Exterior wood... How to get that lovely olde worlde brown look.

[JandLandG]

Hi there

Anyone have any ideas how those lovely old wood doors/barrels/gates get their nice deep brown look?

We've a piece of wood that covers an old well in our garden...I put some black metal hinges on it to give it the correct 'feel' I was after, but the wood just won't stay a nice colour (I put some creosote type stuff on it).

I'd like it to have the colour/texture of something like this but don't know what to use to get the colour right...and lasting.

Any thoughts/ideas/suggestions?

I can't see anything in diy shops that will do the job...any specialist knowledge out there can point me to the right product?

Many thanks in advance.

Hardwoods tend to go silver with age, and tbh it's a look I really love. To obtain the look/colour of the door in your link use something like Danish oil, which will stain and protect hardwood. If you've used a softwood then you need to seal it with a varnish.