Staining Craftsman Woodwork
The focus on the house continues to be on the interior woodwork. I'm trying to make the interior look as much like an old Craftsman Bungalow as I can. I have built the casings for most of the doors and windows upstairs. But for the past few weeks, I've been working on the main stairway, including the archway at the bottom of the stairs and the window above the stairs.
I don't know, you might call the stairs Mission style, or Stickley, or whatever. I have been just trying to make something that goes with the overall Craftsman theme of the house. I have changed the little bits of trim in order to get something that looks decent. It has taken quite a while. I had originally thought I could have this done before the wedding this July (2006). Ha, right.
Finally, this weekend, I was ready to start staining the stairway. I'm still using Minwax's Red Oak, which turns white oak a nice warm reddish brown that reminds me of old Stickley furniture. I managed to get the archway stained, as well as the stair railing, risers, sides, etc., but I still need to stain on the window casing above the stairs. I hope to do that soon, perhaps this weekend.
Here are the pictures:
The Archway.
The Lower Stairs with newel posts, railing, and shelves.
Sheba sits on the heat vent before the stairs.
The upper stairs.
Sept. 2005
More pictures here
posted by Greg at Tuesday, January 16, 2007
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12 Comments:
I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is spectacular! I cannot believe how inexpensively (price-wise, not sweat-wise) you have managed to do this. Thank you for sharing what you've learned and for posting so many pictures of your handywork. I love to look at what it is people are talking about.
Nice. Looks very nice stained! Snow day helped with progress today?
Thanks as always, Patricia!
@Shawn, Ha, I didn't work on the house today, but the snowday did give me time to write in my blog...
I'm just reading your blog for the first time (through houseblogs.net) and I'm blown away at the beauty and quality of your work. The previous owners of our Arts & Crafts-era home gutted it of everything original except for the wood floors and the stairway newal post. It's my goal to one day redo all of the interior trim to be appropriate to the era of the house. Your work is a real inspiration to me!!
Are there any books that you found particularly useful, either for design or technique, as you learned to do this? And what tools were necessary? I probably have many of them, but I need to convince Partner of everything we need, and looking at your pictures and finding out your tool list will definitely help my case!!
Wonderful job! It looks so good, you should be very proud of your work!
Leslie, thanks for your comment. Strangely, you're not the first person to say that a previous owner removed the trim from their Craftsman. Crazy!
As far as books, learning material, etc., I really like Taunton Press. I subscribe to Fine Homebuilding, have purchased their books and videos, and check their stuff out from our local library. I really like picture books too, my favorite being Stickley Style.
As far as tools, beyond the obvious hammer, tap measure, level, drill, etc., I'd say a portable table saw and good miter saw are the two important tools that are required to make trim.
Hope this helps.
Everything is looking great. You should be really proud. Nice to know someone else who loves stained oak as much as we do!
Good looking house! You'd be amazed at who you can find on these blogs and maybe reconnect with old friends. Just finishing the basement here in Denver....
Lance D.
Hey Lance! That is amazing. Drop us a line sometime.
Hey, we just found your blog, and are enjoying it immensely. We also bought a small 1940s house in SW Portland, and are looking to expand and "transform" it into a Craftsman/bungalow. This is proof that it CAN be done. Yay!
Josh F.
Did you treat the wood after using the miniwax stain? By coincidence, I just bought the same kind/color to treat my new craftsman style trim (used cedar), and was wondering if I need to poly it too.
Hmm, I really don't know about cedar. I guess you could try and see if you like it. Sorry I can't be of more help.
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