What Do I Need To Change Wood Colour From Light To Dark ?

[katnip]

I bought a (cheapish) small desk that's made of some light-coloured wood (pine ?). I would like to coat it with something to make it a darker colour, to better fit in with the wood in our home here.

I tried some stuff* I bought at Home Pro, opp. Carrefour, but it didn't work as the wood already has some sort of protective sealer. It resisted the stain completely. I had to wipe it all off.

Any suggestions ?

I know many of you out there are working on your own homes and also might be able to suggest something you know is available here in Chiang Mai.

Thanks !

*Beger Deck Stain

[taxexile]

you will need to sand down your desk to remove any varnish or sealer , then clean with turps , then light sand , then clean again , leave to dry then apply the stain , when dry put a coat of clear lacquer on , sand lightly with fine grain paper , lacquer again , rub gently with wire wool and then a final coat of clear lacquer.

some of those cheapo desks that look like wood are actually plastic

[soic]

I bought a (cheapish) small desk that's made of some light-coloured wood (pine ?). I would like to coat it with something to make it a darker colour, to better fit in with the wood in our home here.

I tried some stuff* I bought at Home Pro, opp. Carrefour, but it didn't work as the wood already has some sort of protective sealer. It resisted the stain completely. I had to wipe it all off.

Any suggestions ?

I know many of you out there are working on your own homes and also might be able to suggest something you know is available here in Chiang Mai.

Thanks !

*Beger Deck Stain

You can either get some paint stripper and re-stain it the color you like. Or you can get some dark paint and just paint it. If you go to one of the Home Pro's you should be able to find some interesting paint kits, you can actually do some different designs with the products nowadays. You can have different effects and textures and create some intresting pieces. Look around and experiment a little, you said it was cheapish...

[agsnowdon]

you will need to sand down your desk to remove any varnish or sealer , then clean with turps , then light sand , then clean again , leave to dry then apply the stain , when dry put a coat of clear lacquer on , sand lightly with fine grain paper , lacquer again , rub gently with wire wool and then a final coat of clear lacquer.

some of those cheapo desks that look like wood are actually plastic

Second that

[chownah]

You might be able to sand it with a really fine grit and then give it a coat of shellac....you might not even have to sand because shellac will stick to many different types of finishes........ and it comes in different degrees of darkness which are indicated by a number....if I remember correctly 1 is a light shellac and 9 is a very dark one. You might try a test patch somewhere it won't show to see if the shellac will stick and how you like the color. After a good coat of shellac I think you should be able to put as many coats of lacquer on as you want. In our house the painter used shellac on the bare wood as a base and then added a few coats of lacquer for the finish...you can get a shiny finish or a dull finish with the lacquer.

Edited August 23, 2006 by chownah

[Pond Life]

if it realy is wood, then like someone already said you'll have to sand off the coating first.

Instead of stain I use shelldrite or chaindrite (anti-termite treatment), they have clear (no good for you) light & dark, I mostly use the light colour.

varnish will still stick to it fine as long as you mix it with thinners, has the added advantage of bug proofing your wood.

[katnip]

I forgot to mention that I am monumentally lazy !

The desk is definitely wood. I am thinking that simply painting it, as soic suggested, may be the best option for me.

If anyone can give me a few brand names/product descriptions to take in to Home Pro, it would help greatly. As you can see, I have little experience in this field and communication was a little difficult.

Thanks to everyone for your detailed responses. I really appreciate it.

P.S. If there's anyone out there who enjoys doing this kind of thing, you're welcome here any time this weekend .

[jdinasia]

Lazy!

But really staining would be a lot of work .... but if it is real wood probably worth it ...

strip it

sand it

then possibly have to condition it

then stain it

then seal it

Seeing this thread made me take note and think of so many other threads ...

I wonder ... Would a DIY house stuff sub-forum be useful? everything from Solar water heaters to electrical work?

[lamphun]

I bought a (cheapish) small desk that's made of some light-coloured wood (pine ?). I would like to coat it with something to make it a darker colour, to better fit in with the wood in our home here.

Any suggestions ?

Have you tried wearing sunglasses ?

[Blinky Bill]

I bought a (cheapish) small desk that's made of some light-coloured wood (pine ?). I would like to coat it with something to make it a darker colour, to better fit in with the wood in our home here.

Any suggestions ?

Have you tried wearing sunglasses ?

Christ Lampoon, you must be more bored than I am!!

[lamphun]

I bought a (cheapish) small desk that's made of some light-coloured wood (pine ?). I would like to coat it with something to make it a darker colour, to better fit in with the wood in our home here.

Any suggestions ?

Have you tried wearing sunglasses ?

Christ Lampoon, you must be more bored than I am!!

I'm becoming a bit of a conneisuer of the absurd. We just put in a decent internet link. No more Loxinfo TF.

[meadish_sweetball]

We just put in a decent internet link. No more Loxinfo TF.

So what do you have now? Would you recommend it?

[lamphun]

TOT Gold Package ADSL. Lets wait and see.

[Pond Life]

Lazy!

But really staining would be a lot of work .... but if it is real wood probably worth it ...

strip it

sand it

then possibly have to condition it

then stain it

then seal it

Seeing this thread made me take note and think of so many other threads ...

I wonder ... Would a DIY house stuff sub-forum be useful? everything from Solar water heaters to electrical work?

DIY sub forum sounds like a good idea to me.

[SamSipEt]

If anyone can give me a few brand names/product descriptions to take in to Home Pro, it would help greatly.

Table cloth – send the wife to buy one

[The Dan Sai Kid]

TOT Gold Package ADSL. Lets wait and see.

Have you seen the threads about internet TV?

I have the silver package - which works great for me. I can watch some of the stuff on Max TV and TVU - but it's not the best. If you ever run these programs - and they have some decent stuff on them (HBO, BBC 24) could you do a post and say what you think.

I guess if you already have UBC it's not going to be worth it though!

[lamphun]

I downloaded TVU yesterday just for a tryout. It worked pretty good with most of the channels I opened running smoothly. However the choice of channels is crap. I think I'll try SOPCast again.

[katnip]

Wrong thread for internet discussions !! Let's get back to the all-important topic of my desk !

I should point out that it is a computer desk, with a sliding tray and a number of shelves and partitions and a little cupboard. If it were just a few surfaces to sand and work on, I'd probably do it, but it's considerably more tricky than that. Plus the fact that it's hardly a collectible. Hence the appeal of the paint option.

Lamphun : the sunglasses idea is not a bad one. Or I could just let it get really dirty.

SamSipEt :

Table cloth – send the wife to buy one

... but what if I *am* "the wife" ?

Suggestions for particular paints available here much appreciated .

Edited August 24, 2006 by katnip

[soic]

Wrong thread for internet discussions !! Let's get back to the all-important topic of my desk !

I should point out that it is a computer desk, with a sliding tray and a number of shelves and partitions and a little cupboard. If it were just a few surfaces to sand and work on, I'd probably do it, but it's considerably more tricky than that. Plus the fact that it's hardly a collectible. Hence the appeal of the paint option.

Lamphun : the sunglasses idea is not a bad one. Or I could just let it get really dirty.

SamSipEt :

Table cloth – send the wife to buy one

... but what if I *am* "the wife" ?

Suggestions for particular paints available here much appreciated .

Hi Katnip, Please go check out the website below. It can help you learn how to do what you'd like to do. I'd also recommend an oil based latex paint, it would be the easiest way to solve your problem. There are actually ways to make it have an almost wood grain appearance.

http://www.paint.org/con_info/finishing.cfm

Good luck with your project, heck you may enjoy it so much that you might develope a hobby.

[katnip]

Thanks very much, soic. You have been very helpful.

Actually, I do like painting with watercolour. This desk business seems too much like work but you are right, I might even enjoy it.

P.S. soic - is the oil-based latex paint something I can apply without going through the sanding & stripping process ?

Edited August 24, 2006 by katnip

[soic]

Thanks very much, soic. You have been very helpful.

Actually, I do like painting with watercolour. This desk business seems too much like work but you are right, I might even enjoy it.

P.S. soic - is the oil-based latex paint something I can apply without going through the sanding & stripping process ?

Now there's an idea... I don't know what your decor looks like... but how about taking that small desk, painting it in an off white, semi-gloss or satin, then on the flat sides of the desk painting a nice country scene or Thai scene in water color? you could paint a gold scroll frame around it, then cover it with a clear coat of polyeurothane. Just an idea... That way you'd still have function, but also a conversation/folk art piece. My ex-wife used to paint old fashioned milk cans and old country style boxes, crates or cabinets and sell them at flea markets or country furniture marts... we didn't do too bad. It was a terrific hobby for both of us, I refinished the furniture and she painted the scenes.

[katnip]

Nice idea, yes ... (do you have photos of the pieces you decorated ?) ... when I am more settled I will give some more thought to what I might paint decoratively. In the past I have usually just made my small watercolours into gift cards for friends, though at one time a florist took interest and was buying them up in batches; became hard to keep up. It's something I have done for pleasure.

You'd need a different kind of paint than watercolour for the desk, though. It's not an easy medium to transfer to something other than paper, and if you use acrylic/other paints you lose the watercolour effect. There may be ways to copy a watercolour and print onto fabric/other surfaces ... not too sure. Been too busy to do much art work for quite a few years.

Did you see my Q ? I am not sure if you mean that I can paint the oil-based latex paint directly onto my desk. (Still looking for the lazy way out ).

And if you or anyone else knows a brand name I can ask for here in C M it would help. It's too complex to explain to the store assistants. It would be great if I could ask for something specific.

[soic]

Nice idea, yes ... (do you have photos of the pieces you decorated ?) ... when I am more settled I will give some more thought to what I might paint decoratively. In the past I have usually just made my small watercolours into gift cards for friends, though at one time a florist took interest and was buying them up in batches; became hard to keep up. It's something I have done for pleasure.

You'd need a different kind of paint than watercolour for the desk, though. It's not an easy medium to transfer to something other than paper, and if you use acrylic/other paints you lose the watercolour effect. There may be ways to copy a watercolour and print onto fabric/other surfaces ... not too sure. Been too busy to do much art work for quite a few years.

Did you see my Q ? I am not sure if you mean that I can paint the oil-based latex paint directly onto my desk. (Still looking for the lazy way out ).

And if you or anyone else knows a brand name I can ask for here in C M it would help. It's too complex to explain to the store assistants. It would be great if I could ask for something specific.

I don't have any pictures of our old stuff, that was the previous ex, so that's from more than 10 years ago. I will look online to see if I can find some stuff that similar in style or format.

As for the question... if you wipe it down good with a nice lint free cloth you should be able to paint right over it. the best thing would be to get a primer base paint, wait for it to dry, then to cover that with a couple of light coats of semi-gloss or satin finish paint.

If you go to the Home Pro and look at the paints... just look for Latex paint, then semi-gloss or satin... the color should be on the top of the can, Antique white should look nice. You could possibly to the painting on stiff sturdy paper, then glue the painting to the sides, being careful not to have any bubbles. Wait for everything to dry, then cover the whole side in Polyeurothane or clear Laquer. My ex used some applicaes on some of her work... It didn't turn out too bad. You could experiment with a couple of small painted sheets, glue and cover with the Poly or Laquer and see how it turns out. I'll find a photo of something similar and send it to you in a bit.

[katnip]

I will give the latex paint a whirl, soic.

Look forward to seeing your pictures.

[chownah]

Katnip,

I'm not sure but I think that there is no such thing as oil based latex paint.....as far as I know, all latex paint is water based....that's why it is so great, you can wash everything up using just water.

Chownah

[soic]

Katnip,

I'm not sure but I think that there is no such thing as oil based latex paint.....as far as I know, all latex paint is water based....that's why it is so great, you can wash everything up using just water.

Chownah

There is oil based latex and water based latex... Oil based is better for furniture as it is more durable. Water based is better for larger areas and has easier clean up. there should be both available at the Home Pro.

[soic]

As I said, I don't have photos of my Ex's paintings or our crafts, but I've found a few of items that could you get the general idea from. The two paintings are similar themes... the plaque is actually more similar to the type of paintings she did. Although most of her paintings she had surrounded by a circular or oval gold painted on frame. when you looked at her stuff, you could actually almost believe that she had hung a portrait on the outside of a steamer trunk, desk, armour, cabinet door or any flat surface, but what she had done, was paint a picture of portrait on that surface. It was really neat the way she did it. I wish I were as talented.

[katnip]

Thanks . I know what you mean now. I have a friend who is good at that sort of work. You can get some great effects.

The work is exacting and requires a good deal of patience, though.

[chownah]

Katnip,

I'm not sure but I think that there is no such thing as oil based latex paint.....as far as I know, all latex paint is water based....that's why it is so great, you can wash everything up using just water.

Chownah

There is oil based latex and water based latex... Oil based is better for furniture as it is more durable. Water based is better for larger areas and has easier clean up. there should be both available at the Home Pro.

Interesting...I've done alot of painting before and I have never heard of this product..... and when I google I always get information about latex OR oil based paint.....two different things. Can you find a link about this product?...I would like to find out about it....especially what are its advantages.

[soic]

Katnip,

I'm not sure but I think that there is no such thing as oil based latex paint.....as far as I know, all latex paint is water based....that's why it is so great, you can wash everything up using just water.

Chownah

I made a major Faux Pas! I should have said, two types of ENAMEL paint... Latex and Oil-based. I apologize. Oil based paints are still better for furniture, it's more durable. Sorry for the confusion on that... Katnip, tell the guy at the Home Pro that you need an Antique White or whatever color you like... Oil Base Enamel. It should be written in english...