wax is a lot of upkeep and maintenance so I figured I would ask people with more experience the best way to achieve that look. To give you an idea of the look I like/wanted...here's a link to what I am talking about...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hfM5grmylBI/T_u0ZRkSpqI/AAAAAAAALhU/CsujDxqI6O0/s1600/oxidizing01.jpg

I know I won't achieve that look, I have already come to terms with that. However I do love the grains on the cherry and want to keep it looking unfinished/matte but it's just so red that I want to tone it down a bit (no judgement please, I didn't know it was cherry when we bought it. I am not a wood expert by any means).

So the question remains..to (tinted) wax or not to wax? Or is there a better way? (father in law suggested semi-gloss but I think that's still too glossy for me) Any suggestions on how to achieve this look would be extremely helpful.

*note* I am no amateur at stripping/sanding so please no advice on how to do that. I am asking what is the best way to achieve the rustic unfinished look (not glossy/shiny in any way shape or form) while still protecting the wood (it will be used as our TV stand so there won't be anything on it but the flat screen so it doesn't need much water protection).

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