As a new homeowner I am always trying to save money and keep a lookout for things that I can up-cycle and refurbish. A few weekends ago as I was driving around, I came across two free dining room chairs left on the side of the road. I immediately slammed my breaks and threw the chairs in my trunk – problem is they were very very ugly –think orangey oak with mauve/teal/purple colored upholstery – very 90s.  But, I could see past this and saw that they had a good structure and were sturdy – perfect candidates for an adventure in staining furniture with a gel stain diy. Since they were free I had nothing to lose if I ended up destroying these chairs!

So, a few weekends later – I present my first DIY before and after pics! I am so proud of how these turned out and find out how I used gel stain to make the transformation!

Here’s what I used to make the transformation!

Supplies

• Electric palm sander – I bought one for under $20 at Menards – it is a wonderful investment that I will use on future projects!
• Old Master’s Gel Stain in American Walnut – I am obsessed with the look and elegance of dark wood
• Old Master’s Oil-based Polyurethane
• Upholstery fabric from JoAnn Fabric’s – My favorite color combos are blue & white and this matches pillow cases I currently have on my  couch so it was an easy choice for me!
• Staple gun
• Old shirts to apply the gel stain
• A natural fiber paint brush to apply the stain – I read that synthetic brushers sometimes dissolve in the varnish, so bought slightly more expensive brushes

How I Did It

This project took more patience than I anticipated because of drying time. I did not realize that stain and varnish need so long to cure and set. I think waiting for things to dry was the hardest part of the project since I had to break it up into multiple weekends.

The second hardest part was the sanding. I read online that you don’t always have to sand down to the wood grain when staining, but I found this to be a must for the gel-stain I was using. In the spots where I had to hand sand the chair the gel did not adhere as well. So I would recommend sanding as much as possible and getting the wood to its clean bare state! I am so glad I did not get lazy at this stage.

Once the sanding was done I applied the gel stain and varnish per the directions on the cans. Here are some pictures of the process below.

Overall I think this project cost me about $50 since I had to buy the sander, stain, and varnish. But that is still cheaper than what I have to pay for a set of new chairs. They’re not perfect, but I’m very happy and loved learning how to use my hands and make something new again! There you have it I hope you enjoyed my gel stain diy!