Friends, I hope you've all had a lovely week so far. My hope is that were you inspired last week by the previous post to tackle your grout, and now you have bright and shiny bathroom floors. Let's jump in and talk about another 'dirt cheap' update for your home which is the banister. Prior to the year 2000, it seems like a lot of homes were made with oak banisters, oak cabinets, oak floors. A whole lot of orangey oak throughout the house. I realize it may not be feasible to change all of the oak, but this update will definitely break up the monotony of it throughout your home.
When I was originally contemplating changing the banister, I thought about painting it all white, or maybe just black, but then I decided that I wanted to keep the texture of the wood. I came across this awesome how-to post from Naptime Decorator and jumped right in and purchased the Java Gel Stain from Amazon. I bought a half pint and had plenty left over. This project took about a day and a half to complete (once you factor in drying times). And the best part was the minimal amount of sanding I had to do!
I wish I had taken a 'before' picture, so you could see the orangey oak. But like I said, I jumped right in. I was so excited to tackle this project and I still get giddy when I walk by and see the beautiful results. The General Finishes Java Gel Stain is so easy to work with. I look forward to using in on future home and furniture projects!
