The bathroom door is painted grey but the closet doors have been unfinished.
Instead of painting them I wanted to stain them a similar color to the interior painted doors.
Varathane stain has a soya-oil base.
On Saturday morning with Charlie’s help I carried the very heavy conservatory closet doors outside with the hope of staining them Varathane “weathered grey”. I gave any stains or spots on the doors a quick sanding.
The door on the left has been treated with pre-stain conditioner.
I started on the back of the 4 doors with a coat of Minwax Pre-stain wood conditioner.
Stain is wiped on with a sponge.
Then I applied the stain with a small foam brush.
The woodgrain shows through the dark stain.
And wiped it off with a soft rag. The stain wipes on and wipes off which has to be accomplished before it dries too much. Unfortunately the heat of the day made working quickly a necessity.
The rags became soaked with stain.
I worked on the back sides and edges first. Then we flipped all the doors to do the front side while chasing shade across the yard. We moved the saw horses and doors at least 3 times during the staining.
We didn’t close the doors until they were totally dry.
After all side were given one coat I ran out of time so we hung the doors back in the conservatory with the intention of tweaking the finish if necessary.
Welcome to The Glade, where the second generation of renovations has just begun and the mania about our home, music and other passions fill our days and nights.
We’re Charlie and Jo in the music world; Mary Jo and Charles to family; and JoJo and Charlie to each other. We are renovating a midcentury house in a Victorian historic district where we want to live there the rest of our lives. It's a 1946 house located in Maryland. We were married in this house.
Thus far (pre-blog) we refinished cabinets, added a window seat (still working on the cushion), rearranged a wall in the guest house due to sink/vanity replacement, planted a vegetable garden, and other quick and not-so-quick fixes. So this latest zeal for construction is the result of my having lived here since 1997 and feeling a need to ready the house for the next chapter and beyond.
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6 thoughts on “Staining the Closet Doors”
That’s a nice improvement. I was surprised how much better it looks because the plain doors looked good too.
Wow, these look nice, Jo! The heat kept me from doing things this summer. too. I think the 90s are over with. We’re back to a pleasant 80 or so. No excuses, in other words.
Let's Face the Music 
That’s a nice improvement. I was surprised how much better it looks because the plain doors looked good too.
When Charlie saw the stain he was horrified. I hope it grows on him. Jo
Wow, these look nice, Jo! The heat kept me from doing things this summer. too. I think the 90s are over with. We’re back to a pleasant 80 or so. No excuses, in other words.
List of excuses: 1. It’s raining, 2. The sun is shining, 3. It’s too hot, 4. It’s too cold, 5. . . . Ha, ha. I’m right with you. Jo
Wow, you were brave to keep working with the heat… It looks really great.
It was a totally satisfying project. Jo