Staining Faux Barnwood

Staining our faux barn wood started off with some Minwax stain in Dark Walnut.  This was actually free used from another project!   

We were staining our light box we just made as well as the frame for our DIY barn wood mirror.  Using a chop saw we cut out our frame – more on that later.  We laid out all our pieces from the mirror as well as our light box on slightly raised shims to prevent them from staining the floor.     

We used a lint free cloth to wipe a very thin coat of stain on the boards.  We waited for the stain to dry and set into the wood according to package directions and wiped it off.       

The result was like Christmas!  The most nerve wracking part of the project was waiting for the stain!  I was so worried that my weathering techniques would be less than ideal and it would turn out to be a dud.  I was so pleasantly surprised by the result and how authentic the wood looked! There were also many variations in color due to the wood grain that made the boards look more naturally aged.             

Here is a preview of the light box before we installed it.  More on that later too!  We choose to just stain the wood rather than stain and seal with a varnish.  We felt that the varnish would create a polished look and make it appear less authentic than real barn wood.  Additionally since we weren’t going to be putting anything on it and it wouldn’t be exposed to high moisture situations we were going to take a chance!  Check back for the barn wood mirror tutorial!