Hi Denise, Sure do you have instagram. send me photos on instagram @lilyardor . I’ll try and help you.

From what I remember I think we used 220 grit sand paper. Have you tried maybe applying the white twice. Hoping maybe that might neutralize the reds. And maybe two coats of fruit wood the greens in it should also counter act for the reds. Not sure why it’s not doing that. I wonder if it could be a douglas fir that has more red tones in it then the one I had.

They are different. Just realized that after googling. I’m pretty sure the wood we used was douglas because it had a lot of red tones in it.

So, the secret is to mix your poly and oil stain together. In my case I use a mixture of 4 different oil stains + a really good oil poly + mineral spirits to cut the thickness of the poly.

Each coat goes on even so there is no blotching. I use a lint free rag, folded, to apply and I dont wipe it off after. After it dries, I lightly sand using either 150 or 180 grit paper. Because you’ve already closed the pores, you could even go higher depending on the sheen you’re looking for. In my case, 3 coats of the mix Im using gives me exactly the color I want. I finish with 2 more coats of the same oil poly used in the mix, but also thin it with mineral spirits and apply with a lint free rag folded.

And thats it!

Now, I didn’t exactly stumble onto this solution. I did some homework and read finishing guides for homes of my era and type. Many of these homes where kit homes and the stain could be ordered with the home. And what was being sold with them was colored varnish. Even the old timers didn’t stain and then top coat doug fir. The color and topcoat were combined. In my case I couldn’t find a premixed varnish that matched, and I use oil and poly regularly, so I essentially made my own wipe on colored poly mix that is very similar to varnish.

I’m pretty sure it was early American not sure why I photographed special walnut

Hi Donna, I hope you hutch turns out perfect! I used a paper towel to apply all stain. It just looks like just my glove in the photo. Sorry. I’ve actually never used a wood conditioner but I would assume it goes on before any stain.