Continuing work on the circle library. As a recap, here is where the circle library was last time: finished but bare wood.
The walls have been primed with grey gesso, which is in the same color range of the wallpaper I’ve chosen. Here’s what that paper looks like.
I had planned to stain the library Minwax Natural after my test sample seemed to bring out the grain while leaving the color minimally changed. Well, in a large area, that didn’t really work so well. It turned rather orange, like raw salmon cutlet orange. The edges of the circles darkened significantly as well.
I knew it was going to bother me, so I opted for a second coat of stain, this time using Minwax Driftwood. I had nothing to lose really since I wasn’t going to leave it orange so I would be redoing parts if not all of it whether the attempts to fix it worked or not.
The green in Driftwood balanced the red in Natural, and the end result is darker but a better color overall. The darker edges of the circles no longer seem out of place. It actually looks like it was made from reclaimed wood, which makes a lot of sense for an old mill. :] A happy accident.
The dumbwaiter and its cabinet have a first coat of stain but aren’t finished.
