wood stain stencils







Furniture Refinishing With Stencils



Consider using wood stain stencils when refinishing furniture to get the look of inlaid wood.


Here is a submission from a reader who wanted to share how she used stencils while staining an old wooden table:





I found this old table on the curb side on trash day. It’s an antique style kick leg table but it isn't a real antique. I thought that with the right finish and some wood stain stencils I could make it look like one.


I looked for an Early American Stencil Pattern because I thought that era design would go well with the style of the table. When I found this stencil, I knew it was perfect.



I sanded down the table and prepared it for staining. Then I laid masking tape over the entire area where I wanted to stencil, traced the stencil onto the tape and used a craft knife to cut along the lines. Don't worry about cutting too deep. Scoring the wood will create a nice line with the stain and help you get cleaner lines of the stenciled pattern.



Create a Look of Inlaid Wood With Stencils



I lightly peeled away all of the tape except for the pieces of the stencil islands (or the openings in the stencil) so that when I stained the table these areas would be protected from getting any stain.





I put two coats of Dark Walnut stain on the table brushing straight over the taped areas. When it was thoroughly dry I peeled away the remaining tape and brushed on one layer of Natural Stain to let the real tone of the wood show through.


Once the table was completely dry, I gave it a light sanding and put a clear coat over the entire table-top for a protection. Now I have a great extra table for when guests arrive (especially for the holidays) and boy was it a fun project.


Notice too that I sanded a little heavier around the edges for a worn and dated look.





Here's A Free Stencil



Here's another idea - you can do this the opposite way by removing the island pieces of the stencil and staining the wood very dark for only the pattern and then stain the whole table a light color. Ah-ha! the possibilities are endless!





I hope you enjoyed this wood stain stencils idea and just in case you are anxious to try this out, I sketched out this simple Classic Stencil Design for you to paint into your first wood stain stencil project. Enjoy!


Happy Stenciling,

Penny


Here's a comment that one of our readers added:

Debbie said,
July 12, 2011 @ 1:38 am



Lovely! Just came across a cool table for the dining room and have completed the sanding. Now going to build the benches for the sides from recycled planks.. Been doing this sort of thing most my life, but it always pays to look at other folks work.. Thanks! It looks great! BTW..awesome find you have there!
Debbie*

Long Live Recycling! : )