Golden pecan & dark walnut farmhouse table {finishing}

Hello! Happy Monday! I'm spending a few weeks in Colorado with my family, but I've had so many readers ask how I finished the straight-leg farmhouse table and bench I built a while back, that I decided to share it with all of you. 

This was my first time mixing and layering stain, and I was sooooo nervous! Stain is something you can't go back on. With paint you can paint over and fix it, but if I didn't like the stain I would have to strip the whole thing and start again. As in, RE-sand the entire table top. I've already told you how much I despise sanding, right? I really didn't want that to happen on this table. Good news, it didn't! I was so happy with the way this entire set came out.

Want to try it yourself? Here's what I did...

Supplies:

- Golden Pecan stain

- Dark Walnut stain

- Paintbrushes

- Rags 

- Sealant (I used Rustoleum polyurethane in semi-gloss)

My table was built out of 2 x 10s. Just the untreated ones, I think they're Douglas Fir. The process is all about layering. I painted my entire base black before I started staining.

I used a combination of Minwax 'Golden Pecan' and Minwax 'Dark Walnut'.

First flood on the golden pecan stain using your paint brush. Wait about 10 minutes and then wipe it off.

Then go back, and using your brush and dark walnut, stain in the grooves between each board and around the outside. Don't worry if it's not exact, you don't want it to look like you used a ruler! Stain all your ends with the dark walnut now too.

The next part goes pretty fast, so I don't have any pictures of it. Using your golden pecan, stain the middle of each board golden pecan again. Since your dark walnut is still wet, the wet edge of the golden pecan will naturally blend with it.

Wait another 10-15 minutes and then wipe all the stain off, being careful not to smear it together. Wipe with the grain of the wood, using one rag for the golden pecan and one rag for the dark walnut. Blend the line where they meet so it looks natural.

If you want your dark walnut a little darker go over it one more time and let it sit another 10-15 minutes before you wipe it off again. That's it! Not too complicated at all! The key is to make sure you blend the edges when they're wet!

I used the same process on the chairs, painting the base black first, then staining the middle golden pecan, the outside edges dark walnut. 

Once all my stain was dry, I attached my tabletop to my base, my bench top to my base, and my chair seats to their frames. I sealed everything with three coats of this polyurethane in semi-gloss. I love how fast it dries and how smooth it is!

Make sure to check out how I built the table here and bench here.

Thanks for stopping by! For pictures between posts, find me on Facebook or Pinterest. And, if you don't want to DIY, you can buy from me on Etsy!