this has turned into a nightmare
an honest-to-goodness nightmare!
Remember I mentioned the pine used in these chests of drawers has been pieced together from many smaller pieces with different grains on each one?
Each section is taking the stain differently, so the colour is coming out patchy and uneven and while I thought a stain and gloss combination would be easier (one application) it really isn't.
A better way would have been the old-fashioned stain applied with a rag, then a gloss finish sprayed on. But even that method would colour unevenly with the different grains.
Too late now.
The top of the cabinet in particular looked awful with just the one coat and a second coat has made it very dark, not at all what I wanted.
Here's a tip: when an unfinished piece from Ikea says "ready-to-paint" that's exactly what they mean.
Paint. PAINT.
Which easily covers up all the different grains and tones.
I should have painted.
There will be no pictures and the second chest of drawers may not get done.
Remember I mentioned the pine used in these chests of drawers has been pieced together from many smaller pieces with different grains on each one?
Each section is taking the stain differently, so the colour is coming out patchy and uneven and while I thought a stain and gloss combination would be easier (one application) it really isn't.
A better way would have been the old-fashioned stain applied with a rag, then a gloss finish sprayed on. But even that method would colour unevenly with the different grains.
Too late now.
The top of the cabinet in particular looked awful with just the one coat and a second coat has made it very dark, not at all what I wanted.
Here's a tip: when an unfinished piece from Ikea says "ready-to-paint" that's exactly what they mean.
Paint. PAINT.
Which easily covers up all the different grains and tones.
I should have painted.
There will be no pictures and the second chest of drawers may not get done.
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How totally FRUSTRATING. I feel for you.
ReplyDeleteElephant's Child; when this piece is thoroughly dried I'll hide it in the corner behind my chair and bring the unfinished one to where this one was. I'm never buying unfinished pine from Ikea again.
ReplyDeleteOh my you are so very disappointed.
ReplyDeleteMargaret-whiteangel; I am, but I'll get over it. As it is drying it begins to look not quite so bad, or maybe I'm already getting used to it. The top of the chest is the worst bit, the stuff just didn't seem to brush on as easily as on the sides. There's thick and thin patches which I couldn't even out, as well as the different grains, but they are mostly covered by the darkness of the thicker coating.
ReplyDeleteI do know that after this, I will stick with undercoat and paint instead.
What a shame. If it really doesn't look good after drying, perhaps you could use paint instead.
ReplyDeleteAndrew; I wish now that I had painted, but adding paint to two layers of gloss stain is out of the question. It would take some major sanding back, which my shoulders aren't capable of, and on top of that, I can't afford paint (and undercoat) after paying for the stain/gloss. It is dry now and I have put the usual array of items on it and from my chair it doesn't look so bad.
DeleteTo make it match, I'm going to have to second coat the drawers, they only have the first coat and are the colour I wanted, but they'll look silly if I don't make them match.
I had the same problem once. The tops of my dressers was a lovely solid slab of wood so I left them stained and painted the rest.
ReplyDeleteKathy G; the drawers came out ok, but the top of the chest was awful and now has three coats so is a good deal darker than I wanted, so I had to darken the drawers to match.
DeleteSuch disappointments are so discouraging. I hold Ikea to task. The large print should say: this piece of wood is so poorly assembled that your only solution is to paint it.
ReplyDeleteJoanne; the furniture was labeled 'ready to paint' but I was silly enough to assume that meant it could be stained too.
DeleteWell you answered my questions about re-doing it and Joanne Noragon's comment made me laugh.
ReplyDeleteGrace; the whole job is making me laugh now. it didn't turn out the way I expected, but then not much does, so I should be used to it. It really only looks terrible if I stand too close, from my chair across the room it's okay, just 300% darker than I wanted.
DeletePoor baby; that was a lot of work for naught!!
ReplyDeletefishducky; not exactly for naught, I still have a useable chest of drawers, just in the wrong shade.
DeleteScuff it up good and paint over it...abort...abort...
ReplyDeleteonly slightly confused; no way. I am not sanding back three coats of glossy stain. I'll live with it. I always did like dark, polished antique furniture and now I can pretend I have some.
DeleteOoh no. Grrr. Who knows though, maybe the look will catch on and become trendy?
ReplyDeleteArkansas Patti; I think polished wood is already trendy, in my generation anyway.
DeleteNobody else has one like it! So there's that...
ReplyDeleteVal; that's for sure. I'm unique and so is my stuff :)
DeleteMy husband would say you have a one-off, meaning a one of a kind piece. Not exactly what you wanted, i know.
ReplyDeletemessymimi; definitely a one-off, the other chest of drawers won't be getting done.
DeleteSome of the new paints, paint over everything without sanding much just rough up the surface.
ReplyDeleteAll is not lost if nothing else works buy a pretty wallpaper and cover with that.
Merle..
Merle; me and wallpaper paste aren't a good match. Imagine the mess I could make with that! I'll just get used to the new look of the chest.
DeleteOooo, I like Merles suggestion of wallpaper!
ReplyDeleteJayne; not me, I can't even begin to think of the troubles I'd have with a bucket of paste and rolls of paper.
DeleteI would email IKEA about this, and send photos.
ReplyDeleteI do not think this result is what they would have intended or that they would be very happy about it. :/
Snoskred; I don't think there's any point. The furniture was labelled "ready to paint" and paint is what I should have done.
DeleteI always send an email these days, regardless of what the situation might be. I've had some truly great responses - in fact we got some baking dishes replaced for free when they rusted simply by me contacting the company, we've received vouchers to replace food that was past the use by date before we bought it (I always triple check now) and we have received packages full of samples plus a replacement for a faulty pump on a perfume bottle.
DeleteMore importantly I always make sure to compliment good service because it is such a rare thing these days, and I have been surprised to receive gift vouchers and sample products when I have taken the time to do that.
IKEA have some decent policies behind the scenes and at the very least, they may be able to change ready to paint to be more clear and to let people know not to stain the product, as I too would have assumed it was stain-able from that label.
There are companies out there with a policy of replace the item no matter what the complaint and no matter how old the item is. They believe that it is worth $$ to keep the customer happy. People won't know if they are dealing with one of those companies unless they contact them.
Anyway, it is writing an email which is completely free, costs me nothing, I'm not donating a body part never to see it again, so I always give it a shot. :)