project : staining

This year we had the fun task on the "to do list" of staining the patio furniture. Yay, right? Due to our forgetfulness of putting the furniture away once the fall rain kicked in, the furniture needed a full sanding, re-stain, and seal. So... once the weather cooperated for a few days, I got on it!

First, sanding! (No pictures, because that was not very exciting. Not even a little.)

Second, stain color. We had so many colors to choose from! We wanted it to look like the third one up from the bottom on the right side, but because the wood already had somewhat of a red hue we went with the third one down from the left side to help darken and draw out the red features.

Here is a pre-stained but post-sanding shot of one of the tables:
And the difference once it was stained:

After doing the lovely "wipe on the stain" then "wipe off the stain" method, I let the furniture sit overnight to completely set. The next day I used teak oil to seal the lovely stain and keep water from getting into the wood.

And, after many hours of hard work... the finished product!
The biggest lesson learned? Take the furniture in BEFORE the rainy season!