I had these very orange saddle seat bar stools that didn’t match anything in the house.
I decided to give them a quick facelift. I wanted to test out the Minwax Polyshades in Classic Black Satin to see if that’s what I want to use to re-do our stair railing. It was a great chance to kill two birds with one stone.
This is what the stools looked like after one coat. I actually kind of liked this look but decided to keep going.
The stool on the left has one coat, the stools on the right have two.
After they dried completely I was left with pretty bland looking black stools that I didn’t love. And I decided that the satin sheen isn’t the right choice for the stair rail in the future. It will be gloss for sure. I took a medium grit sanding block and sanded around the edges of the stool to get an antique/weathered black look (un-sanded on the left below, sanded on the right). It made all the difference. I love the finished product!
You can use this technique for just about anything–chairs, tables, dressers. These are the steps I followed:
- Lightly sand entire surface with a medium grit sanding block. You don’t need to strip off the old finish, you just need to rough it up.
- Apply the first coat and let dry completely overnight.
- Rub steel wool (000 or 0000) over the entire surface. This helps the next coat adhere.
- Apply the second coat. Let dry overnight. You may even want to let it dry for two days depending on the temperature and humidity.
- Use a medium grit sanding block along the edges until you get the look you want.
Speak Your Mind