How to Select Floor & Cabinet Stain

Selecting Floor Stain

• 1

  Assess the type of wood on your floors. Most commonly, wood floors are a hardwood, such as red or white oak, and each type of wood will "take" stain differently due to the inherent shade of the wood. For instance, a light brown stain color may look dark red-brown on cherry or red oak, pale brown on white oak, or a yellower shade of brown on a wood with yellow undertones such as cedar.

• 2

  Purchase several feet of the type of flooring you are planning on staining, if you don't have any left over. You will need these for sampling different stains. By far the most common type of stain for floors is a pigmented wiping stain.

• 3

  Pick up stain swatches at a paint or home improvement store, and look at them in your home. Take into account other elements in your home--furniture, paint colors, upholstery, and other flooring and choose colors you think will complement those elements.

• 4

  Purchase pints or quarts of the stain you've picked, and apply it to your wood samples. Some paint stores will do this for you at no charge if you bring them the samples.

• 5

  Varnish or at least use a wet rag to wet the stained wood samples, so you get an idea of how it will look when sealed. Varnish or sealer (wetting the wood approximates this) will make the stain look richer and a bit darker. This will help you make a final selection.

Select Cabinet Stain

• 6

  Decide what type of finish you want. Like floor stains, the most common option is semi-transparent oil-based stain, sealed and protected with two or more coats of varnish or polyurethane. This stain can only be used on bare wood, and won't work on previously stained cabinets.

• 7

  Choose gel stain for easy workability, or if you want to create a faux or wood-graining effect. Gel stains are oil-based and the consistency of mayonnaise. They coat the wood instead of penetrating it and can be applied over existing stain or varnish. They are also more versatile and can be used to create several different effects, according to Paint Pro magazine.

• 8

  Select a water- or oil-based tinted varnish for the fastest route to staining and finishing cabinets. Instead of staining, waiting for the stain to dry, then applying the varnish, you will apply tinted varnish straight to the cabinets. The more coats you apply, the richer and darker the finish becomes.

• 9

  Test stain samples on the cabinets before starting work. If you have no scraps of the cabinet wood, test the stain on the interior of a little-used door (such as the small, high cabinets typically above the stove) to be sure it's the color you want.