Wood staining new oak

Hopthegoodgod · 2025-10-28T10:22:40+00:00

I am about to embark on staining a large ' orange' oak cabinet that is built into our home. Nice new piece of furniture but the colour is not my taste. Can anyone suggest best gel , oil, water based wood stains? No idea where to start. I guess I sand down first. Internet has so many different options - a bit baffled. I want to basically go much darker so it fits in with old furniture we have. Any advice much appreciated.

Slawit · 30/10/2025 15:39

I'm a retired French Polisher with 30 years of experience, so I'm well-equipped to answer your questions and offer advice!
I'd be happy to help with anything you need, but I must give a friendly warning: wood finishing is much trickier than repainting a skirting board. There's a lot more that can go wrong and ruin the look of a piece. Is it in bare wood or does it have a finish on already? Assuming it's in bare wood.
Here are two key differences to keep in mind:
Paint covers flaws, but stain highlights them. This means prep work is crucial.
The DIY market has limited choices of truly suitable finishing materials.
While oils and varnishes are available options, I'm personally not a fan of either for achieving the best finish. My best advice is to find a wood finisher / sprayer, if you still want to go ahead and do it yourself I’m more than happy to help post some photos and we can take it from there.

Whataretalkingabout · 30/10/2025 17:29

Dear OP, I would definitely take advantage of @Slawit's kind advice!

Wood finishing is fascinating but hard work if you get it wrong, ask me how I know!

Original poster

Hopthegoodgod · 30/10/2025 22:14

Slawit · 30/10/2025 15:39

I'm a retired French Polisher with 30 years of experience, so I'm well-equipped to answer your questions and offer advice!
I'd be happy to help with anything you need, but I must give a friendly warning: wood finishing is much trickier than repainting a skirting board. There's a lot more that can go wrong and ruin the look of a piece. Is it in bare wood or does it have a finish on already? Assuming it's in bare wood.
Here are two key differences to keep in mind:
Paint covers flaws, but stain highlights them. This means prep work is crucial.
The DIY market has limited choices of truly suitable finishing materials.
While oils and varnishes are available options, I'm personally not a fan of either for achieving the best finish. My best advice is to find a wood finisher / sprayer, if you still want to go ahead and do it yourself I’m more than happy to help post some photos and we can take it from there.

I will definitely take you up on your kind offer of advice. I will send photos. The oak is brand new. It's a very well made piece and someone obvs paid good money for it but I just want something old/ rustic /dark. Our house is very old and furniture reflects this and this cabinet sticks out like a sore thumb.

OP posts:

Original poster

Hopthegoodgod · 31/10/2025 08:43

Slawit · 30/10/2025 15:39

I'm a retired French Polisher with 30 years of experience, so I'm well-equipped to answer your questions and offer advice!
I'd be happy to help with anything you need, but I must give a friendly warning: wood finishing is much trickier than repainting a skirting board. There's a lot more that can go wrong and ruin the look of a piece. Is it in bare wood or does it have a finish on already? Assuming it's in bare wood.
Here are two key differences to keep in mind:
Paint covers flaws, but stain highlights them. This means prep work is crucial.
The DIY market has limited choices of truly suitable finishing materials.
While oils and varnishes are available options, I'm personally not a fan of either for achieving the best finish. My best advice is to find a wood finisher / sprayer, if you still want to go ahead and do it yourself I’m more than happy to help post some photos and we can take it from there.

I will definitely take you up on your kind offer of advice. I will send photos. The oak is brand new. It's a very well made piece and someone obvs paid good money for it but I just want something old/ rustic /dark. Our house is very old and furniture reflects this and this cabinet sticks out like a sore thumb.

OP posts:

Original poster

Hopthegoodgod · 31/10/2025 08:57

Here is photo

OP posts:

Mosaic123 · 31/10/2025 09:22

No photo visible 🥴